Part 2 - Rickenbacker 4003 Bass Guitar (Chinese Copy): re-positioning and modifying the bridge
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ส.ค. 2024
- Part 2: I ordered this Rickenbacker style 4003 bass guitar from China - it arrived in about 3 weeks in one piece (thankfully). It is has a solid Walnut body with Maple thru neck construction. Maple fingerboard with shark fin fingerboard inlays... honestly, this bass looks great! A close inspection revealed some flaws and build issues but I am sure they can be resolved easily enough over the course of a few videos.
This video will focus on repositioning and modifying the bridge. I hope you enjoy the video!
-Steve
Manotick StringWorks
Ottawa, Ontario
sroymsw@gmail.com
#rickenbacker #bass #guitar #4003 #chickenbacker #ricky #replica #fake #chinese #copy
Man, this bass has almost as many issues as the real thing! 😂
Great video 👍
Quite true- at a fraction of the price!
Excellent videos! Thanks for the care and detail shown
Thanks!
Great video! I build and sell guitars as a hobby, but only from parts including precut bodies and necks, or in kit form. I do have a Chinabacker kit I will be starting very soon, (once I get two projects out of my shop). Let me know what you think of this idea...Turning the bridge around correctly, your saddle, set screws will be in the rear of each saddle. For this mod, you will need 4 more of these screws, (8 total), Though I have not yet measured them, these 4 set screws present in the saddles, look to be of perfect size for this application. Since the billets are completely independent of the bridge, this will not allow for set screws to be tapped and fitted on each side of the billet without creating balance issues, so here is my fix. Remove the saddles and tap a new set screw in the center of the billet groove of all 4 saddles. Check the sizes needed and use oil to lubricate when drilling and tapping the holes. This screw should be short enough to 1) sit flush with the bridge, mounting plate without interfering with the billet or if so, 2) possibly fitting in the space of the string groove of the billet, as rqr'd for action/radius adjustment height, etc. This will enable adjustment of all 4 saddles for the 12" radius of the fingerboard and aid in additional adjustment concerning action height and intonation. Of course, the loose billets will have to be worked around during adjustment. NOTE: Having experience with metal produced in China, this bridge metal is not as pure as that produced in other countries, (but I believe this is probably the case everywhere now)... It is cost effective but as a result, of inferior quality; this is a fact so use care and take your time tapping these holes and use a toothpick and steel wool for thread cleanup. In the past, I have seen cheaper bridges warp or even break due to tuning and restringing over time. Knowing this, I will also drill a third countersunk, mounting hole at dead center of this bridge but further back from the other two existing screw holes, as far back as it can go without interfering with string path. I will also use larger mounting screws throughout this bridge. Doing so will add extra strength to the overall integrity of the bridge. Once completed, this bridge should be vastly improved and work great. No, it may not be the best quality (yet) and sure, you can add a Leo Quan, Wilkinson or any other bridge that you have a hankering to use...but for about an hour's worth of time and with minimum effort, this bridge will be greatly improved, yet still cheaper on the wallet. Let me know what you think of this solution and I will let you know how it works once I complete this project.
I come with an idea for the bridge , get rid of it and install a different one.😊❤
Probably will replace it with the Hipshotbversion at some point
Hi so i have bought a very simmilar bass with exactly the same bridge. with the same problem. Rather than adding shims under the bridge saddles I realised you could warp the bridge to shape, by loosenning off the small allen keys on the out side of the bridge, tightening up the on in the middle to raise the center Then tighten down the two thumb screws either side to warp the bridge into shape, to create the appropriate curve, all buzzing on the D and G Strings gone. I then just tightend down the four out side allan key fittings to steady the bridge rather than change the shape. No Shims required.
nice fix!
Your aluminum tape idea is what I was thinking of, just before you actually did it. Great fix! I have the exact same bass coming my in a few weeks. I curious to find out whether I'll encounter the same issues. I'm looking forward to the project.
Very nice job. You are a master at your craft. I replied to your first video on this bass. I have the solid Maple finish. Same bridge set up. But I had already decided when I did the first set,to replace the bridge with a hip shot. I guess you get what you pay for,right? Thanks for your videos.!
