Rickenbacker 4001/3 bridge unit (not tailpiece) wanted

[henry5]

Hi, does anyone have a used Ric 4001/3 bridge unit (preferably with saddles but ok without) going spare that they’d be interested in selling? I don’t need the tailpiece, just the bridge unit. It’s for an aluminium tailpiece routed for a later (wider) bridge unit. I’ve put this in ‘Rickenbackers wanted’, but I’m not sure many people visit there anymore. I hope it’s not a problem me posting it here too.

Thanks in advance.

[rickenbrother]

Any luck finding one?

[henry5]

Not so far…I might check Reverb. Amazing how new replacements seem to have disappeared. I know they’re no longer in production but there always seemed to be some available…until they weren’t.

Good luck, Shaun. I suspect you will find what you seek, sooner or later.

[rickenbrother]

I know they’re no longer in production but there always seemed to be some available…until they weren’t.

That's happened to me many times with all kinds of products that I know are available but as soon as I consider buying one, they're gone.
Good luck with your search.

[henry5]

Thanks Joey. Makes me wish I’d stocked up on stuff along the way, just in case, but hindsight is a wonderful thing, right?

[rickenbrother]

Perhaps someone who has installed the new-style tailpiece on their Rick wouldn't mind selling the old bridge.

[Uffingdon]

Not sure if this would be of interest to you but I came across this bridge unit on Project Guitar Parts in the UK who sell Hofner parts as well as vintage parts for many brands.
It looks like something that has been cobbled together but to me at least the bridge unit looks like a genuine RIC part of some age.

[henry5]

Thanks, I’ll have a look at that. I’ve never heard of them before.

[henry5]

After looking at one of mine, it looks like someone has had some big old strings on that! I’m wondering if the height adjustment screws will be the correct size too, or if they’ve been replaced…hmm. Might be worth a punt, possibly.

[Uffingdon]

Looking again I wonder if the wooden bridge base has been shaped to fit in the route for where the tailpiece would have sat?

[jps]

Looking again I wonder if the wooden bridge base has been shaped to fit in the route for where the tailpiece would have sat?

If so it would have made the saddles sit rather high.

[Uffingdon]

“If so it would have made the saddles sit rather high“

Agreed, maybe I should explain a bit of my thinking it’s just an idea though. Maybe the original tailpiece folded itself in half (it happens right) from string tension and the work around was to remove it and place the bridge unit/wooden base in the route of the body then simply use a stop tailpiece to anchor the strings to get by?
Back in the 70’s/80’s it was almost impossible to get parts for Rickenbacker’s (Wing Amplification Ltd) in the UK and I’m talking from personal experience.

[henry5]

I contacted them but it had already gone.

[jps]

“If so it would have made the saddles sit rather high“

Agreed, maybe I should explain a bit of my thinking it’s just an idea though. Maybe the original tailpiece folded itself in half (it happens right) from string tension and the work around was to remove it and place the bridge unit/wooden base in the route of the body then simply use a stop tailpiece to anchor the strings to get by?
Back in the 70’s/80’s it was almost impossible to get parts for Rickenbacker’s (Wing Amplification Ltd) in the UK and I’m talking from personal experience.

Possibly. It is certainly a better solution than the large piece of wood that Jon Camp used that he replace his bridge with on his old white '74 4001. Fortunately, a subsequent owner corrected that silly idea.

[maxwell]

I do not have a Ric bass, nor do I know anything about them. But when this thread first appeared I did a simple search and this was on top of the search results:

https://babiczguitarsusa.snappages.site ... ***-bridge

I mean, if a Genuine RIC bridge is unavailable and if the alternative is a copy of some sort, then maybe this could be considered. If it is totally inappropriate, re-read my opening statement.