Introduction and question

[alanz]

BTW, I'm not up on geek lingo... What does "pwns" mean?

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=pwns

[aceonbass]

The weak E string is not caused by the tailpiece. It more likely has something to do with some adjustment of the pickup pole heighth or twisting of the E string during installation. The taillift problem WAS solved decades ago, but many customers had a problem looking at the two screws that solved the problem, so they were removed. A replacement has been designed for the part, but production has yet to begin I guess. The Hipshot part(due to it's footprint) violates trademark rights of RIC and soon, will be as illegal to sell on Ebay as any fake RIC.

[VRICKY63]

The weak E string could be caused by the tailpiece . I had dead/weak notes on my 2 77 4001s and the Hipshot fixed both .

[aceonbass]

If the original tailpiece were lifting, I could see that. Otherwise, I don't see how. In my mind, the immediate difference the Hipshot makes is to make a more positive connection between the strings and the body of the instrument. This can be done with two additional screws on a stock one. Beyond that, the other Hipshot advantages are nullified by the mods I make to a stock tailpiece to improve ease of adjustability.

[jwr2]

Hi.. New guy to the forum here, and proud owner of a beautiful '08 4003 MID. My bass was made the first week of April of this year and it already has TP lift! I've searched all the threads I could find about Rick bridge/tailpiece issues, and I don't want to start another round of "flog the dead horse", but I still have one particular question, and would like solicit the esteemed opinions of some of the members here who have experience with the infamous "Dipstick" replacement bridge..

Welcome ...

We can beat the dead horse again ...

My method to deal with the dead horse is to add 2 extra screws ...

[VRICKY63]

Damn ! I just woke up , have not had my coffee yet . The RIC tailpiece is **** !! If it was not **** it would not need so many fixes

[kiramdear]

Welcome to the forum, Ed

I've got a teeny lift on my 4001's TP, not worse than yours, from what I can judge. But mine's over 30 years old! I don't guess it will worsen. Could be that the TP is stable but a bit of flex is "normal", if visually disturbing? I've been working up to doing something about it (two more screws), as I think the tone could benefit from a more solid contact.

Is the bridge really zinc? I didn't have a hard time getting intonation, though the saddles are at extreme position in the bridge which is angled also to the extreme rear. I don't have any more room for adjustment. Maybe the whole bass is shrinking How is the stock bridge regarded, generally? Can improvements be made?

The quest for tone is a long and winding road... Bridge, saddles, TP, strings, even the body itself are all factors which can be examined.

Does seem a shame to have to modify a new instrument, apart from set-up.

Sean, you're a hoot!

BTW what's MID stand for, please?

[johnallg]

MID = Midnight Blue.

http://www.geocities.com/johnallg/Rick_ ... ements.xls
This might be of help - look on the RIC Acronyms sheet. If you don't have Microsoft Excel, get the free reader here:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/deta ... laylang=en

[kiramdear]

Windows?

[jps]

Windows?

Numbers is better!

[johnallg]

http://www.neooffice.org/neojava/en/index.php

The Apple site also has a freeware download that handles Excel.

[jps]

Numbers can convert Excel files.

[kiramdear]

I never heard of numbers. I can barely put up with one OS. Sorry to divert the focus What was the question again? Oh, yeah, bronze or aluminum?

[jps]

Numbers is the Mac equivalent to Excel.

Speaking of numbers, this is my 12,000 post!

[johnallg]

Speaking of numbers, this is my 12,000 post!

Whoa!! Congrats on the 12K Jeff! Dang! It wasn't that long ago you hit 10000.