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Stingray Bridge replacement


Sardonicus
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Ah, it looks like you’ve got a Sterling, the kind that used to be called a Sub Ray 4, but is now called a Sterling Stingray 4. Just to confuse matters.

 I have one of these basses, and I’ve also been looking for a replacement bridge. There are near copies of the real Stingray bridge on eBay. 

I got one for about twelve quid, and found that it looks better, but the string spacing is too narrow, by about 3mm at the bridge. The build quality is about the same. I attach a photo of a similar one, but with Sterling logo.

I am going to try drilling or filing out the stud holes, so that I can use the wider spaced saddles from the original (as in your photo). 

Some folks have tried the Badass II bridge, with good results.

Hope this helps!

5713A70C-450B-43FA-9264-650B5D4E8C87.png

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  • 3 weeks later...
1 hour ago, bloke_zero said:

The studs are for the mutes on early stingrays...

The studs are just for the bridge mounting, the mutes are a separate component of early bridges. The studs carried over onto the later bridges without mutes.

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I think we might be getting our wires crossed here! All Stingray bridges have studs (except the new post-2018 specials) but only early versions (pre-EB and up to 1994 ish) had mutes. The pre-EB you were playing would have had mutes, so they must have been missing.

Edited by ikay
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  • 1 month later...
On 29/10/2019 at 09:33, bloke_zero said:

The studs are for the mutes on early stingrays you can see more here: http://www.musicmanbass.global/bridges-pre-eb-eb/

 

The mutes were installed separately, not on the studs.

The studs served to anchor the bridge and as stops for the saddles, so that they don't move sideways.

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  • 5 months later...
9 hours ago, bloke_zero said:

Is that one of the Northwest ones? I have pretty much the same thing on my pbass/stingray cross - really like it - nice weight, looks good,  feels good under the palm.

It actually came off my Spector Performer, I replaced the original silver Spector bridge with a black one from Northwest 👍🏻.

I’ve got Northwest bridges on 3 of my 4 basses now, They’re on my Precision, my Jazz and my Spector.  I love them.

7FE557C3-F5B5-4FEE-9A8B-56EE04A1F7E1.jpeg

817E86DC-7DE1-4B2A-9DF9-48C4B7866E1F.jpeg

9DCB4E95-32D3-4863-B154-0EB894D0E128.jpeg

Edited by Big Rich
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  • 1 month later...
On 20/05/2020 at 12:00, songofthewind said:

I got round to changing out the bridge on mine.

B42E232B-3AA4-4ABD-9C95-965C3D091523.jpeg

6FAB854A-A1FA-4AE1-8597-81E59BFACE03.jpeg

Where did you get the replacement bridge? Thinking about modding my Ray4...
 

And how was the install?

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I got the bridge from Retrovibe, via eBay.i think I’ve seen them on AliExpress too.

As it came the new bridge had narrow saddles, which meant the string spacing was too narrow. I installed the correct width (20mm string spacing) saddles from the bridge that came with the SUB Ray 4. so that was fine.

However, this meant that the big anchor studs were too close together to permit the new saddles to fit comfortably between them, so I had to laterally enlarge their mounting holes in the baseplate, so that I could move them further out from the centreline. This was a bit rough looking, but is well hidden by the massive studs.

I carefully located the bridge on the body, and drilled the holes for the stud bases. The top part of each stud passes through the baseplate and screws into the base. There are three additional mounting screws at the rear of the bridge.

Doesn't look bad at all, eh?

 

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17 minutes ago, funkle said:

Looks great. You may have convinced me it’s a bit much work for a cosmetic change,  though. Thank you!

Yeah, it wasn’t just a drop in, but it wasn’t too difficult. I just really dislike the big OEM slab bridge plate!

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  • 3 years later...

Hey guys, not to revive a dead thread, I'm also looking to replace my bridge BUT, I'm am looking for a bridge that has the option of adjusting string spacing. Is there any recommendations of such a bridge for a 5 string MM sterling?

Edited by Arnoldas
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7 hours ago, Arnoldas said:

Hey guys, not to revive a dead thread, I'm also looking to replace my bridge BUT, I'm am looking for a bridge that has the option of adjusting string spacing. Is there any recommendations of such a bridge for a 5 string MM sterling?

 

Not with adjustment per se, but these guys seem to suggests they might make a custom bridge with your string spacing?: https://www.albridgeparts.com/ - I have one and I'm very happy with it, very well made and thought out.

 

Hard to find MM bridges generally! Let us know if you have any joy.

Edited by bloke_zero
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