Fitting a new bridge with a different foot print

[jassthebass]

Hi

 

My first post here.

I'm wondering if anyone has any advice to give with regards to fitting a new bridge to an old bass which has a different footprint. This question is aimed at brave modification types, luthier types or some anyone else with experience. I have an old Maverick bass that I mainly use for practice but the bridge is a bit heath Robinson & therefore can be a bit of a pig to set up. I have already bought the replacement bridge that has the same string to sting measurement. Nothing of the fittings/screw holes line up & was wondering if anyone has any thoughts before I start.

This is a bit of an experiment but all the same I'd like not to miss anything out that I hadn't thought of.

 

Many thanks for your time

 

Jason

 

 

[hooky_lowdown]

Mark out the holes with a pencil onto some masking tape, use a bradawl tool to make initial holes, then screw in the screws. Simple.

[gary mac]

What hooky said, also if the screws are close to the old ones, then they may well start to go in a bit wonky. If there's a risk of that happening, I would first fill the old holes with wood glue and cocktail sticks and leave it to harden.

[KiOgon]

Measure from nut or 12th fret to your old bridge saddles and when you mark out the location of the new bridge make sure you have the same distance, near enough - for the intonation adjustments.

[Grangur]

When doing this I always start by putting masking tape on the body around the position of the old bridge, This gives you a good indication of the position for the new bridge. Also, as long as the old one was in the right place, it'll give you a good guide for the left/right positioning for the new bridge.

As @KiOgon says, you need to measure to find the position where the saddles need to be. If your bass is 34" scale, the distance from the nut to the 12th fret will be 43cm or there abouts. So the distance from the 12th to your G saddle will need to be about 43cm. The others will probably be slightly further. Work out the 12th - saddle distance to be 43cm, but with allowance for a saddle to move shorter AND longer. 

There is a strong chance you will need to plug the 2 outside existing holes as they won't be in the right place, but they will be near enough to mess up your drilling of holes for the new bridge. Plug the holes using cocktail sticks and PVA glue. Let the glue dry, then fill in any dents and again, let it dry before you start drilling this will mean you have a good, flat surface to drill into. Place a strip of masking tape on the body, under the line where the  new screw holes will go. Assuming you now have a 5-hole bridge, find the position where the centre screw will go, then drill that one first. Screw the bridge into place with that 1 screw, then check the measurements and position again. Then drill the other holes, making sure the bridge is straight.

Remove the bridge, remove the tape and screw the bridge into place.

Welcome to the world of bass building. Good luck

[donslow]

when measuring and marking up the distance between nut/12th and G saddle I've always made sure the G saddle is in the centre of its allowable movement then as @Grangur said, it allows you some movement for fine tuning intonation when the whole bridge is in place

[BigRedX]

8 hours ago, donslow said:

when measuring and marking up the distance between nut/12th and G saddle I've always made sure the G saddle is in the centre of its allowable movement then as @Grangur said, it allows you some movement for fine tuning intonation when the whole bridge is in place

Personally I would wind the saddles at least three quarters of their travel forwards before placing the bridge to give the most useful adjustment. You will never need to shorten the string from the scale length to get your intonation right (if you do there is something wrong with the string and you should replace it), but you will need to lengthen it and the lower pitched the string the more you will need to increase the length. Therefore the more "backwards" travel you have on the saddles the better.

[Grangur]

On 03/05/2019 at 08:06, BigRedX said:

Personally I would wind the saddles at least three quarters of their travel forwards before placing the bridge to give the most useful adjustment. You will never need to shorten the string from the scale length to get your intonation right (if you do there is something wrong with the string and you should replace it), but you will need to lengthen it and the lower pitched the string the more you will need to increase the length. Therefore the more "backwards" travel you have on the saddles the better.

Yes, I've had the E saddle bottom out in backward movement, but never had a problem with not being able to shorten enough.

[jassthebass]

Many thanks all for all of your advice !! I eventually got round to changing the bridge about 3/4 weeks ago & with a mixture of your advice everything went very smoothly - again thanks 

[jassthebass]