Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Elys, that is accurate; I set the camera up to look straight across the top of the body to show the actual amount of lift.

The older three screw tailpieces do not lift as they are a solid casting, not hollowed out like the later five screw version.

Elys, that <rant> HTML tag must be in the newest release? ...

Jeff, that does look high, but, again, stability is the thing - as you have stated, it is not a problem.

If I get a chance, I will try to take similar shots of some of my other basses for comparison (including the Redneck and Tuxedo, which have the extra screws).

Good point Jeff, except for the 1990 400x, none of my 4001s are younger than 1973. The 1990 has the same strings with which it left the factory, and has no detectable lift at all. I will get a photo of that one up soon.

<togary> that's not HTML 4.0, that is ELYS 4.0 </togary>

A little IT humor at the end of the day, I like it!

Jeffrey: Does the bridge stay tilted back like that all the time?

Yes, it does; the string pressure keeps it from rocking. Since it intonates properly that way I don't have any problems with that.

+1. My 68 is tilted back, but the intonation is good and it's stable, so I don't mess with it beyond that.

I came up with a simple reversible mod to stop bridge tilt on my former V63. Let me know if there is any interest. It had a very slight tailpiece lift but not enough to bother me. I used GHS compression wound 105's on it. My first Rick bass a '68 4000 purchased new had a different issue. I could not lower the bridge enough. That one I had to sand down the bottom surface of the bridge to get it where I wanted it. There was no rock or lean because I didn't need the height screws. No lift either.

I'm interested!
I've used dimes & washers under the bridge, but the lack of adjustability always bothered me.

I don't believe a guitar can stay intonated like that. You can grab the bridge with your hand and move it, can't you ? I could when mine looked like that.

I suppose with enough force I could move it, but it hasn't been a problem.

OK Kevin here you go.

To prevent bridge lean/tilt I preformed the following mod. This worked very well for me. I took a couple of nuts, the same screw diameter and thread pitch as the bridge height adjusting screw, and locked them onto a screw. I turned down the outer diameter (OD) so that they were round. I did this on a lathe. The OD must be small enough to not have an interference fit in the tailpiece casting. I took these nuts and secured them onto the bridge height adjustment screws with permanent Loctite (red 271, 272, or 277). I locked them in a position so that the bottom of the adjusting screw is touching the bottom of the appropriate hole in the tailpiece, at the same time that the nut is touching the recessed surface of the tailpiece. It was necessary to have the screws adjusted specific for each of the two positions. In my case they were not interchangeable. I have drawn a simple sketch to illustrate the concept. The thing is with this you only need to replace the two height screws to reverse the mod. If you don’t have access to a lathe you may be able to grind the nuts down by hand or by chucking them up in a drill motor and using a file. I had ample room on my V63 between the bridge and the tailpiece because of the height needed for proper action. If you don’t have clearance at least as thick as the nut this will not work for you.

The only tail lift that scare me is when I'm behind a horse.

Seriously, is it a real huge problem for some of you and if it is how? All my 4001's have it and it hasn't been a problem. So I'm just wondering what the real concern is.

Wasn't there a thread about the aluminum hipshot replacement tailpiece ... that would be one way to stop the dreaded tailpiece lift ...