Looking at waiting lists, lack of availability and general price levels for Ric 4003's, i'm coming round to the idea of home-building a 4003 replica, maple body and thru-neck for my own pleasure.
After some initial searches one thing worries me and that's getting hold of the ric-type characteristic hardware in the UK. If I can't source the right (replica or authentic) bits like the bridge construction in particular, then the project is not really worth starting. I'm not so bothered about the machine heads and I have suitable alternatives for the ric-type pickups available.
Can any Ric gurus here offer any advice about the availability of replica hardware outlets I could approach to see if this project is really viable?

First, I'm not a Ric guru ...or a guru of any kind other than probably messing up!

Bartolini makes a neck pickup replacement but the horseshoe might be troublesome. Maybe try contacting Rickenbacker directly and see if they'll sell you one.

Hipshot makes a Ric replacement bridge.

Looking at waiting lists, lack of availability and general price levels for Ric 4003's, i'm coming round to the idea of home-building a 4003 replica, maple body and thru-neck for my own pleasure.
After some initial searches one thing worries me and that's getting hold of the ric-type characteristic hardware in the UK. If I can't source the right (replica or authentic) bits like the bridge construction in particular, then the project is not really worth starting. I'm not so bothered about the machine heads and I have suitable alternatives for the ric-type pickups available.
Can any Ric gurus here offer any advice about the availability of replica hardware outlets I could approach to see if this project is really viable?

seymour duncan makes a set of drop in ric replacement pickups, but the bridge cover is probably the greatest challenge. id expect you could probably find one on ebay somewhere though, if you keep an eye out.

Yep, I have no problem with the replacement pups, here's a bridge tailpiece with 32 minutes left on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Rickenbacker-4003-Bass-Tailpiece-Genuine-Ric-Part_W0QQitemZ370010938910QQihZ024QQcategoryZ41439 QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
that's a lot more than I'd like to spend to get this project going. It's not even the whole assembly. Maybe I have to go for the Hipshot option :(

buy the hipshot, IMO / IME the far better product (that's why its called replacement, hehe)

Yes but i lose out on a big chunk of authenticity then.

Yes but i lose out on a big chunk of authenticity then.

but how is it authentic if YOU'RE building it? ;)

http://www.basspartsresource.com/bridge_rick.htm

Will is a guru of awesomeness.

I would say that you're better off getting the replacement. If you're making a 4003 lookalike, then the bass itself is going to kill the authenticity more than the tail-piece, and you're gonna have one heck of a time getting parts from Ric. They generally don't part with replacements unless you provide a serial number for your instrument and send back the replaced part to keep counterfeits down.

I have a Rick and don't like the OG bridge but I am too cheap to replace it. Starting from scratch though I would definitely buy the hipshot or use a Badass (common Rick mod).

Mine also has the Duncan replacement pickups, many bash them but I think they sound great.

When I had a Ric 4001 years ago, I replaced the bridge with a badass. Significantly better than the stock original for mine.

Found this on a ric bass forum;
I'm thinking hard about getting a hipshot too. The bridge on both my newer 4003 and my old 73 4001 are both nightmares. It's my only disappointment with the rick basses. The new 4003 is the worse of the two. Even with rick stings, the bridge is lifting and the saddles won't sit properly making this clicking noise when playing. I heard both these issues are common. Rick should investigate using a cast grade for the main bridge assembly with a much higher yield strength than what's currently being used in addition to being more "creep" resistant. Or change the design slightly to add more section in the areas which are commonly plastically deforming.
Seems a reasonably common thing to favour the hipshot. Fair enough, i'm happy to go with the advice.
Anyone know what they use to lacquer their fingerboards with?

That's pretty funny about the bridge lift/metal creep thing, since the casting is designed to be slightly curved and leave a gap towards the bottom. It doesn't creep, deform, etc. at all. The guy has no clue what a yield strength is, since the string tension wouldn't bring anything to more than a few percent of yield.

OK so he's technically impaired, but there are quite a few posts showing general disappointment with the 4003 bridge and a desire to swap out for a hipshot type, which is quite interesting to see.

Can any kind Ricky owner help me out with the two dimensions here so I can check my template has been scaled up properly in photoshop:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v609/al_heeley/dims.jpg
I need to check body width at widest part (should be 13.5"??) and body length from strap button to where neck hits the body.
Thanks guys!

Ric website says 13.5" width, although that could be overall from the treble lower area to the bass horn. They say 13.25 on some of the vintage models.

You might be able to get more of a full-on shot from another website, like maybe ricpage.

Ric website says 13.5" width, although that could be overall from the treble lower area to the bass horn. They say 13.25 on some of the vintage models.

You might be able to get more of a full-on shot from another website, like maybe ricpage.
I have a good full-on shot scanned from a guitar book. I have the guitar drawn out life-size but before starting to cut the4 templates I need a sanity check to make sure the images were not stretched or skewed in either the printing process or transfer to photoshop and enlargement (as they somethimes are). To me, my full-size plan looks like the body is a little compressed I'm ok on width but I really need to check length from tail to neck. Any 4003 owners out there able to assist?

My '73 4001 is 13" across at widest point of lower bout, and 13-1/2" from end (strapbutton) to where neck meets body.

I think it's interesting how a bass that costs that much could have a bridge assembly that so many find crappy. Is it a matter of personal taste?

I think Rickenbacker has said that there is a new bridge in the making for the past few years. I hope I live to see the day.

My '73 4001 is 13" across at widest point of lower bout, and 13-1/2" from end (strapbutton) to where neck meets body.
Many thanks Daveman, as susp[ected I had about 1/2" of foreshortening in the pic I used which I can now compensate for in my template.
Cheers:bassist:

No problem, let me know if you want any more measurements & good luck.