Iconic bridge and adjusting issues

[Dr Quist]

I believe that anyone with one of these basses made between the first one and anything current ... and that means a lot of bridges .. has founnd these pieces of hardware to be among the worst designed  tailpieces in the entire bass  business.

Why do I say that ?  Because I have worked on thousands of them. Not a few ..thousands.

That said.. it does not mean I loath them.. I searched for a tool to make them more adjustable ..so that anyone who wants the look and sound ... Lots of us want that !   can have a better time WITH the product.

There is no magic tool .. not unless it gets designed an d a Chinese tool maker is paid to tool up and make it. I for one am not going to pony up the cash to do that...I see no reason to support that goofy economic policy.

So .. here are a series of photos  to give an example of an idea that is do-able , workable and functions really well.  It does not  make  collectors happy.. but if you use your bass.. rather than think of it as  bass porn... then  this might be a helpful idea for you.

[Dr Quist]

Here is this iconic bridge base plate .

This version is from 1968

[Dr Quist]

The Same brdige assembly.. but from the adjustment side of things

[Dr Quist]

how do you get a screw driver in the screw head to make any adjustments ?  It appears  (even in this poor quality photo .. that time jhas not been kind to these screws ..and why?   The angle / accessability issue.

[Dr Quist]

A 1992 version of the same style base ....nearly the same problem decades later (why fix a good thing ?  Right ? )

[Dr Quist]

So I used a Gibson guitar idea to aid my thinking process .. Tune-O-Matic ABR-1 bridge rattle like an Arizona  Diamondback rattle snake  with the adjustment screws facing the tailpiece.  This is due to the adjustment screws  being located close to the strings and with the strings angling down to any stock tailpiece..these string ride against or on the length adjustment screws and they string vibrates when plucked.   
The "Fix" ?    Turn the bridge around ... flip the saddles around ... and make all adjustments from the neck side.

Well you can't do that  on this tailpiece ... not as a stock unit.

So how to modify it and make it appear  to remain STOCK.

This is the first step.   I mill / grind the 'teeth' notches down to the base of the saddle assembly base.

[Dr Quist]

Next I drill out the height adjutment feet indentations .. this is to stabilize the saddle assembly . They all seem to tilt away from the neck ... they NEVER seem to stay put. That is why I started doing that mod 30+ yearsago. 

After the teeth get modded... I need to drop the mute as far as it will go. The cavity is there to do that... but the bolts for raising and lowering this useless device are not long enough... so without replacing them... I solder or  braise onto the  steel mut plate two brass nuts  of matching thread .  These are mounted on the 'up' side so that you gain  the needed depth.
This was a factory mod we did  back in the 1970's when the woodshop would glue up a bass with a low neck angle  and we had to have notched  bridge pickup surround plates modified to get the strings to NOT hit these plate.  That required a dropped mute as well.

So borrowing from a factory  feature.. this kept me on my course.

[Dr Quist]

Now the saddle chassis issues.. the E string does not have enough offset travel  to  get proper intonation ..even if you use the factory suggested strings.  Evidently .. this has never been checked with an electronic accurate tuner.  Otherwise ... you would think it would be dealt with.

So to give all owners a change at being in tune (and I think all players want this !) I take the section of "E" saddle that the adjustment screw goes into .. and grind /file away  half ot it.
I round the shaved area away to conform to the saddle chassis .. ever notice the notches for the saddles have rounded ends?   

Then time to take the bridge saddle assembly and  remove all the saddles .. flip the base around ... and re-assemble  so the saddles are faced as they were previously.. and the adjustment heads are facing the neck .

Are you still with me ?

[Dr Quist]

We used to buff the saddles on the basses for  'important' owners.. like iconic figures who owned these basses .   There is a long list.. but four owners who  come to mind are  ; Paul McCartney , John Entwhistle , Geddy Lee and Chris Squire . Now I realise that Geddy did not know about this particular mod of mine.. so he had some one remove this bridge assembly.. and install a BADASS bridge.. well that also needs to  be modded to work on any Rick due to the narrower string spacing on all  Santa Ana  made basses  , compared to all  " Fullerton/Corona' made basses  ( and all the clone versions) .

Here is the buffed final adjusted version  of this .

[Dr Quist]

This looks like a stock bridge .

Yet the saddles do not wobble when changing strings , the screw heads on each saddle are accessable .... and the mute still functions ( do you really use it ? )

The tone ?  Well I think it turns up the response and  sustain factor.
I think it improves the bass in both adjustability...and tone.

Not for everyone?.. thats up for debate.  So I hope this gets you thinking about these special basses .
They are not a Fender.. those any idiot with a couple of tools can adjust. These take patience and calm  to deal with.. but three to four times the length of time.

These mods.. give you the Fender Adjustment time  factor.

Hope this is helpful to you.

[dadagoboi]

.. and install a BADASS bridge.. well that also needs to  be modded to work on any Rick due to the narrower string spacing on all  Santa Ana  made basses.. 

Bad Ass II bridges come with unnotched saddles so they'll fit any spacing depending how you notch them.  The IIIs have 4 notches per saddle

GREAT POST.  Looks like Rickenbacker's 'Constant Improvement Policy' is very similar to Gibson's.

I'm 'any idiot' and appreciate Fender's approach, 'science based' if you will, versus Gibson and Rick's 'Faith based' one.

[ilan]

Very clever and elegant mod.

Any idea for a mod that will allow palm-muting? Is there a way to lower the "teeth" and still keep the look?

[Dr Quist]

this mod allows for palm muting OR mechanical muting .

[Dr Quist]

Bad Ass II bridges come with unnotched saddles so they'll fit any spacing depending how you notch them.  The IIIs have 4 notches per saddle

GREAT POST.  Looks like Rickenbacker's 'Constant Improvement Policy' is very similar to Gibson's.

I'm 'any idiot' and appreciate Fender's approach, 'science based' if you will, versus Gibson and Rick's 'Faith based' one.

A Badass II does NOT work on every Rick.
To make it work .. You need to mod the Badass Ii Base by flipping "G" and "E" saddles.  The Rick is narrower spaced than Fender.. If the Badass II  came with the saddles reversed in those two locations .. you could easily  move the spacings closer.. but there are many where I have had to  flip these .

[dadagoboi]

A Badass II does NOT work on every Rick.
To make it work .. You need to mod the Badass Ii Base by flipping "G" and "E" saddles.  The Rick is narrower spaced than Fender.. If the Badass II  came with the saddles reversed in those two locations .. you could easily  move the spacings closer.. but there are many where I have had to  flip these .

Very easy on a III to switch the E and G, it has extra holes in the tail.  On a II looks like you have to drill 2 holes.  Just how narrow IS string spread?