Hi folks. Anyone know where I can get replacement bridge saddles (6-string variant) for my '87 360 and '89 381? I see the bridges are available online, but haven't found a source for just the saddles. I tried the search feature, but nothing came up that would be helpful. Thanks.

In the boutique:
http://boutique.rickenbacker.com/Bridges_c_7.html

I decided to make new saddles out of brass (1/8"x1/2" flat bar). I'm just about done with one bridge. It's a lot of work, but I wanted to see how the brass sounds. Thanks for the link to the boutique!

Too cool. Any chance of posting a photo or two? Describe your tools and basically how you're fabricating these? If it's not too much trouble. Stuff like this is always interesting. Maybe some other guys are interested, too.

I was planning to take some pics of the end result. It may be a few more days as these are somewhat time consuming, and I have other projects around the house I'm working on.

As far as tools go, I'm using a hacksaw (32 teeth/per-inch), drill press, bench grinder, dremel tool, vice, and some files, sandpaper etc. I drill and tap the hole for the intonation screw before I cut the saddle off the full bar of metal. That way, once I cut the saddle off the bar, I just have to tweak it to get the size right (around 3/8" wide). I also cut the saddle a little wider at first, and then grind/file/sand it down to get the exact width I want. Right now I have all the saddles on the bridge with the tops filed/sanded for the correct radius, and then remove them one by one to get them crowned (angled) like the factory look.

One thing that's slowing me down is I don't have the right tap for the intonation holes, so I have to use the "screw method" of threading the hole. I'm still using the original RIC screws, even though they are a pain (allen-head). Before I do the next bridge on the John Kay Ric, I'm going to find a correct tap to speed up the process.

Thanks! We look forward to a photo or two.

Finished the 360 bridge, but I can't get a photo to load on this website. So far nothing I've tried works. Will try again tomorrow.

Please look at the "FAQ" -- link can be found close to the bottom of this page, at the end of a series of links, immediately below the "Search for:" and "Jump to:" windows. "Formatting and Topic Types." Use the "BBCode" of photos you upload to your chosen photo hosting site. I use "imgur" because it's free. I used to use Image Shack, which used to be free; all my posted photos "disappeared" from this site when they started charging money to use it.

Also, there is a strict photo size limit. I can't recall what that horizontal limit in pixel width is off hand -- I had in written down on a Post It note on my computer, but it's "gone." I'll look around. Your last resort is to poke around this site for a posted photo and check its "Properties."


PS - Since I resize my photos before uploading them to my hosting site, I checked my saved photos. While the vertical pixel height of a posted photo is variable, the horizontal pixel width has an allowed maximum of 450. Most of my photos are uncropped and taken in a horizontal attitude. When I resize, changing the horizontal axis first, the vertical is automatically resized. Most of the photos I have posted here, therefore, are 450 x 338 pixels. Again, the vertical pixel height doesn't matter.

Yes, I've got to get the file size right. I use Photobucket, so later this evening I'll get the pic/s edited to the right size in my Adobe program and try again. Thanks for the info Maxwell.

FYI, I just doubled the horizontal width to 900 px.