Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hello,
I want to replace the stock 4003 bass bridge with a Badass bassbridge. Since the bridge is smaller thean stock where and how do I place it.

I understand that you measure from the nut(but which part, machine head side or fret board side?)
to the bridge-which part of the bridge?

a side question-when measuring nut to bridge
does it make a difference if the neck as 20 frets or 24 when placing a bridge?

Thank you in advance to all who answer.

Installation is a two part thing ,mounting the bridge is only part one .

Part two is knowing "Will it fit as stock or must it be modified?"

How to do this ; remove all componants from the face -remove the pickguard and the bridge pickup.

Put some masking tape in front of the bridge cavity .
Next I cut a piece of wood to fill the cavity .You can get really nuts here and make this invisible -I have laminated wood to make the three piece center section and inlayed that (it must be left widder to fill the bridge route)from the neck pickup to the bridge .This fills the old void in front of the bridge and then I respay the face of the guitar .The new bridge will cover the edge of the inlayed wood and the guard covers the other end.

Part two ;modifying the bridge .

With the tape on the face and the hardware removed you need to find the neck center .To do this ,lay a straight edge along the edge of the neck on both sides and pencil in on that masking tape ,the side line .
Now find the center .
To do this I use the 'Luthier' method ,take a piece of paper ,draw the two pencil lines that you just drew for the edge of the neck on it ,fold it in half ,and there it is .

The BadassI &II were designed to fit a Fender bass.
Ricks generally have a thinner neck ,so you have a problem with the strings on the E & the G saddles running out of room .To correct this I modify the chassis .
The Badass bridge saddle is a cast piece that has an offset screw mount .To make this work for a Rick ,I mill /drill two new intonation/length screw holes in the chassis .This allows me to exchange the E & G saddles and then if the spacing is narrower ,I can notch the saddles to fit that width .
From the front ....it looks stock .

Tp figure out the length /location of the bridge ,do this ;

You don't want to run out of room with length ,so measure the length from the nut edge (this is the joint of the nut and the end of the fretboard to the center of the 12th fret ,double that .This is the uncompensated length of where the G saddle will end up at .You will need to add 1/8" to the overall length .

Think about the E string windings and how long some of them are ,you don't want to run out of room .

Thank you for the info.

maybe I live under a rock... but why do so many players replace the stock Rick bridge with a Badass?

for several; reasons,

Some of the basses have a real low neck angle and as the tailpiece ages,it begins to pull up and some actually warp!

Some players dislike the saddle assembly as it rocks and they want something more stable .

Some are looking for more sustain and a bridge that is more solid can do that .

Some players are just looking for that elusive sound that will never be found and changing the bridge or pickups is one way to look for that .

When I install a 'BadassII' for some one ,on a 4000 series bass,I do a modification to the base of the bridge.The 'BadassII'is spaced for 'Fender' spacing .Rick spacing is narrower ,so to facilitate this ,I exchange the two outside saddles with each other .This requires drilling/milling two new intonation screw mount holes ,but it allows the spacing of the outside strings to be as narrow as it was originally .Some installs work without this ,but ALL installations work with the mod.
As the 'BadassII' saddles are sort of 'L' shaped ,the string butts up against the shaft the screw mounts into .This is why I flip the two saddles .It looks stock yet does the job.