RC4A 'the binned guitar'

[wazkelly]

Hi Andy, I have bought 2 of those bridges, a fiver and 4 banger, only to find the saddles at lowest height sit higher than most F styles and reckon that is where a lot of the high action problem is coming from. Not sure I would risk routing as it would need to be very precise to help counter sink the whole bridge base plate which looks to be a couple of mm thick. I am in a similar predicament on my EX-5 and look like re-installing original kit bridge as it has more up & down saddle height adjustment available. Plenty of really, really expensive ones out there that might do the job but not prepared to spend over $100 bucks for minimal gain, if any at all. I have used one of the better quality ones as a replacement on my J Bass and only similar one in black is a Gotoh for $75.

If you are tempted to drop in a Riccy look-a-like Real Parts sells them for $99 but currently out of stock. Couple of recent RC4 builds using that style show that routing is required but with a bigger baseplate many mistakes can be hidden. They only come in silver/chrome.

At the Nut, fret at 2nd and the 3rd frets to see how much gap above string at 1st fret and if more than business card thickness things need to be lowered at the nut end too. Brass is very hard if you need to file or sand it down to lower the action and takes forever which tends to make bone look like the better alternative.

[Andyxlh]

Thanks Waz! Yes you could be right re the saddle heights on this bridge. Looking around I can't see much I like the look of as an alternative though. I think a standard fender one would not look right, even in black. If I did rout out I'd use my plunge router after cutting the edge with a sharp file. You are right, it only needs a couple mm lowering. I have seen a couple of rc4 kits that have needed the bridge lowering. Still thinking about this!
Not too worried about filing down the brass, I have a good bench grinder sander setup which should do the job. Interested if I think might give a nice bright sound.

[wazkelly]

I have a brass nut in my rosewood fret board tele and definitely much brighter, particularly on open strings.

Not every bass player wants to add the brighter twang that comes with brass fittings and can be a bit hard to dial out if unnecessary or not appropriate for genre being played.

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[Andyxlh]

I have a brass nut in my rosewood fret board tele and definitely much brighter, particularly on open strings.

Not every bass player wants to add the brighter twang that comes with brass fittings and can be a bit hard to dial out if unnecessary or not appropriate for genre being played.

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Agreed, I'm using an SVT rig which has plenty of bottom end. The pickups are also very grungy so it's a bit of an experiment, albeit a cheap one!

[FrankenWashie]

Did someone say brass? I have brass if anyone needs it 😂

[wazkelly]

If Brass = Money happy for any donations Frankie!

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[trv]

Routing a couple mm sounds pretty daunting, but I think it's very doable.

I'm no expert, but here's how I'd tackle it: make a template out of MDF or something similar so you limit the travel of the router within the area you want to cut. I'd also try scoring the edge of the routed area and mask it with painters tape to avoid chipping the finish.

Your bass looks great. I really like the colour of your finish along with the black hardware. Good luck!

[FrankenWashie]

If Brass = Money happy for any donations Frankie!

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No, I meant brass literally....I have a bunch of 2.5” square blocks of brass. potentially many, many brass nut blanks.

[Andyxlh]

No, I meant brass literally....I have a bunch of 2.5” square blocks of brass. potentially many, many brass nut blanks.

Well I'll try the one I have on order out, if I like it I know where to go to get some more!!!

[Andyxlh]

Routing a couple mm sounds pretty daunting, but I think it's very doable.

I'm no expert, but here's how I'd tackle it: make a template out of MDF or something similar so you limit the travel of the router within the area you want to cut. I'd also try scoring the edge of the routed area and mask it with painters tape to avoid chipping the finish.
Your bass looks great. I really like the colour of your finish along with the black hardware. Good luck!

Thanks TRV, that sounds like exactly the way I'll do it! Got to build up some more bravery first! I'm kinda feeling flush after routing the teleblaster headstock, didn't think that would work and it came out ok. I love the idea of the mdf blank to help with controlling the cut.