Will the Hipshot replacement bridge go lower..

[henry5]

..than the standard bridge on a vintage bass? I use very low action and am struggling to get my new acquisition in the ballpark; the bridge has run out of adjustment and it's still too high for me.

[cassius987]

No, it bottoms out well before the stock bridge. At the lowest possible setting it sits about 1-2 mm higher off the end of the fingerboard. That's one of my complaints about it. The other complaint is, the lower your action is the lower break angle on the saddles, which makes them more likely to wobble.

[henry5]

Ah, bummer. Looks like I'm stuck with too high (for me) action then. I could have the bridge routed into the body, but the nature of the bass (vintage and very rare) means I can't really take that route.

[cassius987]

I have a bass that came with a Hipshot bridge when I bought it used--a 4001FL. A luthier and I worked out that he could do some gentle filing on the saddles and replace the screws with flatheads, and then paralyze the saddles with washers, and it'd work out okay. In fact, it did work out pretty good. It's a great bass now. He also replaced the original nut with an ebony one and I like it a lot.

[aceonbass]

Shaun, exactly what year/model RIC bass is it? How much lower do you need the action? Is the neck adjusted flat and is the neck flexing at the body, causing a shallow neck angle? There may be a solution to your problem without using everyone's favorite RIC trademark violating part.

[berth]

The other complaint is, the lower your action is the lower break angle on the saddles, which makes them more likely to wobble.

+1 on this.

[henry5]

Dane, the bass is my newly acquired '71 21 fretter. It's a moot point because I've discovered even if I could take the action down I have no more intonation adjustment. Could be up for sale again soon, sadly. Would be fine for anyone who doesn't require super low action, but unfortunately I do.