Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I have a 1989 4003 Blackstar and it is suffering from extreme tail lift. I hear the black finish tailpieces are susceptable to tail lift - more than the standard chome finish tails. I think the tail lift is affecting my ability to set the action where I want it (low).

The only tailpieces I see for sale in the Boutique are standard chrome finish. Does RIC sell black finish tailpieces any more? If not, does anyone know where I can get one? Or suggestions for fixing my tail lift?

Thanks!

New black parts are not available, but used ones do occasionally show up on eBay.

For a lesson on how to straighten one, follow he steps that I used and detailed in this thread:

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=161788&hilit=tailpiece&start=60

My 4003S/5 Blackstar's tailpiece was severely bent, and I was able to straighten it.
Note that I added two screws to the back of the tailpiece as "insurance" against future lift. The Redneck and Tuxedo basses had these screws:
I made a template from one of those for drilling the holes in the tailpiece that I straightened out.

If you have any specific questions about the procedure, let me know, I'll be glad to answer them.

A lot of early 80's Ricks had those also, my 85 4001FL has the extra two screws.

My Blackstar had a bit of tail lift as well. I thought about attempting to straighten it but I opted for a new one and had it powder coated. Just make sure you have the finisher mask the bridge well so the product thickness does not bind the bridge.

It's been two years and it still looks great!

Sepp

I know there has been massive discussion regarding the tail lift. I have personally never believed its a design or material flaw just because of lack of proof that it actually happens on a large scale. if it was such a big problem as is talked about in such a length as it is , 1- dont you think that Rickenbacker would have redesigned it or used better material 2- the bass wouldnt sell as well as it has if this really was a problem and not an urban myth??

is this a frequent occurrence due to weak materials and design or are people putting too much stress on it and causing it to happen?

has this happened a "few times" here and there and the over-dramatization has made this issue bigger than it is?

Gary, I see yours and ...WOW...that is F***ed up....I would probably **** if that happened to mine...I see it and believe this is not a doctored photo but geez I cant believe this is a wide spread disease.

with that being said...........it does seem silly to use such weak metal for one of the most important parts of the bass and why wouldnt it be secured further back than it is at the factory knowing this could be a possibility.

I have noticed that mine is not flat to the body. I can slip a pick into the space and this was not like this when I got the bass....but the space is only as thick as a pick, doesnt seem like an issue. on the other hand, that hipshot bridge looks pretty solid in comparison

Thanks guys! My tail lift is way less than your 'before' and a little more than your 'after'. Thanks for the thread, I'm not sure I'm up for bending it myself.
Sepp, can you recommend the place where you had it done? Or can anyone recommend a place in SoCal?

I can send you the name of the place I used. I'm in New Jersey so I know you can find places closer to you. I just looked in the Yellow Paged under metal re finishers and or metal platers or powder coating. I called around around to see if they did powder coating and I just stopped in to see the owner along with the part and explained what I needed. Metal re-finishers normally deal in large scale projects and mine was a tiny project so it sat until he got several items ready to powder coat black. I think ti took two weeks or so.

A co worker of mine does it on a small scale and it's quite easy actually butr you have to have the gear. The "paint" is actually a dry powder that is sprayed onto the part while the part is placed under an electric charge. The part is then heated in an oven to melt the powder and viola! Powder coated!!

Sepp

ricnbacker wrote:I know there has been massive discussion regarding the tail lift. I have personally never believed its a design or material flaw just because of lack of proof that it actually happens on a large scale. if it was such a big problem as is talked about in such a length as it is , 1- dont you think that Rickenbacker would have redesigned it or used better material 2- the bass wouldnt sell as well as it has if this really was a problem and not an urban myth??

Not so sure it's not a flaw, otherwise why would RIC have introduced the tailpiece with the extra screws (was that the 80's and 90's?). Somewhere I read the black parts were more likely to bend, maybe because of the powder coating process?

I can't vouch for how my Blackstar was treated before I bought it in 2000, but since then it's had GHS Bass Boomers on it for the most part. My '76 4001 has the slighest tail lift but the piece is normal chrome and it's had Rotosounds on it since the 70's. (although it now has D'Addario EXL 170 light strings).

Sepp, I'll send you a PM. And I might see if Paul W knows anyone or does it himself.

Damn, now I'm wishing I'd kept my Tux.

FYI - I emailed the factory in the off chance a black tailpiece was hanging around (it wasn't) and they referred me to Chris at Pick of the Ricks.

The worst case of tail lift I have seen was on a faker bass on eBay with a chrome tailpiece:

doctorwho wrote:The worst case of tail lift I have seen was on a faker bass on eBay with a chrome tailpiece:

RealBridgeLift-onafaker128977.jpg

Gary, ref that Faker bass on e-bay with the 90-degree angle tail lift - do you recall if anybody actually bought that engineering marvel ?

8mileshigher wrote:Gary, ref that Faker bass on e-bay with the 90-degree angle tail lift - do you recall if anybody actually bought that engineering marvel ?

I did not follow that auction ... fortunately!

Not a Blackstar - or even a black tailpiece - but my recently acquired 4002, on which I've just recently encountered a case of "live" tail lift.

On receipt the 4002 played beautifully, was very nicely set up with a straight neck, low action and good tailpiece, but with cheap nasty strings (no reflection whatsoever on Mark (Godber), from whom I bought the bass - he received it himself with these cheapo strings on). Whilst changing these for a set of Rotosound Swing Bass (40-100 gauge) however, I heard an almighty awful creaking noise that worsened as I slowly tuned the strings to concert pitch. On examining the tailpiece, I realised that it had risen by around 4mm at the rear:

Question is - will drilling out the two additional holes and just re-mounting the tailpiece with two additional screws be sufficient to cause the rear of the tailpiece to lower back to the point where it's level with the body again, or should I follow the slow "screw, clamp and heat" treatment described earlier int his thread?

Or - a third option - should I simply replace this tailpiece with a new one, on this basis that it would better stand the stress of Rotos than a 35 year old tailpiece?

Ash