Hello everyone. I'm getting this very annoying tapping noise when i play my a string. I don't know if its the saddle or just that I'm playing too hard, but I didn't notice the noise until a few months after I bought it. Kinda hard to play communication breakdown when u can't hit the a string ten times fast without this stupid clicking noise. I have tried making the action higher but this does not seem to do it. Does anyone have any idea what I'm talking about? Thank you in advance for anyone thats willing to lend a hand.

My guess would be the string slapping against the fretboard or making contact with the pickup. The fretboard will make a nice "clack" like an upright... the pickup will make a loud, annoying "pop."

If it's the fretboard, there's no hardware solution. You have to change your right-hand technique.

If it's the pickup you can lower it a bit to lessen the problem but it probably won't completely go away without modifying your technique.

Try resting your hand on the pickup cover, it'll put your hand in the perfect position (between the pickups and high enough to not cause slap unless you want it). The typical J bass position of resting your thumb on the pickup will be the worst position for this - it puts your contact point with the string directly above the pickup AND tends to move the string in a vertical, not lateral, direction.

If the saddle is all the way forward towards the neck then the screw may not be enaged and the saddle can actually click. My G string saddle was just doing this - I tightened the screw a tad and it stopped clicking - still won't intonate though, too flat... :(

aye up, i think this is the same problem that I am having (made a post on this earlier). The clicking stopped, but the intonation is a bit out (which sounds WAY BAD when playing chords) and the string sounds dull. Any way to fix this? :( Perhaps that Dipshot replacement that I've seen on a few Rics?

Cheers!
BOB

Sounds like both of my ricks. But it only appears when connected through PA.

I have Ric basses since 1980. I think your problem may be
the same as what I had. The spring inside the bridge on the A sting was vibrating. So the next time I changed strings, I dropped a little hot wax on the spring to silence it. The wax will easily come off and if you adjust the intonation will not be a factor. It solved my problem.

Is Adrian Davidson nearby??

The other thing you could check is to make sure the string groove in the saddle is deep enough so that the string doesn't come out during hard playing.

I had a similiar problem with my 4003 on my D string. When I would pluck or pull my D there was noise and movement coming from the bridge. As it turned out there seemed to be to much clearance where the D saddle slides up and down the bridge for intonation. Yes the intonation screw was in place and the setup and action were perfect for me. Either the saddle notch was too narrow or the bridge groove was too wide. Anyway I could not remedy this. After alot of consideration I went to the Dipshot bridge. No regrets, easier to set up and it is a quality piece. That being said I did not have as much trouble as everyone says to set up and intonate the factory bridge and I do prefer its looks and it is the original bridge. I just think mine came down to slipping by the quality check at Ric. The Dipshot just screws in without modification so no harm done. I don't know if this will help you out it's what happened to me, good luck. IMHO there is no better bass made or even close to the 4003.