Hi Chris
I've just taken delivery of a Rick with black hardware, where the tailpiece was lifted, although not quite as seriously as yours by the look of that photo.
It's fixable though.
Replacement black Rick tailpieces are in short supply and, as you've found, expensive to buy when they do come up for sale. My best suggestion would be:
1. Remove the tailpiece from the bass and clamp it to a workbench. Gradually increase the pressure on the clamps until you reduce the lift to about half of what it currently is. Apply the clamps over the bracing, rather than at the very end of the unit as doing that can squash the unsupported gap at the very end, between the tailpiece and the body where the strings are anchored, which can cause problems when you need to change strings in getting the old ones out without damaging the body finish (as I found had been done to my black 8 string tailpiece when I bought it).
2. Invert the tailpiece and carefully drill through the two outermost hole markers nearest the butt end. Use a drill bit that's slightly smaller in diameter than the existing five screw holes on the tailpiece.
3. Once drilled out, carefully file the holes to the same diameter as the other tailpiece screw holes. Using a smaller drill bit and then filing should avoid marking the black finish surrounding the holes.
4. Once you've done this, re-fit the tailpiece to your bass, then insert a couple of 1 1/4 inch screws of the same gauge as the existing five screws through the new holes to anchor the end of the tailpiece firmly to the body of the bass. Clamping and compressing it back towards its normal shape first will help ensure that the next step works well, without the new screws deviating too far from the vertical plane. Tighten these screws very gradually, so as not to exert too much pressure on the tailpiece at once. Over a few days, you should be able to gradually screw it down so that it sits flat on the body once again.
5. At that point, re-string your bass, tune up, and you should be OK.
Fortunately, as I say, my problem was not as bad as yours so I didn't need to clamp it, but the rest of the process worked out just fine for me, and saved me having to firstly find and then buy a replacement.
Good luck!
Ash
