4-2-5 Cii Monty

[qwezirider]

I was just having a little fun with you, Bruce.

Oh, I know you were. All is good here.

Each of the three methods certainly has its own advantages and disadvantages. As far as bridges, I found a 2 1/2" spaced bridge in my pile of parts, but it's black, bulky, and ugly (came off a Samick 5 string). And I'm just not ready to part with what a Schaller bridge costs retail. Not this month. 2 3/8" gold bridges seem tough to find as well. So when I came across the single string bridges yesterday with the right spacing and price, I jumped on them. If they look butt ugly laying there on the bass before I drill anything, they'll be sold again.

[qwezirider]

I'm not doubting Paul or Dale or any COMPETENT luthier could do this, but it seems like a high price to pay to add a string.

Well, now that particular conversation did come up around the dinner table last night when my financier (a.k.a. lovely wife) mentioned how nice it would look in a jade or teal glo.

[aceonbass]

Modding the headstock on this bass would be easy actually. Both headstock wings would be cut off right where the tuner holes start. New walnut wings would be grafted on, cut, drilled and refinned to match the original finish. Keeping the bass from losing value is one aspect I keep in mind when modding one. Spending $300.00 to mod a $1200.00 4003 and then only being able to sell it for $1100.00 does not make good sence.

[jwr2]

I usually have a few spare 2 3/8" bridges in my bin of spare parts ...

[qwezirider]

If the bridges on the way fail, I may hit you up for a sale of one.

[johnallg]

I'm not doubting Paul or Dale or any COMPETENT luthier could do this, but it seems like a high price to pay to add a string.

Well, now that particular conversation did come up around the dinner table last night when my financier (a.k.a. lovely wife) mentioned how nice it would look in a jade or teal glo.

There you go! Nice to have the "bank manager" on your side! I jest in fun, but when married and sharing one's lives, it is not always a lone decision. AND she has real good taste in color. A transparent jade on that would look stunning, and the headstock could be done correctly.

[aceonbass]

As an example, cost wise, a fellow form member is 4-2-8 ing his 4004 per my headstock design. The cost of modding the headstock and refinishing it will be between $400.00-$500.00. A 5 string headstock would be less expensive since it wouldn't have to be cut and lengthened. He'd probably say he'll be buried with the bass, but if he ever sells it, he'll get every penny out of the instrument he put into it.

[VRICKY63]

Im always looking for a gold replacement bridge for my 4-2-5 . Hipshot has a .708 ,what the hell is that ? I um.......polished the gold off the bridge Jeff installed

[jwr2]

Those bridges are hard to find ... but my stash includes 2 gold, 1 chrome and several black ones ... I need to save one gold for myself for a future 4-2-5 project so I could sell one of my gold 5 string bridges.

And when It comes to my Ric basses I rewire them, drill holes in them, change the bridge, modify the pickups ... I am not the kind of guy who has a mint vintage Ric laying around ... I had a few of them and they bored me so I sold them off ... My basses serve me well ... if others don't like them then it really doesn't bother me ... when most people see my Rics they have no idea they are modified ...

[atomic_punk]

Dane and Jeff ( and Mark, and several others) have differing points of view on the headstock drilling thing, but no one method is "right" and no other is "wrong". I've played most of Jeff's basses and they play great. And for me, that's what it's all about.

[jwr2]

Steve:

I am having trouble getting Dave to finish making parts for me ... it seems he is too busy to finish ...

[markbass99]

Yup, the value thing was something I considered when I did the first one. After it was done and I realized how much it improved the instrument(for me) the value issue kind of disappeared. When I decided I was going to do a couple more conversions to some Laredo's I considered doing it the "right" way since they could be refinished, but in the end I realized that even doing it the proper way was modding the instrument and could effect the value some down the road. The final piece of the puzzle was realizing that the mod improved the instrument enough that I felt I wanted to keep it forever, this creates a value issue for my heirs but not for me. In the modded form these basses(4004's) have a high perceived value for me since you can't go out and buy one, RIC doesn't make anything like this and even when the five string production starts again the necks will probably be wider(2" nut).

[jwr2]

a 4-2-5 is not for a purist or a collector ... it is for a player with specific tastes ...

I wonder how many more years it will be before Ric makes a 5 string bass again ... if ever

They have to do some R & D to come up with a new pickup that can cover a 2 3/4" string spacing before they can produce a 5 string bass again. I don't think they will use an off the shelf pickup built by another company.

[qwezirider]

All dressed up and nowhere to go!!!

Toys showed up in the mail today and I have to go play a show in an hour. Then tomorrow it's a day trip to L.A. I can't do a thing until Sunday! ARRRRRGGGHHHH!!!!!

[aceonbass]

To achieve the proper spacing, do those have to be spread out or touching? That might not look to bad actualy.