Bridge mods and palm muting

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 12:27 pm

Here is what I did to some of my Ric basses so I can palm mute ...

and here is one with a bartolini pickup in the mute cavity ...

bobcat · Post by **bobcat** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 1:32 pm

How easy (or difficult) is it to remove that obnoxious string separator on the mute like you have done? It always seems to get in the way, especially for those rare times I want to use a pick. Could you explain how to do it? I'm a little nervous to mess with anything beyond removing pickguard covers and adjusting action.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 2:03 pm

Actually the fireglo and jetglo basses pictured above have an allparts aftermarket tailpiece with a custom made bridge ... I had to remove the superstructure to get 5 strings in there ... I didn't want to modify a real ric tailpiece so I got the allparts tailpiece ... you need a dremmel, some time and a steady hand ... I friction fit a mute pad in the hole just to make it look better ... I alos ground down the vertical fins next to where the screw adjustmants were ... from a distance of more than a few feet it looks like the stock Ric tailpiece ... but I can palm mute any time I want ...

If I played a 4 string bass I would do this mod to a 4 string ric bass as well ...

loverickbass · Post by **loverickbass** » Mon Feb 21, 2005 7:04 am

...diggin'up an old thread from the grave again. Jeff, how's that Bart pickup sound in the mute cavity? Is it "jazzy" tone wise? I was thinking of getting one. Oh, and how the heck do you wire it without doing any mods?

Cole

rickfan60 · Post by **rickfan60** » Mon Feb 21, 2005 7:17 am

Yes, give us some feedback on that Bart. I am curious.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Mon Feb 21, 2005 7:41 am

First of all I took out the bart ... It was ok ... but a 1/4 pound jazz neck pickup fits better and sounds better and cancels hum better and it cost about half the price of the bart ... as per wiring I usually wire it into the same pot as the neck pickup either through the toggle or directly to the pot ...

The only humbuckers that sound good on a Ric bass are the series Ric HB pickups ... most humbuckers are wired parallel which removes the growl ...

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Mon Feb 21, 2005 7:46 am

The mute cavity pickup is only needed on the 4003s5 basses because their bridge pickup is overwound to 15k or 16k ohms ... the mute pickup adds a little treble bite ... also I sold 3 of my 4003s5 basses and I am thinking of selling the v63 one and just using my 425 conversion basses ... I don't like the look of "S" basses ... a 4003 looks better with inlays and binding ...