Rickenbacker 4003w gold hardware?

[Samuel Newsom]

Just ordered a Rick 4003w and thinking about switching out the bridge for a hip shot replacement for easier setup. I see they make a gold bridge and I think the walnut and maple would look killer with gold hardware over the standard chrome! But it would look out of place with standard chrome hardware and a gold bridge. Is there any place that sells gold Rick hardware?

 

[GIBrat51]

The tuners are Schaller BM-4s, and are available in gold. The strap buttons are the bass-mounted half of Schaller Strap-Loks; I don't know if they come in gold - but I wouldn't be surprised if they do. Pick guard screws should be easily available in Gold. The pick up surrounds, and the Bridge p/u cover (assuming you want to keep that)? Sorry; can't help you there...

 

[Gilmourisgod]

@GIBrat51
Are you sure it’s the BM-4? Been looking for replacement chrome tuners to fit a Ric, most of the Schaller tuners have a post and ferrule diameter too big to fit on a Ric headstock, the ferrule conflicts with the TRC, and the tuner key posts are longer. Are the ones you reference identical to the Ric labeled Schallers?

 

[sissy kathy]

The Schaller BM is a full sized tuner The Schaller BM Light, the Schaller M4S, and the Schaller DaVinci are compact tuners with alignment pins. The Schaller M4 90 Light takes a screw ala the Hipshot Ultralights. The -4 in BM-4 indicates the number of tuners in a set.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Yeah, based on the dimensions, the Ric branded Schaller is the only one that has the combination of a smaller post diameter, smaller headstock ferrule, and shorter wind key with a traditional back plate. Hipshot makes a direct copy of that, the HB -5.
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[GIBrat51]

Yeah, sissy kathy beat me to it. I misspoke - badly, yesterday. I have a Warmoth short scale bass with the BM-4s on it, and I assumed - quite wrongly - that they looked so large because of the bass and it's headstock. And the Rick that I keep out, is an old 4001 with the Wavy Grover tuners, so comparing those is not a lot of help. So, I pulled my '01 4003 out this morning, and - holy giant tuners, Batman!! The BM-4s are enormous, and you guys are right. No way will they fit on a Rick headstock. Sorry about that...

 

[Gilmourisgod]

No worries, @GIBrat51, I actually ORDERED a set of the The Stewmac Vintage bass tuners, thinking they'd fit my Ric build, Nope! Ferrules way too big, tuner posts look comically long, like some jug-eared fool. You wouldn't think it would matter on a Ric headstock, being pretty big, but the proportions are so iconic, the wrong tuners look bad. I'll probably have to suck it up and get the Ric branded Schallers, though POTR has been out of stock for MONTHS. $85 a set from POTR, or $90 for the HB-5 copies from Hipshot. Ouch! Might have to shell out the $90 just to get the lighter weight. My Hossenfeffer I build was Ric branded Schallers, and it's just a wee bit neck heavy, not enough to bug me, but it's there.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Rickenbacker® Replacement Bridge

 

[lalo_garcia-maynez]

I did that to my Rickenbacker 4003w
I look and looked and looked for the bridge pickup cover in gold but it just does not exist in the world!!
It looks cool anyway as it is .
See pics
Mine has factory gloss finish too