Fitting an adjustable bridge.

[Bilbo]

I have just been quoted £300-350 by a luthier for this job. Can anyone confirm whether this is competitive? 

[pete.young]

Sounds a bit excessive to me, does that include the cost of the bridge too? Might be worth giving Peter at ME Strings in Monks Eleigh a call.

[fleabag]

Admittedly i'm talking about a regular leccy bass here , but still

I'd say well excessive.

To give you an idea why, i had a luthier rout my bass for a pickup,  ( so he had  to make a template )  wire it to the pots, then i wanted the rear cavity enlarged ( matron ) becuase it was so small that getting access to 2 of the 3 pots was near impossible. Also, the rear cavity did not have a shelf so the cavity cover sat over the body and not in the cavity.

So he routed a shelf on it as well as making the cavity bigger.  I did the job of making the cavity cover myself, as he made a template for it.

That lot cost £150

Edited June 28, 2018 by fleabag

[BreadBin]

What bridge, to what bass?

That does sound excessive to me.

[bassace]

It’s in the EUB and DB section, should give a clue. And as Bilbo doesn’t play EUB....................

Laurence Dixon supplied and fitted a new adjustable bridge, reprofiled the fingerboard, adjusted the soundpost and reglued the body here and there and made the bass sound divine. All for £450. So I’d think £350 is a bit much for the bridge only.

[Bilbo]

I have provided the bridge so it is fitting only Inc cutting to size. 

[Burns-bass]

Seems quite high. When Martin Penning shaped mine and fitting adjusters I think that was £250. And the top of my bass is pretty deformed so it certainly wasn't a simple job. 

 

 

[SubsonicSimpleton]

My luthier of choice doesn't like being supplied with parts - I asked him why, and his main concern was that substandard materials make precision work much more difficult, and he doesn't want to put himself in a position where he is having to stand behind a job which fails at a later date due to something beyond his control which he than has to rectify at his expense or risk damage to his reputation.

He quoted me £200 to supply a despiau blank, fit adjusters to it and fit it to the bass when I asked him about replacing my bridge.

[Burns-bass]

8 minutes ago, SubsonicSimpleton said:

My luthier of choice doesn't like being supplied with parts - I asked him why, and his main concern was that substandard materials make precision work much more difficult, and he doesn't want to put himself in a position where he is having to stand behind a job which fails at a later date due to something beyond his control which he than has to rectify at his expense or risk damage to his reputation.

He quoted me £200 to supply a despiau blank, fit adjusters to it and fit it to the bass when I asked him about replacing my bridge.

That's a really good point, and something I have experienced too.

[Bilbo]

7 hours ago, Burns-bass said:

Part of the issue is geography. Going to Martin Penning would cost about £150 in petrol thereby negating any gain. 

 

 

[pete.young]

Monks Eleigh on the other hand is about 40 minutes up the road. I think from memory Peter charged me about 250 quid to glue the back of my bass back on (it was falling off), replace the  soundpost, fit and supply a new bridge (not adjustable) which had to be thinned down quite  a bit.

[Bilbo]

I have got it sorted, thanks. £225!!

[fleabag]

Good man !