Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Not sure where I should post this, but I have a black Hipshot bridge I removed from my 4004 Cheyenne I need to unload. I bought a Ric bridge from the ric-outlet, so I no longer need this. Excellent condition, no mounting screws. Let me know.

Is it brass or aluminum?

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What Hipshot bridge did you have on your Cheyenne? Not the RIC replaement bridge, I hope. That would have looked kind of odd.

No. It is this one.

it's a hipshot "A" style bridge.

Why did you replace this with the ABM bridge? When I had my 4004Cii I fould that I could not get the action low enough with the stock ABM bridge and the A style Hipshot allowed quite bit of adjustment with room to spare. I also really like the string release slots. Another thing I like about the Hipshot is that it is much easier to adjust the string spacing without having to pull up or loosen the strings to move the roller saddles on the ABM. The ABM bridge is very nice but the Hipshot is nicer IMHO.

It just didn't agree with me. I'm not a fan of the string slots, kind of a pain to restring for me. I don't have a string height problem with the ABM bridge, I keep my action a little higher than most peoples liking, plus I'm a sucker when it comes to keeping things stock, so to speak. Question for you though Jeff, if I was to try a toaster or high gain in my Cheyenne, would it make the most tonal difference in the bridge or neck position. I still love that 4001 tone.

Chris, I have a Cheyenne that Jeff Scott had put toasters in both positions. It sounded good but after I got a Laredo I found that I really liked the hb1 pickups. So I decided to try a toaster in the neck and a hb1 in the bridge. I really didn't like the way it sounded with both pickups on at the same time, it's like they were fighting each other. Played separately they were fine, just didn't sound right when together.

For 4001 tone I recommend.... a 4001, that's why I have 3 4004's and 4 4001's. You just aren't going to get a 4001 sound out of a 4004. I do recommend if you are unsatified with your 4004 sound that you look at amps that are known for their clarity/hi-fidelity, I discovered Markbass last year and it really changed my mind about how good a 4004 can sound. Also the Cii is a little warmer sounding due to the walnut sandwich body, a Laredo is all maple(brighter tone) and has a thinner neck, it's not as pretty as a Cii, but has other characteristics that I prefer.

I usually run my 4004C thru my Mesa M-Basis 200 head and it sounds great. E string is a little to woofy for my taste. I was just wondering if swapping pups would help take away some of the E strings woofiness. Whenever I play on the E, the notes are almost undefinable.

Sorry, it's a M-Basis 2000.

Mine was like that.

Try some different strings. I tried D'addario, GHS, and finally picked up DR High-Beams. They worked great on my CII>

Also adjust the string over a little bit more into the "field" of the pickups, this may help.

+1 on the DR hi-beams for the 4004, excellent sound quality.

For me the HB-1s were to dark sounding, where the toasters gave the Cheyenne more of the classic Rick tone. Strings do make a difference and pickup height will also affect tonality, so try those first, unless you already have toasters to try in the bass. Keep in mind that you want toasters that are for guitar, as those have the wood screws and larger mounting holes in the baseplate.

Toasters are quite a bit lower in output than HB-1s so you might want to get them as close as possible to the strings.

My recommendation is that if you also have a 4001/4003 don't ever expect a 4004 to sound good with the same amp/eq settings. I know this may sound obvious but I tried for some time to get a good sound from my 4004s and 4003s and was never able to get a good compromise. Start from scratch and dial it in.

If you want it to sound more like a 4001/4003 I'd say forget it. You'll never get a 4001/4003 to sound like a 4004 either. I'll buy it back if it isn't working out for you.