Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I have a C64 originally purchased from Pick Of The Rics. It is one of only five white ones made for them. Tail lift has become extreme. All of my Rics have some, most is minor. I'm considering the new Ric bridge/tailpiece as a solution, but have concerns about drilling into what is a pretty rare bass....what would you do?

I have the opposite issue as I was looking at one of the new 2020 checkerboard 4003's and was wondering if the vintage bridge retrofits? Sorry to hijack but the entire matter of how to switch back and forth V1 or V2 seems relevant.

I'd opt for the new tailpiece, yes, you do need to drill new (additional holes) but the kit comes with a neat template to locate and facilitate placement.

The other option would be to find an early 70's cast Aluminium tailpiece, or, you could opt for a Hipshot which drops in with no additional drilling required.

I did the V2 on my '74 4001. Was a piece of cake to install. Yes you need to drill a couple of holes and solder the ground wire. You can put the old one back on and I believe it will cover the new holes, if you so desire. The V2 intonates very easily and looks good. I like it.

If the V1 wasn't causing issues for you before the lift, I would stick with that before looking to fix a not broken thing. the v2 is fine and good but 'works' a lot different... kind of 'incorrect' to put it on a vintage reissue imho...like putting an emg in a 60's lespaul.

radapaw wrote:If the V1 wasn't causing issues for you before the lift, I would stick with that before looking to fix a not broken thing. the v2 is fine and good but 'works' a lot different... kind of 'incorrect' to put it on a vintage reissue imho...like putting an emg in a 60's lespaul.

I know what you mean, but the three-screw bridges these shipped with, some of them at least, are even less correct because they bend.

I am the original owner of 4001 C64 White #4, and here is my thread on the same topic, if anyone's interested:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=416568

I bought one of the new bridges, but I am waiting for a convenient time to install it. It will be a husband-and-wife project. She is the craftier one, and I am reluctant to proceed without her participation. I plan to post pictures of the work here if successful.


bluewhale

bluewhale wrote:

radapaw wrote:I plan to post pictures of the work here if successful.


bluewhale

Some of us may be more interested in photos if the project goes awry , which is rather unlikely. It's just drilling a few holes and mounting the parts.

I think the redesign is really well done, so my vote goes to V2, especially if you're getting tailpiece lift.

On the new bridge Is the mute now instant on/off, or do you still have to use the two screws to make it go up/down?

Definitely leaning towards the new V2 bridge. The lift is so bad as to make the bass unplayable. I'm pretty sure you can't even get the V1 any longer (at least new). Even if I could I doubt that is the right solution. Oddly, I'm more concerned about soldering than I am drilling the holes. To limit the depth simply put some painter's tape on the bit at the 'not to exceed' depth and stop when the tape reaches the correct depth.

lumgimfong wrote:On the new bridge Is the mute now instant on/off, or do you still have to use the two screws to make it go up/down?

Still screws on my 4003AC.

lumgimfong wrote:On the new bridge Is the mute now instant on/off, or do you still have to use the two screws to make it go up/down?

Still uses the screws. Would love instant on/off but would be really hard to implement well, I would think. I would prefer to just have nothing there but a space to insert some foam under the strings, or something like a Nordymute.

beacon wrote:To limit the depth simply put some painter's tape on the bit at the 'not to exceed' depth and stop when the tape reaches the correct depth.

Yep! Works like a charm.

Would someone with a V2 be able to measure the height from the base of the bridge to the bottom of the ‘slots’ in the mute area of the bridge, i.e. where the strings go through? I’d like to see if the string will go as low as on the old bridges. One bonus is the sides of the slots seem to be steeper, giving more clearance at the sides if you have slightly narrower spacing, like me.

The other thing I’d be interested to know is whether the template provided also works for basses with the old aluminium bridge. I tend to go backwards and forwards with string gauge and type and have always found the old bridge/tailpiece system a bit of a pain to readjust. It would be cool if you could fairly easily retrofit the V2 bridge, with a view to putting the old one back on if you ever sell the bass.

henry5 wrote:Would someone with a V2 be able to measure the height from the base of the bridge to the bottom of the ‘slots’ in the mute area of the bridge, i.e. where the strings go through?

Hi Henry.
I'm getting 8.60mm on three and 8.40mm on one (The E string slot.)
I'm not sure if they did that on purpose or not.
I didn't measure the "back" slots but I'd assume they are the same.

*edit* Oh. ~9.35mm wide with a full 4.68mm Radius at the bottom.

Guzzitd63 wrote:

henry5 wrote:Would someone with a V2 be able to measure the height from the base of the bridge to the bottom of the ‘slots’ in the mute area of the bridge, i.e. where the strings go through?

Hi Henry.
I'm getting 8.60mm on three and 8.40mm on one (The E string slot.)
I'm not sure if they did that on purpose or not.
I didn't measure the "back" slots but I'd assume they are the same.

*edit* Oh. ~9.35mm wide with a full 4.68mm Radius at the bottom.

That’s really great, very much appreciated. I’ll check my old bridges today, see how they compare.