Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I've narrowed down my issue with my 1968 Ric 4001 bass to the bridge as it's an allparts replacement. Has anyone found that the Allaprts bridge is WAY too high? My action is terrible as I move up the neck. It should have the aluminum bridge that's pre '73, so I'm wondering if that bridge is supposed to be alot lower than a post 1973, and the allparts bridge.

Thanks so much everyone!

Kevin

The dimensions of the old sandcast bridge and the allparts bridge are about the same (as far as height goes)
However the earlier Rickenbacker basses had a thinner neck which resulted in less of a height difference between the end of the neck and the body (less clearence) Mix that with the problems of colapse in the neck joint area (the large pickup route created a weak point) and you frequently get a high action...
Use lighter strings (if you can) to keep the stress of the neck joint.
Slot the saddles on the bridge deeper.
It may need a bit of reconstructive sugery in the neck joint area and in the pickup route to wedge the neck back where it should be. (I did this on my 74 and got a substantual improvement, and a lot less neck whip) It is a slightly drastic move though..
This neck joint colapse is the most common reason for the original bridges going missing, as folks tended to fit other bridges that could be set lower. (very common in the 70s)
emac.

You'll want to go with a Rick TP anyway. The Allparts ones
are pretty flimsy.
Take a straight edge and rest it on the finger board and over the body to check for
degree of neck fold. You should have(I say SHOULD) the shallow neck cavity so fold shouldn't
be too bad.
Chances are you can get the action where you want it by just
filing your bridge slots deeper.
You can get a bit lower by filing a little off of the bottom of the bridge(not TP) itself.
Did that on my 69 and what a player!

...as you anyway don't have an original bridge. The hipshot is definietly the lower bridge profile as for some early 4003 you have to screw the saddles really high up. But for the 4001 you could leave the saddles pretty down and it will result in a nice playability. For the sound and weight I prefer the alu hipshot bridge.

chefothefuture wrote:
You can get a bit lower by filing a little off of the bottom of the bridge(not TP) itself.
Did that on my 69 and what a player!

I had to do this on my former '68 4000 when it was new. I don't believe it had a neck pickup route.

aceonbass wrote:What's more, once you drop the Hipshot saddles all the was down, they tend to rattle and slide back and forth.

+1. Had the same experience.

ilan wrote:

aceonbass wrote:What's more, once you drop the Hipshot saddles all the was down, they tend to rattle and slide back and forth.

+1. Had the same experience.

-1. Not here.

On the Hipshot, if you back out the height screws too far, so that they no longer protrude underneath the saddles, then the saddles will indeed go wandering. You can, however, achieve the lowest saddle height (bottom of the saddles flush with the base plate) whilst still having one of the screws slotting into the locator groove in the base plate. This should eliminate the slippage that is being experienced.

3 THINGS I WANTED ON THE HS BRIDGE BEFORE IT WAS PUT INTO PRODUCTION WERE:
1. REDUCE THE THICKNESS OF THE SADDLE, OR THE BASS PLATE BECAUSE HEIGHT ADJUSTMENT WAS DEFINITELY AN ISSUE
2. BALANCE THE SCREW SLOTS TO EITHER 2 ON THE OUTSIDES OR, 1 EACH ON THE OUTSIDES AND 2 IN THE CENTER. THE UNBALANCED LOOK REALLY PUCKERS MY SPHINCTER.
3. RECESS OR CARVE OUT THE BACK OF THE BRIDGE SO YOU DONT SEE THE STRING AND ADJUSTMENT SCREW HOLES.

THESE 3 ITEMS WOULD HAVE RENDERED AN AWESOME UPGRADE TO SOLVE THE INFAMOUS
" PROBLEM THAT NEVER EXISTED "

I'm trying hard not to picture Dorothy with a puckered....

Oh, never mind.

Welcome, Dorothy. Please adjust your keyboard so that the caps lock is off. Thanks. All caps is the written equivalent of "shouting," and is just plain hard to read sometimes.

Tell us more about yourself and your Rick(s)!

Building bridges to a better tomorrow?

antipodean wrote:On the Hipshot, if you back out the height screws too far, so that they no longer protrude underneath the saddles, then the saddles will indeed go wandering. You can, however, achieve the lowest saddle height (bottom of the saddles flush with the base plate) whilst still having one of the screws slotting into the locator groove in the base plate. This should eliminate the slippage that is being experienced.

+1 - Just installed Hipshot. Had the D string rattle, so i searched for a thread like this with answers . Once I lined up the allen screw with the groove, I was all set. All saddles are as low as can be. Action is a little higher than with the stock bridge so, I still need to work on that.

My reasoning for going with the Hipshot was I had too much trouble palm muting with the stock bridge.

aceonbass wrote:What's more, once you drop the Hipshot saddles all the was down, they tend to rattle and slide back and forth.

Cassius actually had to inset his Hipshot into the body for this very reason.