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Thread: Sung Il bass bridges and hardware

  1. #11
    GAStronomist Simon Barden's Avatar
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    Mixed messages on that BB008. "string spacing 17mm" on the title whilst the dimensions diagram states 16mm!

    Thanks, I'll have a look.

  2. #12
    GAStronomist Simon Barden's Avatar
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    Dimensions on the BB008 look exactly like my current bridge, even down to the fixing hole centres and locations. Now to find one!

  3. #13
    GAStronomist Simon Barden's Avatar
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    Except I now realise that the picture and the dimension drawing are completely different. Find another bridge time.

  4. #14
    Overlord of Music fender3x's Avatar
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    It looks like they used the dimensions for this bridge instead of the 008.

    Click image for larger version. 

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    I have seen the 4 string bridges available in the UK. Not the whole range. I think the catalog I am looking at is sent to OEM mfgs. It's a really bad website, and there are no sales to the public on it.

    They seem to have 5ers in string thru with lock down and in a broad range of widths. In the non-string through versions they seem to have just the two--the BB008 with the wrong dimensions, and the BB405 with the 19mm stirng width.

    They do seem to have some non-saddle-locking bridges for 5ers, including the one that matches your dimensions as well as a few others. If it were me, I'd get the locking if it's available, but if not, I wouldn't worry about it. I have never had too little sustain on my bass that I can remember. Too much on open strings maybe....
    Last edited by fender3x; 25-04-2020 at 01:23 AM.

  5. #15
    GAStronomist Simon Barden's Avatar
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    I'm rather dubious about string-though 5-string bridges. For such a thick string,that bottom B has needs a very tight turn radius in order for it to sit on the saddle properly. I can find lots of interesting bridges, but all with 17mm or 19mm spacing, not 16mm.

    First choice so far is a Hipshot one with adjustable spacing, but that doesn't have any lock-down feature, which would be nice.

  6. #16
    Overlord of Music fender3x's Avatar
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    I don't think the string trough makes much difference sound-wise. My experiments suggest that locking does improve sustain a little but it's pretty subtle.

  7. #17
    Overlord of Music fender3x's Avatar
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    My Sung Il BB404 arrived today, and I am as impressed by it so far as I was with it's TOM sibling that lives on my hybrid.

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    As I posted earlier, I am not a great fan of high-mass bridges, but if you want one... this weighs in 243g which is over a half pound. That is heavier than a Badass, a Fender High Mass or a Babicz. String spacing is 19mm. I checked this against my mid-1970's Precision and my FrankenJazz basses, and it is identical. The Hipshot A-style is a little heavier at 260g, and will adjust string width.

    I am not convinced that mass adds much more than weight to a bass, but I do think that you get a tiny bit more sustain from a bridge that locks the saddles in place, as the G&L, KSM and Babicz do. The Sung Il also locks the saddles. The Hipshot A-style does not, but I am not sure about other hipshots for F style basses. The Fender and the Badass definitely do not lock the saddles.

    The Sung Il has a low profile, and quite a bit of adjustment, both vertically and for intonation. Some high mass bridges seem to require shimming the neck or routing the bodybecause they are higher than Fender stamped bridge plate. That should't be a problem with this bridge.

    The finish is superb. Really nicely chromed. It also comes in black and gold.

    I will be putting it on a paulownia body. These are notoriously soft, and my one worry with the bridge is whether the screws may pull out. On the positive side, this bridge is made to accommodate both string on top and string through. I plan not to do string through, but it is nice to have it as an option of I do get pull out problems.

    I want to build a light bass, but the paulownia is almost too light, weighing in at around 1220g. So a high mass bridge should help prevent neck dive. I am hopeful at least. For the same reason, however, I would not put this on my Frankenjazz which weights in at 4390g with a fender style stamped brigde--already pretty heavy.

    My one beef is that the four mounting screws are too small, so they will be getting replaced with screws that are a bit longer.

    I overpaid for my Sung Il at just over USD $25 with shipping. That is still a tremendous bargain compared to any other name-brand locking bridge I have found. I have seen them on eBay for as little as USD $18 with shipping.

    I'll report back with anything I learn in the installation, particularly if it negatively affects my outlook, but for now this seems like a great bridge for the money.
    Last edited by fender3x; 13-08-2020 at 01:14 AM.

  8. #18
    Timely for me - I'm looking at aftermarket options for a 5 string Jazz build.

    I have a mix of various bridges on the 5 basses I own and I really like the one on my Sandberg which is essentially the same as what you have bought. They are a great in terms of adjustment/setup. I'd go with one for this 5er for sure. I assume there are various sellers for them.

    Cheers

  9. #19
    Overlord of Music fender3x's Avatar
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    They have a very similar bridge for 5 strings,

    http://www.sung-il.com/bbs/board.php?bo_table=b071_05

    ...but as Simon noted earlier the string spacing is 19mm, which may be pretty wide for a 5er. They have two others that for sure are locking BB285 and BB265. Narrower, but also string-through. They also have one that looks like it has a grub screw for locking on the side, BB008 that is string-on-top and 17mm spacing, but I can't promise it's locking. Then, over course, they have a bunch of 5ers that don't lock, some of which are high mass.

    The website is horrible, perhaps because they primarily market to manufacturers rather than individuals. I have seen their products sold in a lot of places. I got my first one on eBay. I got my second one on AliExpress, and thought I might grow old and die before it arrived. I have found them on a number of other websites as well. You can also sometimes find them using "Wilkinson" as a key word...because apparently Sung Il also builds some hardware for Wilkinson...

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  11. #20
    Overlord of Music fender3x's Avatar
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    I found a bridge that I have never heard of on a UK website that looks strikingly like the Sung Il BB404 that I have. They are not identical in the pics. I like the fact that the "Grainger" does not have the set screws that match the color of the bridge (unlike the Sung Il). There are some cosmetic differences...but overall the two bridges raise the question of who is copying whom?

    https://www.btnmusic.co.uk/product/g...idge-4-string/

    The Grainger is about 5 times as expensive as the Sung Il (even in the UK)...but there is the issue of fine, British craftsmanship. It says it's "Designed AND Manufactured in the UK!"

    https://graingerguitarparts.com/

    The Sung Il products I have gotten have been quite good with regard to finish, fit and heft. That said, I had to re-tap one of the saddles because the intonation screw got stuck. Easy enough to fix, but a QC issue nonetheless.

    Meanwhile when I checked out the Grainger website, they seem to make an aluminum bridge in this same style. That's something I might well be interested in to shave off a few oz... The Graingers say they are made of either solid brass or solid aluminum, whereas the Sung Il's are made of...some sort of relatively heavy metal.

    Haven't seen ANY Grainger products in real life, so this is purely FWIW

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