Bass Bridges

[Brendan]

Looking towards my next conquest - figuring with the lead times, I may want to start to place orders for some stuff now - can anyone recommend a decent bass bridge - not sold on the Fender look - personally I rather the Ibanez Monorail type - individual bridges, or something along the Schaller line... At the same time, I can't justify paying as much for a bridge as I do for a guitar - so while the Baddass, etc look nice, just can't justify them - maybe for scratchbuild #2...

http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/ew2c7-Ibanez-Monorail-bridge.jpg

[pablopepper]

Well for what it's worth, I've got a badass II bridge on my Fender Jazz and it is the bee's knees. Best bridge ever, but I can totally understand not wanting to spend $150 on a bridge for a bass that's cost less than that.

I just got one of these for my PBH-4
http://www.bowriverwoods.com/assets/images/products/large/hipshot_bass_guitar_bridge_4stringblk.jpg
it's a knockoff Hipshot bridge that cost less than $20 on ebay. It hasn't arrived yet, so when it does i'll let you know if it's any good or not. I figured it was worth a gamble.

[Brendan]

Perfect - just the thing...

[dingobass]

I would go for the Schaller roller bridge, German made so you know it is good!
Try not to think of the cost of the Bass compared to any hardware you may want to put on, remember, the better the hardware the better the finished Bass will sound.

[Brendan]

Found http://www.buzzardsbass.com/bass-parts.html - seems to have a big range - though is not a fan of Hipshots... Also doesn't publish shipping costs and seems to have been burnt with sending stuff internationally...

[dingobass]

Mate, I used Hipshot once.... Never again! Paid 400 bucks for a headless unit that turned out to be made from mystery metal.
Stripped the g tuner thread when I was setting it up. This meant another three week wait for them to get around to shipping a replacement, which took another two and a half weeks to get to me......

[kimball492]

Hi guys the hipshot single string bridges are dreadful hard to fit very hard to intonate and are and expensive . Also asking hip shot or any fitting info via email
Falls on deaf ears

Best Wishes
Kimball

[dingobass]

Oh just feel the love for Hipshot.... NOT!
Over priced pieces of mystery metal.
Mr Tim has just got himself a Babicz Bass bridge.... One sexy bit of kit! And for what you get, Babicz is very nicely priced. :)

[Tim]

AsDB mentioned I went for the babicZ bass bridge , really nice and well built.
My only advice if you want to upgrade your hardware then UPGRADE, dont downgrade.
Spend the money and do it right once, and the babicz is not a great expense for what you get.

http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/drdck-20130805_173023.jpg

[Brendan]

Tim - where did you get it from?

[Tim]

go to www.fullcontacthardware.com it comes direct from babicz .
he makes really nice and well designed bridges for all basses and guitars

[Brendan]

Yep - seen that - wondering if you had found a special dealer - their prices are lower than the ebay ones...

[Tim]

I would avoid anything like this on ebay.
And as I said for the price you get a really nice piece of gear
My future ib5 build will get a babicz

[Brendan]

New toy arrived today for my IB-5 build (Christmas present held up in the post)...

Piezo 5 string bridge - 270 grams of goodness!

You may be able to tell, but I'm getting a little excited :D
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/dh43j-WP_20140103_002.jpg

[Fretworn]

Nice. Are you going for separate outputs, or will you have a switch to go between magnetic and piezo? I'm assuming the piezo will need a preamp, as they usually do.

My Peavey Generation has a Piezo bridge and a stereo output jack, so I can use a Y cable to send the magnetics to an amp and the piezo to a DI, with a three way switch to choose magnetics, piezo or both. If you use a normal mono guitar cable you can still switch between them. The only problem is that, even though the magnetics are passive, once the preamp battery goes flat the whole guitar goes dead.

[Brendan]

Given the shape, I'd rather keep to one output jack and use internal electrics to manage the sound. That said, I still haven't worked out exactly how I'll wire this one up... Maybe go the Y cable and an A/B/Y box?

[lawry]

I've installed a few Tone Monster electronics over the years for myself and mates and, considering how cheap they are, they sound pretty damn good. In fact, I'm going to put one into my fretless build. They work with both magnetic and piezo pups but I personally haven't used them in a guitar that has had both types. Just a thought.

http://guitarfuel.com/Guitar_Bass_Preamps.php

[Brendan]

@Lawry - looking at what they supply, the SBK-2A and a 3 way may let me keep most of the aesthetics of the IB-5 and also give me options for the two magnetic and one piezo pup.

http://guitarfuel.com/SBK-2A_Preamp_EQ_Harness.php