Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Can somebody clue me in to the difference between saddles that go with the split tailpiece that went out in early '73 and the saddles that go with the later tailpiece? Thanks to Peter Heinzel I have two saddles that I'm sure are split tailpiece era, and I have two more that I think are correct. They appear to be the same, but the two I'm unsure of have slightly shorter screws -- and the two I'm unsure of came with the split tailpiece (good) but an incorrect bridge insert (bad).

Searches here only unearthed that there is a difference, but I'm not clear on what it is.

I m in awe (in advance this time) of the collective knowledge of this board. Thanks as always.

The original saddles were cast aluminum and rather round on top. The newer type are cast zinc and are angled with a point on top. Here is my '63 as an example.

The tailpieces themselves are very different. The old ones were cast aluminum. The slot in the center was where a "keeper" was placed during the casting process. The bottom part of the mold was pressed into sand and a flat piece of steel (the keeper) was pushed through the lower part into the sand. The lower part was removed leaving the keeper to help center the upper part. Molten aluminum was poured into the mold and allowed to cool. When the keeper was removed it left the distinctive slot found on the vintage pieces. After that, there was a really messy casting that had to be cleaned up alot before it was presentable. All of the work was done by Rickenbacker in a building on the property (the Electro string factory?) The later ones are cast zinc made by another company.

Wow - once again, thanks, Ted, for such a great detailed answer.

Has anyone tried casting to make replacement pieces for these? Seems like it would be one way to match up saddles to the correct size and shape. Having not cast aluminum since high school shop class, though, I don't know....

My 4000 has both versions. The older original type on the E, A, & D, and the newer version for the G.
I need an older one to replace the "G" saddle.
I'm not sure if you can see it in this pic.

Thanks, Ted and Kevin. I learn something new every day on this forum, which means I'll know all there is to know about Rickenbackers in approximately 40 years.

pacealot wrote:Wow - once again, thanks, Ted, for such a great detailed answer.

Has anyone tried casting to make replacement pieces for these? Seems like it would be one way to match up saddles to the correct size and shape. Having not cast aluminum since high school shop class, though, I don't know....

I haven't but that would be an interesting project. They could either be machined from bits of aluminum or cast in molds made from originals. In addition to the apparent demand for replacment parts they could be used to make the VRI tailpieces look more like the vintage ones. One thing I left out of my previous post is that the originals appear to have been anodized. The coating inhibits corrosion and makes them prettier.

The original tailpieces sound better too; there's more metal in them.
Re-casting these would be a boon to Ricks world wide.

I really doubt, that the alu-saddles sound better than the zink ones, but this fact holds true for the more-metal-tailpieces sounding better than the late 70ies ones. However the sound of the alu-Hipshot replacement comes very close to the old tail pieces, at least I could not hear a difference.

heinpete wrote:I really doubt, that the alu-saddles sound better than the zink ones, but this fact holds true for the more-metal-tailpieces sounding better than the late 70ies ones. However the sound of the alu-Hipshot replacement comes very close to the old tail pieces, at least I could not hear a difference.

Thats very good to know!

emac.

heinpete wrote:I really doubt, that the alu-saddles sound better than the zink ones, but this fact holds true for the more-metal-tailpieces sounding better than the late 70ies ones. However the sound of the alu-Hipshot replacement comes very close to the old tail pieces, at least I could not hear a difference.

The Aluminum HS tailpiece cartainly made my V63 sound better than with the factory reissue piece.

teeder wrote:The Aluminum HS tailpiece cartainly made my V63 sound better than with the factory reissue piece.

I wonder how the Hipshot tail would compare tone wise with the 7-screw tail?

My guess is they would be close. The tailpieces with a little lift can't help sustain/tone, IMO.
The HS added sustain/punch, and cleaned up the highs on this V. My MG V63 didn't suffer from this condition. They now sound comparable.