Tune-o-matic bridge on a Rickenbacker

[Scastles]

The TOM looks to be a natural fit on it. Action low enough for 'ya?

[winston]

Let's see that whole guitar!!

Is that a white 360?

It's actually a customised double bound 330 Blue Boy and a very nice one at that.

[johnallg]

The adapter plate made to work on a Rick looks very well thought out and blends beautifully. Kudos on a really nice mod, John. Yeah, lets hear it.

[deaconblues]

Interesting idea! Looks great on that Rick plate. Definitely a solution to those Rickenbacker bridge rattles that drive me nuts.

I have found that a big part of the Tune-o-matic's sound comes from those bridge posts. Changing the brass posts on my Les Paul to slightly longer stainless steel made a big difference, acoustically anyway. If the area under the bridge plate is solid, drilling some post holes and screwing the posts in far enough to "bottom out" might make for a livelier-sounding guitar. The holes would be hidden if you wanted to switch back to the Rick bridge.

[fabgear]

Dan,

SS is the way to go, IMO. I made some TOM bowtie bridges over the last couple years for some Beatles trib members that had concerns about their travel guitars going out of tune all the time (plus not being able to get "perfect" intonation w a fixed compensated bridge). My solution was to make a custom bowtie base and the protoype one I made used trimmed down stock TOM posts:



Here is it on one of the aforementioned Lennon Sullivan relic 325s:



John had told me about Collin's generous offer to rig one up on a Ric base he had and I think he did a great job! I was toying with the idea of making one similar when I made the first bowtie, but at the time I didn' t have any Rics that used a regular one. Seeing the one that Collin made John, it prompted me to get off my butt and finally make one.

My version is below:



The saddles in the top were just to fill the slots for photos; I didn't have any unslotted ABR-1 saddles here. The base is 1/8" thick aluminum, posts are SS metric screws with countersunk bases on the underside to lock in to the baseplate and align the posts vertical. My thought was that this would reinforce the posts, rather than relying on a few threads into the baseplate itself (the baseplate holes are threaded though). I also figured the SS would be a little more mass and a little stronger, plus you'd have the benefit of them not corroding.

I just used the screws I had here, but if I make more (I had someone ask, so I guess I'm making at least one more), I'll be using a flat head socket type to look more "finished". I rounded the corners of the base for aestethics and to flow with the rounded areas of the bridge itself.

I just sent this one to John to favor me with some testing, so I'll be interested to hear his thoughts on it!

-Jeff

[collin]

Nice baseplate, Jeff.

Great technique with the screws from the bottom, and it especially makes sense when you're building a base plate from scratch.

As for modifying an existing plate----the metal is plenty thick enough to simply drill/tap to accept the ABR-1 posts, flush to the bottom level, without fear that they'll rip out or anything. They are in about 4-5 complete threads.
The one thing I wish I did was screw the posts in further from the top side, and trim from the bottom (which would leave the top part gold, and cleaner). I guess that's what second attempts are for.

[fabgear]

Thanks, Collin. I hope you didn't take my post as a "dig" at yours.... I thought you did a great job, as well as a very kind guesture towards John.

It's isn't as much about them ripping out, but as you said when building one from scratch there's a few more options. I figured that the countersink would work like a "key" to lock in the post, and with them being SS they'd have more strength than what stock TOM posts can have, thus reinforcing the whole thing against tilting or bending of the posts down the road. They've also got permanent threadlocker on them, so once installed there wasn't a worry about them loosening up over time.

In actuality, while the aluminum should add some nice tonal qualities, it would be interesting to have the baseplate out of SS as well (which would add even more density and mass). I had an idea for a machined aluminum TOM-reminiscent bridge assembly but I don't have a way of getting one made. I might try to make a laminated aluminum one by hand to just work out as a prototype and experiment with. It would be larger than an ABR-1 and would have cleaner lines (ie, more modern and streamlined) but we'll see.

Don't feel bad about the trimed tops..... this was your "prototype" as well. Like you said, I'm sure the next one you make will be even better!

-Jeff

[sloop_john_b]

Thanks for taking the time to chime in here Jeff! I think the new baseplate should be arriving today; I'm looking forward to hearing if there's any audible difference between the two. While I'm still not quite sure why the guitar lacks the sustain of say, an ES-335 (might be the pickups at this point), it is inching ever closer to that creamy tone. I played it at a long rehearsal last night and it stayed in tune marvelously, all night, even with lots of Ac'cent usage. The guitar no longer has that tinny acoustic sound I used to associate with it - it rings loud and true.

I really recommend this mod!

[pfflam]

Anybody want to start a cottage industry?

Would Rick slam down with the heavy-hand?


.

I know that I had thought about figuring out a way of getting brass saddles on my Rick prior to even seeing this thread . . . .

Then again, for me, no guitar is "mine" till I have made at least two major changes to it

[sloop_john_b]

Clarification on the color of my guitar: It is supposed to be Blue Boy, but even to my colorblind eyes, it looks more like a bland greyish color with no "pop" to it whatsoever (which seems to be the consensus from the mostly untainted eyes I'm showing it to). I may try another refin on it, and so for now, I will withhold posting any photos of the guitar (other than some of the unique features, like the TOM bridge shown here and others).

[kiramdear]

The color does strike me as a little pale, but I thought it might have just been the camera.

[collin]

Thanks, Collin. I hope you didn't take my post as a "dig" at yours.... I thought you did a great job, as well as a very kind guesture towards John.

Ah, no way man. Not one bit.

We're all just trying stuff out, I think it's cool.

Anybody want to start a cottage industry?

Would Rick slam down with the heavy-hand?

How could they?

.....Unless they trademarked the existence of a 3" long piece of 1/2" aluminum.
quote]

[kingblud]

If one of these was for sale, I would definatly be interested. The Ric bridge occassionaly drives me nuts

[paologregorio]

I'm definitely interested; I've never considered modding my Rick bridges before, but JB's comments about increased sustain make sense, I've had a similar experience when switching from a Melitta to a Space Controller bridge on my Duo Jet. Also I had to use Loctite on my Rick bridge screws to get them to stay in place; I think it's because I use the Accent quite a bit, and I also like to employ controlled feedback for effect quite often. I think the vibration from the feedback shakes the screws loose, as does the rocking back and forth of the strings on the bridge saddles when I use the Accent. There have been a couple of times when I've looked down in shock at the bridge of one of my Ricks to see the brdge saddle moving back and forth as I used my Accent vibrato-nuts!!

[longhouse]

The TOM looks ace, John -'specially with the contrasting gold/chrome bits.

Good on yer.

Now, let's see the whole thing!