Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

leftybass wrote:Okay, here's one for everyone to discuss as well.....

What do you do when you have a lifting tailpiece on a 4001 (tailpiece is a V63 style), and all you have ever used on it is .040-.095 light gauge rounds...????

Time to go piccolo bass John!

LOL, you may be right Andy.

I can only speculate that it must be looked at on a case-by-case basis, for my '79 that I've had for about 30 years has had the same strings on it (incl. Rotos for a period in the 80's) and only has minimal lift.

This tailpiece I speak of has had a noticeable lift to it since about 2006. .040-.095s always. You can't go much lighter than that.......puzzling.

leftybass wrote:Okay, here's one for everyone to discuss as well.....

What do you do when you have a lifting tailpiece on a 4001 (tailpiece is a V63 style), and all you have ever used on it is .040-.095 light gauge rounds...????

Is it really lifting? My '98 that I got from Chris Pappas looked like it might have a slight bit of lift, but when I put a straight edge next to it I found that the tailpiece is fine; the body is not totally flat, it has a slight curve to it as it gets to the edge of the body, instead. Check that out first.

Jeff, so far what I have to say is based on a visual interpretation, I haven't looked at it 'scientifically' yet but putting a straight-edge on the body is something I'll look into. IF it proves to be something funky then I may bring it along to MARF.

You know how people 'know' their own instruments; you spend a lot of time with them and notice changes, etc......this is something that has become different over a period of time...but we'll see....I'll do some checking.

In retrospect, I suppose my headline can be misunderstood, but I made it quite clear in the body of the message that out of the 15 Rick basses I currently have in house, this replacement bridge is the only one with this defect. And it is substandard. I'm not talking about the design (that gets enough press), only the fact that the screw holes in the saddles appear to be misaligned. I thank everyone for their suggestions, but I was really hoping for a resolution from RIC to begin with. Something like, "yeah, we had some saddles that were bad and some of them got out before we caught it, just send the saddles/bridge in and we'll get you a good one." Or maybe POR would say "oops, looks like we accidentally sent you one that was traded in previously for a good one." (This one I got from POR had the saddles notched already, indicating that it wasn't really new.) But having talked with Kenny and Chris and not gotten a solution, a repair seems the only fix now.

Perhaps if you let both of them know that each is trying to get the other to resolve this?

Paul, thanks for that post. Maybe I was a bit harsh with my opinion of your thread title. Knowing you and your love for RIC instruments, I do find it hard to believe that you would say something inapropriate towards RIC. You're right, he thread title can be misunderstood.

The title of this thread and tone of it from the outset made me resolve not to participate and provide the detail that explains why this part is this way and what to do about it. It only went downhill from there.

Thanks John. It would seem that, in spite of our love of Rickenbackers, we still have something to learn about tone. For my role in this, please accept my apology.

johnhall wrote:The title of this thread and tone of it from the outset made me resolve not to participate and provide the detail that explains why this part is this way and what to do about it. It only went downhill from there.

Personally I think it'd be really cool if you would address the details anyways. Clearly the OP was not implying that all RIC bass bridges are substandard, just the one bridge he received recently. Do you still recommend that tape material to stop rattle?

leftybass wrote:Okay, here's one for everyone to discuss as well.....

What do you do when you have a lifting tailpiece on a 4001 (tailpiece is a V63 style), and all you have ever used on it is .040-.095 light gauge rounds...????

Light gauge doesn't necessarily mean light tension.