Substandard bridge

[beatlefreak]

I guess they must have had quite a stockpile of them...

[aceonbass]

What may eventually happen is that you have auctions on Ebay pulled involving Hipshots by themselves or on RICs due to infringement. For those who don't understand the trademark issue, remember that one of the reasons people buy these is because they resemble the RIC part by copying a major element of it's "trade dress".

[cassius987]

So they are trademark infringing. If my bridge eventually bites the bucket, what do I replace it with? Another stock bridge? That seems like practicing poor judgement when so many have shared this problem.

[kiramdear]

It seems like the choices would be three: work with the stock bridge, get a hipshot while you can, or get another bridge/tailpiece that doesn't infringe. Bottom line for me is keeping the sound of my bass the same, the adjustments aren't that big, and the last two choices will change the tone. Some may desire the changes that a replacement will bring.
I've got perfect intonation, action now but there's no room for the saddles for further adjustment. Bridge angles extremely aft. It's kinky but somehow it works. Future may see me needing a replacement but till it breaks down completely I'll keep working with it 'cause the bass sounds perfect to my ears as is.

[aceonbass]

I would think that once the present Hipshot bridge runs out that they would have a non-infringing replacement. Remember that even the present Hipshot doesn't work for everyone. For instance, you can't get the saddles low enough with a Hipshot on 4001/3's with shallow neck angles. You can still do what Geddy did with a Leo Quan BadAss since they sit pretty low. As I've mentioned previously, the stock one can be modded to work great. One thing about RIC is that they go to lengths to make sure the chrome plating on all of their hardware matches. Most Hipshots I've seen have a different "hue" to them, and others I've seen have "yellowing" in the chrome in the saddle area that indicates poor nickel/chrome adhesion. I've definitely noticed the bridge issue dividing people into two camps. Those that replace it(minority), and those that keep the stock part with all it's warts(the majority). There should be a third camp made up of people that mod the stock unit, but to date only one person has had me do one and I haven't heard of anyone in ages having Mark Arnquist mod one. So it seems that as much as people ***** about it, most aren't willing do do anything about it. What people did ***** about in the late 80's was the extra two screws JH put in the tailpiece to stop lift.

[rickfan60]

I don't believe that to be a defect per se. The bridge on my DCM does that as have many newer ones I have seen. The screw hole drilled through the stem of the saddle is drilled slightly lower than it was on earlier saddles causing it to sit higher in the bridge. They rock around and look bad doing it IMHO. I just assumed it is a bad batch of saddles but maybe that is how they want them.

[bassduke49]

TED!

Great to see you back. You echo my diagnosis at the top of this thread (see photos). Please hang here. We need your advice!

[aceonbass]

I'll bet these newer saddles would sit perfect in the older 70's-80's bridges.

[ben_brown]

Enough of this Hipshot talk!
The thing is RIC shouldn't let things like this go out the door to begin with.
The fact remains the same....that's bull**** how those saddles fit that way. What happen to Quality Assurance?
The correct fitting saddles like the ones pictured below are actually cut curved to fit the curvature of the bridge.
They may not look like it but if you remove one and sight it you can see what I'm talking about.

Rant over....

[aceonbass]

RIC bass saddles are cast from zinc, not cut. Every one I've ever had, and that's considerable, has been flat on the bottom. Over time, I believe with downward pressure, they tend to bend and conform a little bit to the curvature of the bridge. This seems to be the case with the saddles I've encountered from the 70's. I don't think it's any more or less of a deal than "tail lift" and it seems most here don't consider that a problem. As I remember, Paul said this bridge came new to him with cut saddles, which makes them USED saddles.

[ben_brown]

Cast or cut....I don't believe they come perfectly flat. They must come this way from the factory. Even my 2005 4003 saddles were shaped to the bridge.
They were not flat....I can tell you that much.

[aceonbass]

I don't doubt it since I've never purchased a new 4003 or bridge, but every saddle I've purchased for my projects has been perfectly flat on the bottom.

[rickaddict]

I'll bet these newer saddles would sit perfect in the older 70's-80's bridges.

My first experience with these saddles was when I ordered a bunch in 2002 or 2003 to put on a 70's 4001. Same problem...they don't fit. I don't think the bridge piece has changed since '73. I use all of mine interchangeably.

[rickaddict]

I don't doubt it since I've never purchased a new 4003 or bridge, but every saddle I've purchased for my projects has been perfectly flat on the bottom.

What year did you start purchasing them?

[aceonbass]

About 6-7 years ago. The 3000 basses I was getting had slightly offset tailpieces, so I was repositioning them and re-cutting new saddles so the strings would line up properly. Come to think of it, those new saddles sat high in the 70's bridges, so I shimmed them, but in newer bridges I was getting they sat flush. One thing I've done to make them sit flush is to drill the saddle screw holes out to the next size up and countersink the holes on the one side a little deeper so the screws would shift downward in the bridge, taking the saddles with them and sitting flush. The deeper countersink would also allow the head of the saddle screw(I use Allan screws) to sit flush with the face of the bridge and not interfere with the downward adjustment of the bridge.