The Last Bass Outpost
Gear Discussion Forums => Rickenbacker Basses => Topic started by: rockinrayduke on April 21, 2011, 02:13:22 PM
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Anyone use it, and has anyone compared the brass bridge to the aluminum?
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I have an aluminium and it sucks. It rattles and rolls whenever I hit strings.
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Had a brass one and it was a boat anchor. Switched to aluminum. There is an issue with wobbly saddles with this one, but I still like it better than the stock bridge.
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A friend of mine installed the brass model on a 70's Ric and it also had rattles and wobbly saddles.
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I say go the Geddy Lee route. (pun intended) ;D
(http://i56.tinypic.com/15ck56u.jpg)
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I don't to drill any holes in it that ain't already there.
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Yeah, you'd have to rout an additional space for the Badass I bridge on the Ric as well. Geddy got a badass tone on Farewell To Kings though.
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I'm surprised to hear that the Hipshots have this problem. Do they have any plans to improve them, or is this just something you have to deal with?
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Is there a problem you want to fix rockinrayduke? There are many know fixes for the original Rickenbacker bridge. If you tell what your problem is we might be able to help you with the things you allready got at home.
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No mod that I know of can enable palm-muting, and I palm-mute a lot when playing Fenders.
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No palm muting, no individual string height or intonation. never been a fan of the Rickenbacker bridge.
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No extra visible holes here and who says you need to route?, extra holes for a cover plate are some thing that really gets me, just a dab of contact adhesive and it's there.
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no individual string height or intonation
The OEM Rickenbacker bridge has many downsides (cumbersome intonation, no palm mute, tail lift, bridge contacts the base plate in only two small points) but you can definitely intonate individual strings, and assuming that the bridge should follow the curve of the fretboard, why would you need individual height adjustment?
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No extra visible holes here and who says you need to route?, extra holes for a cover plate are some thing that really gets me, just a dab of contact adhesive and it's there.
Very nice! For some reason I thought the Badass would sit too high on the bass. (Kind of like with a Fender bass for instance)
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On the change over in 73, the whole bass changed ( well everything got bigger) and the fret board was another 1/8 higher off the body, so the Badass 1 was ok, but fit one to a pre 73 and it wouldn't work, it wouldn't go low enough, although why you would want to replace the gap tooth bridge anyway, unless it got broken that is.
Other reasons for bad fitting or the need to sink the badass into the body would be perhaps the 73 74, 1/2 inch neck pup spaced 4001's which have been over strung and the body starts to bend in that routing, so needing a much lower bridge setting and even the originals don't go that low in these cases.
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I am familiar with the Ric bridge, but it's too much of a PITA for me to jack with, not efficient. Like the Supertone this bridge seems like a vast improvement over the stock bridge and will be a lot easier to deal with. I have read about the wobbly bridges and such but I have also read that if you tighten everything down it helps a lot.
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OK, installed and working fine. To be able to adjust is wonderful.
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Glad it worked out for you.
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I'm still curious why it works for some and does not for others. I know I tend to pick pretty hard. If I play gently with fingers than I do not have a problem with the hipshot. Also fretboard - body distance (and maybe neck angle) are not allways the same with Rickenbacker's through the years. This could be an issue as well.
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I believe the problem is that the grooves in the base plate that are supposed to hold on to one of the saddle height adjustment screws are not deep enough on some of these. I swear they were deeper on my brass one than the aluminum, and that's why the brass didn't give me any trouble. I'm thinking of taking a Dremel tool to the aluminum one to cut them a hair deeper.
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I installed a brass one on my 2010 4003. No rattles. I'm puzzled about the function of the third little-bitty set screw (behind the string height screws) on each saddle. The bridge didn't come with any instructions to clue me in either. Not losing any sleep over it, but I don't understand why it is there...
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Very nice! For some reason I thought the Badass would sit too high on the bass. (Kind of like with a Fender bass for instance)
Thats what Routers are for ;) ;D
(http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t253/Freuds_cat/Jazz/72jazz700.jpg)
(http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t253/Freuds_cat/Cargill%20custom%20fretless/cargill752.jpg)
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I installed a brass one on my 2010 4003. No rattles. I'm puzzled about the function of the third little-bitty set screw (behind the string height screws) on each saddle. The bridge didn't come with any instructions to clue me in either. Not losing any sleep over it, but I don't understand why it is there...
