Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

fourstringfrank wrote:That sounds like a great Idea...do you have any pic of your Bass whit this mod done?....ohh one thing only.
The ground wire is attached to the metal plate that the mute pad is lying on...have you moved the ground wire or does it lies in place anyway?

This could easily be addressed by just replacing those twist knobs with bolts, whether you removed the foam or not the ground would still work.

cassius987 wrote:I play all over the place--with my fingers--and no matter where I am plucking, the A, D, and G saddles wobble and click loudly if I play at medium intensity or higher. When did you buy your Hipshot? I know there are "two versions" but according to Bill they are exactly the same except the second has a slightly different shape that doesn't infringe trademark. So I don't get why some experience wobble and some don't. It's not like you're saying, "Play softly," or anything. You're saying you have zero problems with it. Which boggles me... if mine did not wobble I'd like it quite a bit more.

I've had this one about 1 1/2 years, but have now idea which version it is.
I was checking it out over the weekend, and the only saddle I can get to move is the E. If I hit the string a certain way, I can get the saddle to rattle, but it's not how I would be playing either with fingers or a pick. The sound doesn't come through the amp either. So it's a non-issue.

I have ordered my second Hipshot bridge now...I will try the mod of the stock bridge when I get some spare time over....but as the Hip Shot has worked excellent on my 4003 and I like it a lot...(No saddle wobble or any other issues)...I thought that the only thing for me to do now was to order another one for my 4001c64s....OK the look of the stock bridge is cooler but....I must have bridge thar works for me and my needs.
Take care guys.
Best Dan.

teeder wrote:

cassius987 wrote:I play all over the place--with my fingers--and no matter where I am plucking, the A, D, and G saddles wobble and click loudly if I play at medium intensity or higher. When did you buy your Hipshot? I know there are "two versions" but according to Bill they are exactly the same except the second has a slightly different shape that doesn't infringe trademark. So I don't get why some experience wobble and some don't. It's not like you're saying, "Play softly," or anything. You're saying you have zero problems with it. Which boggles me... if mine did not wobble I'd like it quite a bit more.

I've had this one about 1 1/2 years, but have now idea which version it is.
I was checking it out over the weekend, and the only saddle I can get to move is the E. If I hit the string a certain way, I can get the saddle to rattle, but it's not how I would be playing either with fingers or a pick. The sound doesn't come through the amp either. So it's a non-issue.

Dane, when I have lots of time to right up a worthy review, I'll post a review of your mod. This week I'm in Denver and I don't have the focus to do a detailed enough review of your excellent work.

Dane, your mod sounds interesting. I didn't know about it when I bought my HS and since this bass is my main one to play out I wanted a quick fix. A two minute swap out was very attractive in my case.
Now my band is going on hiatus for a few months and may be completely done. I may take that time to have the factory tailpiece fixed up, among other things. I do prefer the stock look.

Hi guys...I´ve got my second HIPSHOT bridge for my 4001c64s....ive already got one HIPSHOT bridge on my 4003...it works splendid on the 4003.
But when I put the HIPSHOT on my 4001c64s some weird things actually happened.
1. I coudnt get the action as low as whit the stock bridge....really weird.
2. On this Hipshot bridge I got saddle wobble and some really annoying click sound....I don't understand it really.
3.So now I did my own mod on the stock bridge....I removed the damper screws and the damper metal plate...then i removed the damper foam to cover the wood/hole etc visible after the removing of the damper metal plate.
I also had to make a little mod so the ground wire got in contact whit the back of the stock bridge instead.
So now my 4001c64s both looks good and feels good for me.
Just wanted to share my little journey whit all you Ric freaks here .
Best Dan.

I'm glad (in a way) that someone else has verified my claim: saddle wobble and click galore can and in some cases does happen with the Hipshot, unfortunately. I'd have nothing against them were it not for this.

So I had to send my tailpiece back to Dane because I came up with an idea for a little extra routing etc., and swapped in a brass Hipshot from LONZO. It looks EXACTLY like the other two I have played that were aluminum (and both of those wobbled very badly).

This brass one? No wobble at all. It looks identical, even down to the depth of the grooves. What the heck?

Just thought I'd toss this in here, for some reason I can't find my old thread asking Hipshot users which type of metal they preferred.

Mine was brass.

I'll also say that it really does add sustain, again unlike the alum. ones I tried. It's worlds apart and yet it looks like the same bridge.

aceonbass wrote:I'm surprised someone would pay what a C64 costs and yet settle for something that doesn't look like it belongs .

I suppose following that same line of thought, would it also be surprising that someone would pay what a C64 costs and yet settle for a bass with rattling saddles (from the factory no less) ?

aceonbass wrote:I guess it hasn't been obvious that I can modify the stock bridge to work as well as the Hipshot for about the same price. I'm surprised someone would pay what a C64 costs and yet settle for something that doesn't look like it belongs .

I don't get this. I really couldn't see myself paying for a C64 and then irreversibly modifying the tailpiece either. From the pictures on here the Hipshot doesn't really look out of place (to me) and for the sake of $100 it must be preferable (from an investment point of view) to be able to reverse the mod and sell on as a factory original.

The number of people at any one gig who will be looking closely enough at the Ric, and be knowledgable enough to spot a non-original tailpiece must be pretty small (if any!), so I would prefer the more adjustable/playable tailpiece, rather than worry about some obsessive coming up to me and pointing out my non-original hardware.