Early Tailpieces
From 1957 to 1961, the tailpiece assembly of Rickenbacker basses was the same stamped steel unit found on solid body Rickenbacker guitars. The base plate bears the evidence showing slots for six string balls and somewhat awkward angles for bass strings to reach them. The early bridge was a forerunner to bridges used later on the 4005.
Here is a detail shot of the early tailpiece as used on a 1959 4000. The bass and the photo belong to Graham Griffiths.
Normally the tailpieces of these basses are hidden by a sliding cover that contains a foam mute. When moved forward, the mute is positioned over the strings. The plexiglas rails on either side of the tailpiece held the mute cover in place and allowed it to slide as needed.
Here another of Graham's basses, also a '59. Notice the different bridge saddles on this example.
Cast Aluminum
When the 4001 was introduced in 1961, it featured a new cast aluminum tailpiece. The cast tailpiece is probably the first bit of true bass hardware manufactured by Rickenbacker. These feather-light parts were produced across the parking lot in the Electro String factory. The former employees with whom I have spoken, called the process sand casting. Richard Burke described the process as having taken place in a sand table (a sand box on legs) and was done as follows. The lower part of the mold was pressed into damp sand and a flat steel bar called a keeper was pushed through a slot in the lower mold and deep into the sand. If you have ever wondered, the metal displaced by the keeper is what is responsible for the gap tooth appearance of the old tailpieces. The lower mold was then lifted out leaving the keeper in place to align the upper mold. Molten aluminum was poured into an opening in the upper mold filling the space below. Richard said that everyone hated doing this work as it was very hot (aluminum melts at 1220 degrees F) and somewhat dangerous. Once cooled, the rough casting was removed from the sand. Quite ugly at this point the castings required substantial work before they were presentable. Once cleaned and polished they were ready for plating. I don't know if they were plated on site or shipped out. The aluminum tailpieces are very rigid and require only three nicely hidden mounting screws to secure them to the body. The mute adjusters are the same knurled thumb screws used as strap buttons.
The design of the new tailpiece was sleek and sculptural but not perfectly functional. The intonation adjusting screws are very difficult if not impossible to reach and mute operation is awkward at best. Despite this, once setup, the bridge and tailpiece are solid and rattle free.
An Early Cast Aluminum Tailpiece
There are only five more topics to cover from my original list.
