Babicz Full Contact Ric bridge

[ilan]

https://www.fullcontacthardware.com/fch-Rickenbacker-bass-bridge

$170. Unlike the Ric V2 bridge/tailpiece it's a drop-in unit and no extra drilling is needed, but it does not prevent tail lift.

Palm muting is impossible, just like with the Babicz bridges for Fenders.

[gearHed289]

Anything that retains the old mute assembly is a no for me.

[morrow]

I just have two , a 4001 and a 4000 , and I’m ok with the original bridges . I just leave TI flats on mine , so they don’t require continual tweaking . Set and forget .
Heck , I’m ok with the dreaded Gibson three point , and even the Dano popsicle stick bridges . There is a sweet spot for those things .
Even after years of the simplicity of the Pbass bridge .

[ilan]

I find the Ric bridge/tailpiece very limiting in both its original version and the new V2. I'm a pick player and need to palm mute to deaden unwanted open string vibration. The Babicz unit just adds another obstruction. Maybe it has its advantages for fingerstyle players, I don't know.

[uwe]

It's true, the Ric bridges doesn't exactly invite palm muting. Some basses just don't. OTOH, I think it's part of the Ric's charm that it is mostly played un-palm muted. I remember seeing Chris Squire. Dis he palm mute? No. Was he noisy and did you hear empty strings ring while he played? Like hell! But it/he sounded great. Totally no-holds barred rock'n'f***in'roll. A bit like Pete Townsend or Neil Young playing guitar, noisy but gifted.

Some of the Ric's weaknesses are also its strengths. A 4001/4003 strung with fresh roundwounds is a noisy beast, a sonic race car. Love it or leave it.

[ilan]

I think it's part of the Ric's charm that it is mostly played un-palm muted. [...] Love it or leave it.

Or put a palm-mutable Hipshot bridge in it. Did Geddy's Ric with its BadAssII have less charm?

[uwe]

As a finger player, he didn't need the Badass to mute. Did Geddy mute much at all? Didn't sound like it. And he was pretty noisy with his Ric, but that was part of the 70ies Rush sound.

[ilan]

As a finger player, he didn't need the Badass to mute. Did Geddy mute much at all? Didn't sound like it. And he was pretty noisy with his Ric, but that was part of the 70ies Rush sound.

Of course Geddy muted. When you play fingerstyle you mute adjacent strings with your picking fingers. They just land on them and deaden unwanted sympathetic vibration. This is done almost unconsciously but it's very effective. Try playing without anchoring the thumb on the E string and landing on the string above the one you're picking, you'll see why it doesn't work. It's not just noisy, it's unmusical.

[amptech]

Of course Geddy muted. When you play fingerstyle you mute adjacent strings with your picking fingers. They just land on them and deaden unwanted sympathetic vibration. This is done almost unconsciously but it's very effective. Try playing without anchoring the thumb on the E string and landing on the string above the one you're picking, you'll see why it doesn't work. It's not just noisy, it's unmusical.

That's one of the things I like about Geddy. Busy playing but really clean and tidy at the same time. All over the place but never gets lost.

[uwe]

What do I know about finger playing, I eat with knife and fork too!

Seriously, finger playing muting is to me sonically a different kettle of fish to palm muting at the bridge and then hammering eights in down strokes with a pick, Alan Lancaster or Ian Hill style. Sure Geddy muted adjacent strings (who doesn't after a while of playing, it comes naturally), but I never identified his 70ies sound with him muting the notes he actually played. Other than by the mere fact that as a finger player you automatically mute everything a little as you touch it. Which is why I play with a pick, because I crave for that initial crispness even if my sound is nowadays much darker and warmer than it used to be.

I mute constantly with my left (fretting) hand as well. I don't hold the fretted note down forever, but slightly let go of it in short intervals, that adds a percussive note and makes everything sound more dominant. You know how we Krauts are ... world domination ... we just can't let go of it. 

[ilan]

Yep, I mute with the left hand too, no alternative really on a Ric with the original design bridge. On other basses I use my RH palm more and it frees my LH fingers to do their real job, fretting notes. I'm seriously contemplating dropping a black Hipshot bridge on my Shadow, it's all black-on-black so it won't be that noticeable.