Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Yeah, the bass necks have been getting progressively more Fender-like as the years go on. Not a bad thing, just . . . I really hope they don't start fanning out wildly as they approach the higher frets . . . that's the only real problem I have with bass necks . . . when they get REALLY wide with only four strings.

Also, does anyone think it would be feasible to take a stock 4003 pickguard and put it on a 4004? I know it sounds blasphemous, but it would be on like a 4004L, not one of the lovely figured maple 4004Cii's . . . I think it would look amazing, but is that a reasonable thing to do? Like, for example, on that 4004 that Jeff posted with the toasters . . . would a 4003 pickguard fit on there? I'm thinking maybe a mapleglo 4004L (with walnut wings, of course), put a 4003 pickguard on, swap in a neck hi-gain at the bridge and a toaster at the neck, wire the two controls as stacked VT/VT knobs . . . MMMMMMMMMMMM . . . gorgeous . . .

You mean like this?

Nope.

Hi-gains, please!

Well - OK, perhaps a neck hi-gain at the bridge and toaster up top...*tut*

So, is the consensus on a high-mass bridge like the Badass: more mass=more sustain, less mass=more lows?

I don't think that's true. At least not in my experience. I put a Badass II on one Rick and later a Schaller on another, but it was more for having an easy to adjust bridge. I can't say it changes the sustain or tone all that much. It does, but it still sounds like a Rick to me. Listen to Geddy's bass after all!

If anything I found that brass bridges (which I wouldn't use anymore) have more lows and less highs. A steel bridge would give you more highs. Zinc, which is what the Badass, Schaller and even Rick bridges is made from, has a nice balance of tone.

The other thing about the stock 4001/4003 bridges is the aluminum saddles. Aluminum has the same modulus as wood, or so I have heard... so I think the stock bridge/tailpiece gives you a bit more resonance. A more solid bridge will give a more "modern" tone, but not necessarily because of the mass. It's more about how it reflects or absorbs the string's energy. More reflection=more sustain.

Personally I like aluminum bridges.