New 2019 Rickenbacker Bridge

[Gilmourisgod]

It looks like the same cast zinc alloy from the photos I've seen so far, which doesn't make it a bad material, its used for a lot of other bridge brands. They had it cast too thin on the older bridges, so they bent, but that hadn't been a real problem for a while. They avoided the whole problem on the V2 bridge by using a separate string retainer to take the string tension. Pot metal is a generic term now, but usually means zinc with other stuff added to give it some strength, the "other stuff" being pretty variable. The Badass and similar bridges were Sintered metal, which is zinc dust pressed into a mold under high temperature that fuses it together. It has high compression resistance, but doesn't take tension well. Cheap trophies are a good example of cast or sintered zinc, but it doesn't have to be that cheesy if its used properly.
Pot metal - Wikipedia
Sintering - Wikipedia

 

[Ric5]

Never knew so many bassists palm muted until Rickenbacker bridges are discussed.

How can any serious bass player not use palm muting?

 

[IronLung1986]

It looks like the same cast zinc alloy from the photos I've seen so far, which doesn't make it a bad material, its used for a lot of other bridge brands. They had it cast too thin on the older bridges, so they bent, but that hadn't been a real problem for a while. They avoided the whole problem on the V2 bridge by using a separate string retainer to take the string tension. Pot metal is a generic term now, but usually means zinc with other stuff added to give it some strength, the "other stuff" being pretty variable. The Badass and similar bridges were Sintered metal, which is zinc dust pressed into a mold under high temperature that fuses it together. It has high compression resistance, but doesn't take tension well. Cheap trophies are a good example of cast or sintered zinc, but it doesn't have to be that cheesy if its used properly.
Pot metal - Wikipedia
Sintering - Wikipedia

Yea the design seems fine but you can tell from looking at that new bridge that it's not good metal. There's that pebbly texture to it in some places. It's chintzy. They could have gone with that design and done it in aluminum or something and I think they'd have really killed it.

I feel like there's new blood at Rickenbacker pushing to get some cool stuff done, but they're being held back and forced to compromise by the fusty, penny pinching old guard. Like "fine you can do your new bridge but you have to make it out of this crappy zinc cause we bought a hundred year supply back when TV's were black and white". I've been playing a Rick for 15 years so I'm no mindless hater. It's not the haters that RIC should be worried about anyway. It's the regular folks trying to decide what to buy in today's market. Ricks are not hanging next to Danelectros at the store anymore. They're going head to head with the likes of Dingwall, Spector, Music Man, Warwick, Reverend and a load of well-made lower priced stuff too. Fit and finish and quality of components is so uniformly good across most brands and price points that you almost forget it's a factor at all. You're more just deciding what you personally prefer. So you come along expecting the Rick to blow them all away - the ultimate Rolls Royce of bass guitars - and then you feel that bridge. You knock on it and it's....hollow? Feels kinda cheap too. And you realize that the pickup cover is...plastic? It's surprising and disappointing to get that 50's formica countertop vibe from such a beloved instrument, especially when the $500 Ibanez or whatever next to it gives off none of those red flags. How exactly are Ricks better than the competition? I think we're so spoiled now with the level of quality at every price point that we forget the brass tacks of selling a product. We're tending to think more and more that quality is subjective and it's more about "what works for you". But that's only because we've gotten used to taking quality for granted. I can't think of the last time I saw a piece of gear that I'd call "low quality". And it's for exactly this reason that Rick needs to start committing to upping their game. Because they are one of the last and only manufacturers that uses low quality materials in their builds. Materials that are chosen for budget rather than quality. Peter Jackson didn't shoot the Lord of the Rings on the budget of a soap opera. Neither should one of the most respected tools of our trade be held back from its full potential by cheap materials.

It's only out of love that I say this stuff. Like I said, I've played my Rickenbacker for a long time. I think they have so much potential to be genuinely great and competitive. Typically RIC's backlog of orders will be cited as an excuse or defense of everything they do. I don't personally think much of that. It says more about their production capacity than demand, and the way I see it that demand is largely based on nostalgia these days. I want Ricks to have more than that. They should rightfully be able to stand on more than image, nostalgia, and a long dead roster of players to sell their products. I really want that for them. This new bridge was a timid step in the right direction, and I hope it's the first of some bigger and more confident steps to come.

 

[FunkHead]

I wonder how much it weighs?

Over a year later and still the $64,000 question.

 

[GustoEater]

Just got my first RIC, made in August 2020. Has anyone found that they can't lower the G string far enough? My saddle is sitting against the bridge. Neck has very little relief on either side and the other strings can drop really low (great fret work!).

I thought about shaving off the bottom of the saddle piece to allow it to sit lower, but maybe there's another solution.

Thanks!