Ric 4003 bridge

[FretlessMainly]

"Shoulds" are to be taken with a grain of salt. Mitch, you got it going on.

[Pbass4003]

Because I'm so used to the flexibility of my BAII (so easy to adjust and very comfortable to palm mute). I think I'm leaning toward getting the bass setup with the Hipshot.

I've inquired brass vs aluminum before with inconclusive results, so I think I'm going to save $20 and go with the lighter aluminum model. I heard there are no discernible tonal differences. I like the idea of going lighter, but this won't create any neck dive, right? Other last-minute thoughts?

[spiritbass]

Go with the aluminum. Once I found out what a PITA the stock bridge is, I went Hipshot and did not look back. Speaking of mods I didn't think I would have to perform... I didn't expect to have to shield a rather high-end bass, but lo and behold - they apparently don't believe in shielding. Rickenbacker's philosophies are quirky to say the least.

[RobJ]

Originally Posted by audiomitch

I can see how the treble pickup cover could get in the way of palm muting, but the bridge? Maybe I've been doing it wrong all these years, but I never palm mute over the bridge. Not even sure why someone would want that position in the first place. Sounds inefficient.

I guess I've been doing it wrong too all these years.

[Pbass4003]

Just placed an order for a HS alum bridge after Zzounds gave me another price-match credit. Spent exactly $0 net for the bridge. Thanks, all!

[kcole4001]

Nice!
I want to get an aluminum one for my 4003, I have a brass version on my old 4001.
The side to side adjustment is nice if you want (or need) to adjust your strings more evenly over the pup poles.

Ease of setup is night and day, but you don't really need it unless you like to try different strings often.

Personally, I don't find the OE mute to be that practical, and I've never had difficulties with tail lift on any of my Ricks, which range from 1976 to 2010, so the stock tail looks good, is a pain to intonate, but isn't a deal breaker at all.

[sloppy_phil]

Originally Posted by audiomitch

Not sure why that would be. Only half of your palm would be muting the string, the other half on the "dead" part of the string below the bridge. Sounds inefficient, and with less control.

Here's a little piece I'm working on that has parts of the bass being palm muted wherever. Maybe I'm fooling myself but I thought it worked fine.

You have to wait for the little player to pop up -

A New Fusion

nice playing, man! sounded all good to me regardless of muting technique

[audiomitch]

Originally Posted by sloppy_phil

nice playing, man! sounded all good to me regardless of muting technique

Thanks!!

I was thinking about this today. Palm muting over the bridge just limits your choices. What if I want to play over the neck pickup and palm mute at the same time? Hmmm.

[thiocyclist]

Palm muting over the neck pickup? I would like to hear that used effectively to do anything besides go "thud thud". The reason you palm mute over the bridge is it sounds radically different than that. If you haven't tried it (sounds like you haven't) of course you aren't going to get it, but it is much more articulate and round-sounding than muting closer to the neck.

[Ric5]

This thread has me wondering if muting means different things to different people.

I palm mute back at the bridge because I want to slightly deaden the strings. I can put my palm there and make rounds sound like flats. But if I mute where the pickups are the strings go completely dead. I guess that also is muting, but not the muting that I am talking about.

[audiomitch]

Originally Posted by Ric5

This thread has me wondering if muting means different things to different people.

I palm mute back at the bridge because I want to slightly deaden the strings. I can put my palm there and make rounds sound like flats. But if I mute where the pickups are the strings go completely dead. I guess that also is muting, but not the muting that I am talking about.

Heh. I was wondering the same, but I think we're talking about the same thing. When I palm mute the amount of pressure decides how mute the note will be. And more often than not, I'm muting a few notes out of a phrase or run, letting everything else ring. It's just another way to express some texture.

OTOH, I did a Beatles gig where almost everything was palm muted. I should have just stuck some foam under the strings, but I was too lazy to plan that in advance

I don't think there is a "wrong" or a "right" way, whatever works. I'm actually going to experiment with the bridge thing at some point.

[Medford Bassman]

Originally Posted by audiomitch

Not sure why that would be. Only half of your palm would be muting the string, the other half on the "dead" part of the string below the bridge. Sounds inefficient, and with less control.

Here's a little piece I'm working on that has parts of the bass being palm muted wherever. Maybe I'm fooling myself but I thought it worked fine.

You have to wait for the little player to pop up -

A New Fusion

Very nice man!!! The RIC sounds great.

[Dakotah]

Bought my new 4003 RIC a few months ago.Store did a set up on it before I picked it up.Had to redo it myself to my rquirments,took less than an hour.I think it is important to be able to do it yourself to avoid a set up that more reflects someone elses tastes.I too like the covers and have added the original pick-up and bridge covers to my Fender J. For my playing I don't find them to be a problem.