You do get what you pay for 😁. These are good basses to work on and mod because they are cheap and the "bones" are good. I hope you have subscribed to my channel?
@@ManotickGuitarTech yes sir,that's the way I look at it to. It was cheap enough to put a few dollars in. To make it a decent Bass. Thanks again.
Really enjoying the videos on the Rick-style bass. I think that instead of the aluminum tape I would have used some type of shim stock. The adhesive on the tape accounts for some of its thickness and I'd guess under pressure will migrate. That might change distances as the stack of tape layers compress over time.
It probably will compress over time - you can always add more tape... I didn't have any brass or aluminum stock handy.
I have a made in mim jazz bass with a similar bridge issue getting a luthier to correct it
Thanks I have saw this guitar on Ali express keep us posted if you hardware upgrades best wishes Paul
Liverpool UK 🇬🇧
Nice work! I think if it was mine, I'd swap out the bridge with a Hipshot Kickass bridge.
That would be a good choice!
Yes I would’ve simply replaced that bridge instead of going through all that
@@learnmusic488 I might still change it out for a hipshot bridge.
I'm not sure lots of aluminium tape is the right solution. With so many layers on top of each other there'll be a considerable thickness of adhesive in the stack, which will act as a cushion or damper under the strings. Even if the affect on playing is minimal, having something as variable as that will change the instrument's tone and could make it harder to keep the strings in tune with temperature changes.
(Solid brass shims would have been my choice - ideally graduated sizes under all 4 strings. Better still: get a decent bridge...)
There's also the likelihood that the hard-mounted E and G strings will sound different from the softer-mounted A and D. Maybe not a problem for live gigs, but it might prove troublesome in the studio. Having said that, anyone who's THAT Ricky picky would probably have bought a real one in the first place! 😁
Can you put all Rickenbacker components on this bass or would it not fit right??
You were probably better off with the babicz retro saddle bridge insert.
That bridge is a poor copy of RIC's poor design. How much time did you spend correcting it? (and it's still not really adjustable). Congrats on making it work, but it's not worth saving; it's not a holy grail.
Read my post...I think I have corrected the adjustment issue.
I'm having a Chinese guitar maker, make me a copy of the 90th anniversary 4005 model bass. I'd love to send some pics of it's progress and completed guitar. I'm curious to see how well they do. The originals are going for around $5000. I paid $400. I'm assured it will be to my specs and by the pics I've sent them. They've been very accommodating, and communicative. So I'm encouraged.
I would be curious to see the pics and what you think of the bass when you get it
@@ManotickGuitarTech sure. They are pretty accommodating. I'm pretty picky, and they've already sent pictures of it in progress .
Where can I send you pics?
@@ManotickGuitarTech I really appreciate your channel. I've learned a lot from you.
@@jimh6763 my email address is in the description of my videos
Wow, that bridge placement was awful. Thankfully my Chickenbacker has the bridge placed so that the scale length is fine, although it's tail end is not as close to the edge of the body as the bridge on a real Rick. The only thing I can really fault mine on is that it's quite heavy and a long rehearsal can leave my shoulders aching.
Thankfully, it was a relatively easy fix... it is a pretty bass and sounds pretty good, too. I hope you have subbed to my channel?
Yep, I've subbed :-)
I would have removed the bridge, tossed it in my growing collection of Chinese junk parts and put a Hipshot Ric replacement bridge on it. 😎
Closed captions please.
I dont know how to do that but I will look into it, Wayne. I hope you have subscribed to my channel?
Wayne I just checked and the closed captions are working fine- click on the CC button when you watch. Tks.
@@ManotickGuitarTech I have subscribed. Thank you for ticking that box. It means a lot to the hearing impaired.
Another commenter mentioned using a different bridge altogether, which would have been an economical option considering how much of your valuable time was used up messing with the original POS. You are too polite to say so, but it is obvious that the poor owner of that instrument was blissfully ignorant of how poorly the thing was made.
Sure, but the video is more about how to make the bass better if you can... if the mod didnt work, then I would look at replacing the bridge.