Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

This morning I started to get my 4003 back to what it should be: hipshot bridge gone, and the original bridge on!!! To my ears it sounds again as it should be. Are there more who converted back to original?

I wish everybody a nice day!!!

Robin

not into masochism..... truthfully,if there is a tiny difference in the sound on my 4000 with the hipshot,it is to the good....for me for you,as randy jackson might say....

gothbin wrote:This morning I started to get my 4003 back to what it should be: hipshot bridge gone, and the original bridge on!!! To my ears it sounds again as it should be. Are there more who converted back to original?

I wish everybody a nice day!!!

Robin

You're not the only one, Robin. As I remember it, we have a member here who called the HS "****-tastic" and said that he has removed it and now keeps it inside a tube sock next to the drivers seat in his car for protection!

I can't really comment though. I have a HS, but I haven't installed it on anything yet.

I did the Hipshot thing for almost two months I guess. I eventually realized I had lost a lot of clarity in my sound--many of the notes had gotten fatter and muddier. I went back to the stock bridge after that and was a lot happier--the clarity came back.

I too tried the HS but went back to the RIC tailpiece - same reason, sounds right.

I've not tried the HS bridge, but IMO this is, like the choice of strings, just a matter of personal preference and what works for that individual on that individual's bass.

Peace, brethren!

amen,gary!

Don't worry, I don't think John or I feel like storming the village with pitchforks and torches on this one. Whatever floats your boat... I'm just saying I'm glad I went back.

cassius987 wrote:Don't worry, I don't think John or I feel like storming the village with pitchforks and torches on this one. Whatever floats your boat... I'm just saying I'm glad I went back.

Ditto - Not condemning, just my experience, as the OP had asked.

This is why Rickenbacker have such a big job with the fabled new bridge design.
However it functions, folks will still want it to sound and look right.
I really don't envy them...

Eden.

The Hipshot is so superior to the RIC ...............I can not even comment.

I put one on my old '97 4003 thought it was a real improvement in tone and sustain, but it changed the overall "feel" of the bass, and I took it off in the end.

But then again, Im a fanatic when it comes to setup on a bass.

For me, you can't beat the look of the stock bridge - but the Hipshot just works.

So if any of you returnees have a Hopsh!t (preferably black) you want to sell me for buttons...

Jon.

I kept the HS. Mostly, I like the ease of intonation adjustments, and the individual string height adjustments. As for the overall tone, who knows. After 40 years of pounding loud rock'n'roll through my ears, the HS sounds the same to me.