Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

All four of the intonation screws stripped on mine, so i removed them completely. Intonation is close but good enough to hold me till i get a Hipshot.

You WONT be disappointed if you get the hipshot, I got mine from Bass Parts Resource, $130 shipped in 1 week.

Adjusts intonation, string height and lateral string position. its phat.

Sometimes the screws can be hard to turn and makes working with an offset screwdriver a pain. I bought an offset screwdriver a long tome ago figuring it would make the job easier. I still end up taking the bridge out of the tailpiece and adjusting it with an ordinary philips screwdriver.

Rickenbacker should eliminate the phillips head screws and use an allen head screw the same size ... this makes intonation easier ... but still cumbersome ... with the allen head screws you can do minor adjustments ... but major adjustments still require detuning the strings and removing the bridge and adjusting it and then replacing it and retuning the strings ...

I hope the new bridge design materializes this year.

*Yes, they are very helpful with doorknobs, too! *
Never thought about that.Note to self-Check D/N intonation.
Bill

My doorknobs measure 2 cents shy of a Bb!

I guess you have to C# to open it!

Thanks for all of the great ideas, guys. I like Jeff Rath's idea of using the allen head bolts. I may actually convert mine over to that the next time I change strings out. Even with the bent screwdriver, the adjustment is less than ideal.

The 4003 is such an awesome bass; this is one challenging area it presents to its owners, it seems. Like others have posted, I'm interested to see what changes Rickenbacker might have on tap for this design.

Live. learn. share.Have fun!
Not in that order of course.

I currently have 14 Rick basses and I've found that the bridge just usually needs to be removed and "worked in" a little bit to loosen it up. Sometimes the holes in the bridge don't line up perfectly with the saddles. Sometimes the square post on the saddle fits too tight in the bridge.

I pull the bridge out and file the screw holes a little larger if they need it, or file the slots out a little if they need it until the screw can turn freely through its entire adjustment range the way it was intended. Be careful to not make the screw holes too large or the saddles fit too loose. You want it loose enough to adjust freely, but not so loose that it rattles.

Then I add a very light duty spring between the saddle and the screw head(RIC does this now too but they use a heavier spring than I do). This pushes the saddle back when you back the screw off.

I also use the same stainless steel phillips head screws that RIC uses today. They're stronger than the zinc plated screws that RIC used to use.

I use a good, sharp mini phillips screwdriver like this:



Once you have freed up all of the saddles so that they move freely, replaced the bridge insert, and re-strung, setting the intonation is simple: De-tune whichever string you are working on enough to pull it off of the saddle, then insert small screwdriver and turn. Without the string in the way your screwdriver rests against the tailpiece at a little bit of an angle, but that's okay...thats how phillips head screws were designed to work. Hold the screwdriver tightly against the screw and turn. Then put the string back into the saddle, re-tune and check.

In extreme cases it may be necessary to replace the saddles, or to buy a new bridge insert with new saddles but really...you should be able to get these RIC bridges to work as they were intended. All 14 of mine do!

With regards to the hipshot bridge...how many screws hold it in place?

Four, in existing mounting holes, so it is a drop in replacement.

Thanks Jeff

And. thanks to Jeff Rath for putting the socket head screws on my 4-2-5!