Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I recently purchased a 1978 4001 ....Very punchy and warm sounding bass with great tone...no dead spots..
I noticed the bridge was sitting perfectly upright 90 degrees to the tailpiece..not drooped back like most 4001 Rics.... This is actually desirable and nice since the saddle screws are now easy to access for intonation..
After taking it apart I find that the two 6-32 hex set screws used for the bridge height adjustment are 1" long instead of the normal 5/8" length.... Next I noticed that the holes for the height set screws were completely drilled through the metal tailpiece straight into the wood body... SO the height adjusting screws go down into the wood for this bass...They still thread into the bridge..
Well, I did some experimenting..I put on another tailpiece from the 1970's..original, thus not being not drilled through.. ANd sure enough the bass lost some of the warmth and tone...I also created a problem...I now had dead notes i did not have before..and the E string now had less output and less punch...
SO I put the bass back the way I got it...and the sound came back...
This mod seems to make the bass have a thicker fatter mid-range....
I figure i would throw this information out there ..it might be usefull info to someone..
Has anyone seen this modification before???
Has anyone done this ???
I plan on trying this on another 4001 I have that has a wimpy E-string...

Best Regards
Chris

oh ... I thought this thread was about something completely different ... oh well ...

Interesting observations. I have been considering that mod one of mine.

Hmmm....

My 2004 4003 tailpiece has the bridge height setscrews going into the wood also, the tailpiece having holes where they go through. I had noticed the wood was scaring a bit, and wondered if that is the way it should be. BTW, I have no dead notes and a decent E string. And I like the tone I get. Nothing to compare it to in this Rick wasteland - never see any others. I can say it sounds really good unamplified.

OK, I took the plunge and drilled out my tailpiece. The allen screws are resting on the wood. So far, I have to say that the notes I used to avoid seem to ring better. The open E string seems clearer. I will play it for a few days so I can form an opinion one way or the other. I have had this bass since 1981. The dead open E string always annoyed me.

I think you may have something there Chris. My 79 4001 came with that same mod when I bought it about 6 years ago, also came with a wooden nut and had been re-fretted and the neck was left unvarnished. It's a great sounding and playing bass, still very bright but very full sounding, I played it tonight. The E and G strings are also loud on this bass but the buttons are also much closer in height than most Rics I've owned or seen so I'm not sure which is responsible. I have always liked the way this one plays and feels though, I can also bend strings much easier on this one than others I own which may be due the lack of varnish, I don't know. I think the volume of the notes are more uniform also. This bass also has a lot of presence.

Hipshot tail......there is no substitute !!

Ted....
To do this right you need to replace the stock 5/8" long set-screws with 1" length set-screws... The 5/8" mightnot go deep enough into the body and still be able to adjust the bridge properly.. By eye it looks like mine go 1/4" deep into the body..I will measure...
These are 1" black oxide 6-32 hex set-screws...
I bought a pack of 50 from McMaster Carr...so if you need some let me know..I also bought a small pack of the chrome plated set-screws as well, since they might look nice on the bass...

Chris

"Hipshot tail......there is no substitute"

I hope to get mine very soon. There is alot of lift on the origonal..

Very interesting.
I don't like the idea of drilling holes into my Ricks. It's not a problem on all of 'em. My 4000 sits perfectly straight up & my 4080 has a very small rearward tilt. Both are very punchy.
My 4001 had the tilt problem in spades! It would throw the intonation off higher up on the neck until I grabbed the bridge between songs & pulled it back to the vertical. No dead spots, though.
The Hipshot works wonderfully.

My set screws are also 1 inch long. I never even knew it was modded until a few years after I bought the bass as it is not a visible mod. I took it apart for some reason. I wouldn't modify a 4080 or a 4000 in any way either.

My 4080 has tremendous low-end. I have always attributed it to the massive body.

Same with mine! Punchy as anything & plenty of lows.

I'm really curious about the drilled through tailpiece. You'd have to go down into the wood a little bit to keep the screws stable.

Here's a suggestion: take the tailpiece off the guitar to drill out the holes through the tailpiece, that way there won't be holes in the body.

Also, when buying set screws, be aware that there are different ends available:



Too bad they don't make the Round Rotating ones in the size needed.