Annoying Twit Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 I've noticed that there is a lot of love for badass bridges on this forum. I've looked at pictures of the badass bridge, and they look reasonably similar to the Warwick branded bridge on my Rockbass. It seems a solid piece of cast metal, rather than the "bent metal bridge" sometimes mentioned. I'm not experienced enough to know how long various basses sustain for, but the rockbass seems to sustain notes a long time. I'm not sure if some bassists sustain a single note for a whole chorus or something, but otherwise, the sustain of my bass seems fine. Not that I was planning to swap the bridge. But I'm curious to know whether my bridge is on a par with the badass or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warwickhunt Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 [quote name='Annoying Twit' post='306819' date='Oct 15 2008, 07:27 AM']I've noticed that there is a lot of love for badass bridges on this forum. I've looked at pictures of the badass bridge, and they look reasonably similar to the Warwick branded bridge on my Rockbass. It seems a solid piece of cast metal, rather than the "bent metal bridge" sometimes mentioned. I'm not experienced enough to know how long various basses sustain for, but the rockbass seems to sustain notes a long time. I'm not sure if some bassists sustain a single note for a whole chorus or something, but otherwise, the sustain of my bass seems fine. Not that I was planning to swap the bridge. But I'm curious to know whether my bridge is on a par with the badass or not.[/quote] The mass of your bridge V the Badass will affect sustain but the body material/neck/neck joint will have as much if not more impact on sustain so you'd be hard pushed to notice a massive difference. I tried a Warwick Fortress with the normal Warwick 2 piece bridge against a Fortress that I had with a 2Tek bridge (the bridge alone weighs something daft like 3lb) and though there was a difference in tone I'd not like to put my nads on the line and say that it was all down to the bridge or that you could hear with the human ear that the 2Tek sustained longer (though it may well have done). Ultimately I doubt your Rockbass bridge would be superior to a Badass but the difference between them for the money isn't worth worrying about Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annoying Twit Posted October 15, 2008 Author Share Posted October 15, 2008 Yes. It's tempting to look at upgrades, but bang for the buck is important. I couldn't find 2tek bridges online to check the price, but I'm sure they are probably about what my whole bass cost. I've been advised that Bartolini pickups and active circuitry would improve my bass. But they would cost even more than my entire bass did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjb Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 (edited) The cheaper Warwick bridges aren't the best, but they ain't too bad in my experience. They're the "reliable old Honda Accord" of the bridge world. I really like the Warwick two piece design execpt for one thing - the stringball holder. The open access is good, but the strings will often pop out whilst your're tightening the machineheads. Gets very annoying..... Edited October 15, 2008 by rjb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.Dave Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 I think the real 'hero worship' of Badass products comes from those who find stock Fender bridges lightweight and a bit cheap and nasty. I'm in that group. The Badass has such a rep. and has been around so long it's near enough an 'industry standard'. As the saying goes though 'other bridges are available' these days - and many basses have well made,decent mass bridges already fitted. A good replacement bridge will make a big difference if it replaces a poor one. That difference will be considerably less if the quality of the bridge currently fitted is good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galilee Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 [quote name='rjb' post='306852' date='Oct 15 2008, 09:15 AM']the strings will often pop out whilst your're tightening the machineheads. Gets very annoying..... [/quote] Glad it's not just me.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tauzero Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 [quote name='rjb' post='306852' date='Oct 15 2008, 09:15 AM']I really like the Warwick two piece design execpt for one thing - the stringball holder. The open access is good, but the strings will often pop out whilst your're tightening the machineheads. Gets very annoying..... [/quote] That's why I prefer my older Thumb with the one-piece bridge to the newer one. I don't find pulling a string through a hole to be that onerous, but if you're doing regular waxing and keeping the same strings on, I prefer to just pull the strings off the machine heads and put them back on when I've waxed, which is simple on the one-piece but means picking them back up off the floor with the two-piece... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peted Posted October 16, 2008 Share Posted October 16, 2008 I have a Badass bridge on my Squire P. The reason they are so popular on here is because the Fender stock bridge is shockingly bad, and the Badass is designed to be a direct replacement (all the screw holes line up exactly with the existing ones). I don't know the weight or material of the Warwick Rockbass bridges, but I doubt there's any discernable difference between that and the Badass. The real difference is between the Fender bridge and the Badass (and ease of installation). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peted Posted October 16, 2008 Share Posted October 16, 2008 [quote name='Galilee' post='307064' date='Oct 15 2008, 01:33 PM']Glad it's not just me....[/quote] This has never happened to me? Is this just when you first put the string on, or just tweaking between practices? I would be horrified if I couldn't rely on my strings staying in the bridge every time I touched a machinehead! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisnameistaken Posted October 16, 2008 Share Posted October 16, 2008 [quote name='rjb' post='306852' date='Oct 15 2008, 09:15 AM']I really like the Warwick two piece design execpt for one thing - the stringball holder. The open access is good, but the strings will often pop out whilst your're tightening the machineheads. Gets very annoying..... [/quote] Can't say it bothers me too much. I'm willing to put up with it for such a nice-looking bridge. [quote name='Dr.Dave' post='306961' date='Oct 15 2008, 11:35 AM']I think the real 'hero worship' of Badass products comes from those who find stock Fender bridges lightweight and a bit cheap and nasty. I'm in that group.[/quote] Me too. I had a US Jazz once where the E and A saddles would actually lose height while I was playing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjb Posted October 16, 2008 Share Posted October 16, 2008 [quote name='peted' post='307664' date='Oct 16 2008, 09:57 AM']This has never happened to me? Is this just when you first put the string on, or just tweaking between practices? I would be horrified if I couldn't rely on my strings staying in the bridge every time I touched a machinehead![/quote] Nah, just when you're putting them on. I switched a set of strings last night as it happens and I figured out that you have to learn to put the strings on "backwards" so to speak - wind them around the machine heads and [b]then[/b] pop then into the bridge when they're just the right length. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bass_ferret Posted October 16, 2008 Share Posted October 16, 2008 The beauty of the Badass is it fits right in the fender holes. The downside is it is a bit taller and sometimes neck shimming and pup height need adjusting if the old fender bridge saddles were down on the bassplate. Some other bridges are also direct replacements. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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