Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

WHY DOESNT RICKENBACKER BUILD "ALL" 12 STRING
GUITARS WITH 12 SADDLE BRIDGE ?? HOW MUCH
DIFFERENCE IN COST BETWEEN 6 & 12 SADDLE BRIDGE
I AM SURE MOST 12 STRING BUYERS WOULD PAY SMALL
$ TO HAVE THIS FEATURE. AM I WRONG??
A LITTLE INSIGHT PLEASE

THANKS

I'm not , nor do I have any reason to be knowledgeable in Ric's business practices, but I always thought it might have something to do with the retro factor.

If you want one it isn't really a hard to get one and have it installed. I did on my 360/12

The "Retro factor" may have a bit of influence, but it takes more time to make 12 saddles from the steel/aluminum for the mfg. of the bridge itself, plus more labor time for the guy at the bench filing and adjusting 12 saddles as opposed to 6."Time is money" as they say...

I dunno. Given the price of a 12-string Ric, I would think that the incremental cost of a 12-saddle bridge would be negligible. In fact, if it truly is a better solution, I would think it would be a slam-dunk decision to offer a guitar that is noticably better for little extra cost. Make it an extra-cost option. See what the customer wants.

But what do I know? I just play the things.

On the other hand, you can buy a used Charvel Surfcaster 12-string in great shape for about $700. Excellent quality, and a 12-saddle bridge.

I've said it before, I'll say it again.

The six saddle bridge simply sounds better- it's the quintessential RIC 12 string sound- due to the aluminum saddles.

The 12 saddle bridge saddles, due to size constraints, MUST be made of steel. Furthermore, it's a bandaid fix for those who choose to use poor quality strings.

I do not want a 12 saddle bridge on my personal guitars simply because I don't like the sound, and I have some pretty good company on this.

It's an option that's going to remain an option becuase I don't view it as any kind of an upgrade. It has nothing to do with costs and/or time in setup.

I also think that within the next 18-24 months it's probably going to be a totally moot point. Don't even ask.

John Hall wrote: "Furthermore, it's a bandaid fix for those who choose to use poor quality strings."

Can you elaborate on this please? What is the specific connection between a 12-saddle bridge and "poor quality strings"?

Has anybody compared the before-and-after sound with a 12-string saddle?

I was always under the impression that the unique Rickenbacker 12-string sound was in part due to the fact that the 12 strings were never in tune with each other, something that a 12-string saddle would surely affect.

I don't know how true this is, I could be talking out of my hat but it does sound feasible to me, and it is the sound that we are after, is it not?

I haven't had the 12 string saddle on my 360 that long, but did notice that it seemed to sound a bit different when I got it back with it on. I just assumed that as the tech had set up the guitar as well as installing the saddle that it was due to that. Based on the comments above when I get a bit more time, (I'm house painting at the moment), I was going to reinstall the 6 string bridge and try to compare. Having said that I'm not sure my skills qualify me to do a benchmark type of comparison and was going to do it for my interest only. JH is obviously much more qualified and knowledgeable than me and I will take his comments as the way it is. Hence my decision to reinstall the original bridge to more closely see the sound difference. I hadn't been aware of the different metal composition of the bridges, but it makes sense on hearing about it that it would affect sound. (I am using Rickenbacker strings on the guitar). I also found the comments re string spacing in an earlier post interesting. I only had the bridge installed, but wanted to check and see if it had affected spacing in any way.

I APPRECIATE INPUT FROM ALL BUT FOMERLY HAVING
A 360/12V64 THAT HAD A 12 SADDLE BRIDGE PUT ON
IT I DIDN'T SEEM TO NOTICE ANY "MAJOR" CHANGE IN TONE. AND IF THERE WAS SUCH A CHANGE IN TONE WHY WOULD THE "TOM PETTY" SPECIAL EDITION COME
WITH A 12 SADDLE BRIDGE STANDARD. I'M SURE MR.
PETTY KNOWS A LITTLE BIT ABOUT TONE & RICKENBACKERS.JUST AN OBSERVATION. I GUESS IT'S EACH TO HIS OWN WHEN IT COMES TO TONES BUT I WOULD
THINK PLAYABILITY & BENIG IN TUNE UP & DOWN THE
NECK IS A LITTLE BIT MORE IMPORTANT.YOU CAN DO ALOT WITH TONE WITH PICKUPS & DIFFERENT TYPES OF
AMPLIFICATION , BUT YOU CAN'T KEEP YOUR GUITAR IN
TUNE UP & DOWN THE NECK

THANKS

I wasn't implying there was a large difference in tone only that it seemed different which I attributed to setup at the time. As well my guitar does not have "toaster" pickups and would sound different to one which does. In addition to the Petty I believe the 370RM comes with a 12 saddle bridge. To me neither tone is unacceptable. As to Tom Petty and what tone he was/is looking to achieve, or if he thinks the saddles make any difference I have no idea. That question in my opinion would be best directed to him.

Just to check this out , I removed the low E saddle from my 12 string that has a Rick replacement 12 saddle brudge oon it , and I used a magnet strip from the kitchen ,where I store my knives ....anyway I tried to get this steel saddle to stick to it ... it won't !!!
It sure looks like aluminum to me .

The "U" shaped section the saddles sit in is steel , but I don't think that was what Mr.Hall was talking about .

So am I in error here ?????
Enquiring minds want to know !

!!! Maybe our grade school earth science teachers
lied to us about magnets and magnetic materials.FWIW, I took one of the saddles out of my 12 way Rick bridge, and unless there is a magnetic variety of aluminum I never heard of, well, this saddle isn't steel.....Intonation issues aside,[though that's usually why anyone puts a 12 way on their Rick]John Hall Does have a point as to the "acoustic or vibration transfer charachteristics of the skinny saddles on the 12 way vs the larger 6 way traditional setup.

For those of us that are pondering a 12-string purchase in the not-to-distant future, I'm curious as to which type of strings intonate best on the 6-saddle bridge. . .

John:I would say any good quality string that is computer wound so that it is precisely even all along its length. Certainly D'Addario would qualify as a good example of this, in my view. I think the thing to avoid is uneven winding (sometimes seen in handmade strings) as these are notorious for poor intonation. I have also had very good luck with SIT and GHS strings.