That third screw allows you to adjust string spacing. Loosen it, and you can move the inner part of the saddle side to side.
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Aha. Thanks gearHed! I was suspecting that it was somehow related to that adjustment, but couldn't see how. I will have to investigate more in-depth...
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No mod that I know of can enable palm-muting, and I palm-mute a lot when playing Fenders.
I have no trouble palm-muting with a Rickenbacker at all. I palm-mute a lot too and found it comfortable than with Fender-type bridges. I put the palm of my hand above where the adjustable mute is beneath the bridge and play with a pick, thumb or thumb and fingers.
Muting with the little finger is a bit more tricky on a Ric but can be done too.
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Maybe your bridge is adjusted higher than mine, anyway I can't palm-mute a Ric.
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Well, that was too easy! The other hipshot bridges I've used (B-type & Dingwall custom) don't have this adjustment. The A & D strings were close, but not quite lining up with the pole pieces. I loosened the screws, moved the strings and the roller pins a tad and achieved perfect alignment and spacing. 8) The only nit I can pick with Hipshot is that they could have done a better job of smoothing the brass before plating it. Swirls from the machining process are still visible in front of the saddles. Small tradeoff for a much better bridge IMO.
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Maybe your bridge is adjusted higher than mine, anyway I can't palm-mute a Ric.
Could be but it's not what I would call a high action set up. Maybe I just have fatter hands. ;D
I tried plam muting above the saddles too and that isn't impossible either, just not as comfy.
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Thats what Routers are for ;) ;D
(http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t253/Freuds_cat/Jazz/72jazz700.jpg)
(http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t253/Freuds_cat/Cargill%20custom%20fretless/cargill752.jpg)
??? Funny, I thought Badass made the ''11'' so you didn't need to use a router, they even matched the 5 screws to the original.
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??? Funny, I thought Badass made the ''11'' so you didn't need to use a router, they even matched the 5 screws to the original.
Ahh what you you say is true but I never liked the whopping great footprint of the 2. Also when these basses were modified/built there was no such thing as a 2 let alone a 3. I'm also convinced that the 1's 2's and 3's all sound different to each other.
The 3 is a great bridge IMHO but it sounds brighter and has less ...hmmm, meat to the sound than the 1.
(http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t253/Freuds_cat/82%20JV%20Squier%20Jazz/82-squier-jazz-f-body.jpg)
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Ah, good point and I agree the 1 has a certain meat to it, it also looks the business too like it's name i suppose. I have a 2 on my Jazz and my Precision, although I can't tell on the Jazz, the Precision just sounds brighter, perhaps not the best thing for a Precision.
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If you want a meaty and bassy sound for your J or P bass, keep the stock bent bridge. If you own a Geddy J that has a factory installed BA-II and you want more lows, get a vintage-style bridge. The bent bridges don't look as neat as the BA (remember they were designed to be hidden under a chrome cover) but they do an excellent job. That's been my experience anyway.
Now can we please return to Ric (or Hipshot) content?
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Sorry Ilan ;)
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;D
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hi,I,ve got a hipshot on my 99 4003 and the problem I had was the grub screws kept winding down.
Solution a small wrap of plumbers ptfe tape on the threads-remember to wind in the opposite direction of rotation or it will unravel-anticlockwise orlefty loosey
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Yeah, you'd have to rout an additional space for the Badass I bridge on the Ric as well. Geddy got a badass tone on Farewell To Kings though.
I used to use the Badass II bridges on my Rics, which don't require routing, but it leaves a big hole where the Ric bridge was recessed. Geddy put a plastic ring around the bridge to hide it. I inlayed maple in mine. Later I switched the Schaller roller bridge.
Rics have no neck angle, so it's hard to get a bridge where the strings don't rattle on the saddles.
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Thats what Routers are for ;) ;D
(http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t253/Freuds_cat/Jazz/72jazz700.jpg)
(http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t253/Freuds_cat/Cargill%20custom%20fretless/cargill752.jpg)
The Badass I was made for Gibson basses, which is why it's so tall. The Badass II was made for Fenders, so you don't have to recess the bass. It sits right on top.
[edit] I just read why you used it