New Build HD4 Bass

[GreyFloyd]

Started a new build last week; Day 1 Sanding Sealer; Day2 Sanded body and applied 2 coats tint (Japan Black); Day3 Applied 1st coat Stain/Varnish sides and top; Day 4 2nd coat S/V sides and top; Day 5 3rd coat S/V sides 1st coat back; Day 6 2nd coat back; Day 7 3rd coat top; Day 8 3rd coat Back. During first week also clear tinted neck, painted a Hofner decal (yes I know you shouldn't!!) and more clear coats. Today installed tuners and truss rod cover.
Now for the questions; has anyone made a violin type bass and if so, am I correct in thinking the bridge is not actually attached to the body? Sounds crazy I know but the 2 wooden pieces suggest being separated by the adjusters (see pic) for height adjustment, but given no holes through the bottom piece I thought maybe the strings will hold the assembly in place - excuse me if this sounds dumb!

[Rabbit]

SNow for the questions; has anyone made a violin type bass and if so, am I correct in thinking the bridge is not actually attached to the body? Sounds crazy I know but the 2 wooden pieces suggest being separated by the adjusters (see pic) for height adjustment, but given no holes through the bottom piece I thought maybe the strings will hold the assembly in place - excuse me if this sounds dumb!

Yeh, it's a floater. Setting intonation is a bit more fiddly than when you have a bridge with screw adjustment saddles. When I was doing my build diary @Simon Bardon suggested pitting some shallow pins in it, no glue, just to stop it moving about while being played, but so far my experience has been that string tension alone keeps it in place.

Looking good dood!

[Simon Barden]

An unattached 'floating bridge' is standard fitment on many acoustic instruments, including most jazz guitars. 'Pinning' the bridge will hold it in place so that it doesn't get knocked out of position (and so lose your intonation setting) and you'll have to find that correct intonation position again every time you remove all the strings at once. But it often depends on the guitar/bass owner and how they use it as to whether bridge movement is an issue for them or not.

So as Rabbit says, it's definitely designed that way and the original Hofners wouldn't have had fixed bridges at all. I'd try it like that, and if you find it does move around, then you can always try the pinning method.

You mark out the bridge position with masking tape, remove the bridge, and towards each end of the bridge position, knock in a small panel pin. Cut the heads off with cutters or pliers so there's a couple of mm poking out (you don't need much as it's more of a position guide than anything, plus you are limited by the thickness of the lower part of the bridge, so at least 1mm less than the thickness), place the bridge back on top, using the tape as a guide. Press down do that the pins leave a mark on the underside of the bridge, drill a shallow hole of the pin thickness and depth at those locations, put the bridge back in place and that's it. The bridge will now be resistant to sideways knocks and you can always put the bridge back in place again in the right spot if you ever take all the strings off.

The downside is that the intonation position closed is only really applicable for the particular make and gauge of string in use at the time. If you keep swapping string types and gauges, then whilst you can remove the old pins and then re-pin the bridge each time, you're probably better off leaving it unpinned.

[GreyFloyd]

Thanks for the feedback. Will try bridge without pinning first see how it goes. Extremely tight set neck (my 6th) which I fitted with some difficulty but looks ok. Lining up the pickups and pickguard today.

[GreyFloyd]

Hi again folks; made some progress with body, fitting pickups, pickguard, tailpiece and strap pins yesterday. Today did some minor soldering and fitted control panel and output jack. Next question re the bridge (you can tell I haven't met something like this before!). My second pic shows the adjusters, one end is 'open' and the other 'closed' with a bit of bevel. Which way should these be inserted into the lower bridge piece? Does the 'closed' end with the bevel go into the bottom piece and if so should I attempt to screw it in or tap with a mallet (it is very difficult to screw it in without damaging the thread if I hold it with a set of pliers). It's a very tight fit.

[Rabbit]

H. Which way should these be inserted into the lower bridge piece? Does the 'closed' end with the bevel go into the bottom piece and if so should I attempt to screw it in or tap with a mallet (it is very difficult to screw it in without damaging the thread if I hold it with a set of pliers). It's a very tight fit.

You will see that the open end is in fact an allen screw. you can use an allen key to screw the posts into the part of the bridge that sits against the body. the bridge with the saddles just slips over the posts.

[GreyFloyd]

You will see that the open end is in fact an allen screw. you can use an allen key to screw the posts into the part of the bridge that sits against the body. the bridge with the saddles just slips over the posts.

Brilliant - my eyes are not what they once were! Thanks Rabbit.

[Rabbit]

No worries . Even though they are machine screws, the timber used for the bridge is dense enough to still take a thread.

[GreyFloyd]

Managed to find one which fitted amongst scores of allen keys. Simple task to fit and adjust bridge then strings. Need to find proper position for bridge but thought I'd give it a whirl as is (mainly to hear that it actually makes a sound!!) and pleased so far. Thanks again Rabbit and Simon for your input.

[Simon Barden]

It lives! Looking great, well done.