[Alex1984]

Great playing. I personally found things done to the string closer to the neck, whether it be plucking or muting, have a bigger effects on the movement of the strings, so muting close to the neck simply wouldn't work for me conceptually. But I think given the design of the RIC bridge, one should still be able to palm mute effectively.

[CrashAlpha]

On my 2004 4003, the thing I like least about the axe (which I love) is the bridge. I love to LOOK at it, though! I don't use the foam mute, and I normally mute at the brdige. This is because muting for me is about controlling the string - typically associated with picking. When I am playing with my fingers or slap, I don't seem to notice - probably because I am muting with my fingers.

I LOVE playing with a pick, and sheepishly try to find a way to work it into every song, so as you can tell, I don't really have a thump-thump style.

One problem with my bridge is the saddle have to have notches filed into them if you want specific string spacing. In my case, the bridge has a low string angle and the D string would slip out of the notch every time I popped - effectively detuning the string slightly. When I switched to heavy gauge strings, the problem stopped.

[carlos840]

There is nothing wrong with the stock bridge if you know how to adjust it.
Yes, it is a bit less instinctive than others, and setting the intonation is a bit more fiddly, but how often does a bridge need adjusting?

Regarding the mutes, they are pretty easy to operate but you have to keep in mind that you will have to retune your bass before and after adjusting it.
The pressure it puts on the strings is enough to untune the bass, making it a pain to use for quick "in between songs" adjustment.

I like to palm mute between the mute assembly and the bridge saddles, it gives a subtle mute since you don't have much skin surface on the string but is pretty effective.
If you need more muting just switch your hand to the front of the mute assembly, giving you a more muted sound.

[woodyng]

I know you already ordered one,but #1 for the aluminum version hipshot. When i replaced my stock bridge 6 years ago,i weighed the aluminum hipshot and the stock unit,very similar weight. And The original bridges on the early 4001's were all aluminum too,so it seemed the way to go. I think the hipshot makes a better and larger contact with the body,providing a solid transfer of note energy. At any rate,yes i love mine. And i seldom palm mute,but found the standard unit a pain to even try to use....i did take the knobs off,but never thought about sawing out the teeth like Ric5 did.....

[Pbass4003]

Originally Posted by woodyng

I know you already ordered one,but #1 for the aluminum version hipshot. When i replaced my stock bridge 6 years ago,i weighed the aluminum hipshot and the stock unit,very similar weight. And The original bridges on the early 4001's were all aluminum too,so it seemed the way to go. I think the hipshot makes a better and larger contact with the body,providing a solid transfer of note energy. At any rate,yes i love mine. And i seldom palm mute,but found the standard unit a pain to even try to use....i did take the knobs off,but never thought about sawing out the teeth like Ric5 did.....

Thank you! This was the exact information I was looking for... now it's reassurance I made the right move

[IronLung1986]

Being a Rick fan myself, I've always felt that it was crucial for new Rick players to understand the instrument's inherent problems right off the bat.

The problems with the Rick 4003 bridge are largely not a result of user error. Simply knowing how to work on them is only going to help in the short term (ie: every time it fails and you have to fix it). The only serious, permanent solution is to replace it immediately.

Tail lift isn't the worst issue you face with the stock bridge, even if it is a pretty shameful problem for a modern instrument to have. The real thing to watch out for is the actual string saddles. They'll loosen up over time and eventually become pretty unreliable. This can happen whether you play light or heavy, and for me it became an issue within 3 months of owning the bass (brand new at purchase). Also, the metal used for the entire bridge/tailpiece assembly is very cheap. This can lead to the bridge itself (under the saddles) to dent under the string pressure.

In addition to the fact that these problems occur, it's also worth noting that guitar repairmen typically can't truly fix them. What can anyone do about a dented bridge? Remove it and hammer it back from the inside? Well sure, except this will leave you with an even weaker bridge that will break more easily in the future. Even good repairmen will give you "best-I-can-do" compromised fixes. So do you order replacements from RIC? That's stupid IMO because it's the design that's defective, not just the individual part.

So obviously you find yourself looking for a completely different bridge. At that point it's anyone's guess. The most obvious choice is the hipshot one, but that thing is no good because the string tension isn't enough to keep the saddles from flopping around. That blew my mind btw and I almost gave up on my 4003 entirely at that point. I ended up with an original Badass bridge and it's been absolutely great for years and years. I didn't have the body routed, so the action can't get super low, but it works for me.

So there's my tl;dr story about Rick bridges. The sad thing is most people who read this will still have to experience all the same problems I did in order to get frustrated enough to replace the stock bridge. Ricks are just sacred somehow I guess. And don't get me wrong - I love mine! It just needed some modding...which if I recall left me in bad standing with some purists over at the rickresource forums...

[CrashAlpha]

I had a problem with the saddles rattling - apparently a known problem which I believe Rickenbacker has solved with replacement saddles which have a profile underneath to match the curve of the metal base below.

Can anyone cofnirm?