Quick question on a bridge upgrade...

[raj_1995]

Hello all,
Just got a question on a bridge upgrade that I may well be doing to my bass soon.

I currently have the stock vintage 4-saddle bridge with threaded barrels on my bass, and am considering replacing it with a Gotoh 201 bridge. This is mainly because I have a new Warmoth body on its way from the USA, in black, so at the same time I bought a matching set of Schaller tuners and a black Gotoh 201.

I just wondered whether it would be a step up or a step down?

On a side note, how is the thicker Warmoth body likely to affect the sound of the bass? The stock Fender body is 1.5" thick but I believe Warmoth's measure 1.75"?

Many Thanks

[Ou7shined]

More of a step sideways. It's personal taste mate.

The difference in body thickness will have little to no affect on what comes out of your speakers... your back may have something to say about it though.

[leonshelley01]

I really like the Gotoh bridge personally. It stops any sideways movement of the saddles, adds a bit of mass (although I am to be convinced of any vast tonal improvement), requires no drilling/filing to be installed and doesn't destroy the look of the bass in the way a Badass does.

[raj_1995]

Thanks for the replies lads (:

Been offered a good price for the fitting work anyway, so might as well get it done

[Blademan_98]

Do you know the weight difference?

It may take a perfectly balanced Bass and ruin it's playability.

Just throwing that out there for consideration

[LukeFRC]

i've played basses with vintage style bridges, and ones with high mass, and also badass.
I quite like the old style bent bit of tin to be honest.
though that depends on the bass. I was looking at buying something a while back and was looking at the badass someone had fitted as a 'selling that will make it cheaper' type thing.

[chris_b]

After leaving Fender Leo started 2 more guitar manufacturing companies and, unsurprisingly, he never designed a low mass bridge again. I reckon he had decided that high mass bridges were better. Anyway a high mass bridge will either sound better or the same but it won't sound worse than an original Fender bridge.

The density and resonance of the body can have an affect on the tone of the bass, but that's more likely to be a result of the quality of the wood rather than its size. The thicker body may be heavier or it may not. Again that depends on the wood.

[raj_1995]

I'm not all that sure on the weight difference between the two bridges, although I've seen it before, that the back block of the Gotoh is actually hollow?

If anybody could clear that up for me, it would be much appreciated

Thanks again

[Lozz196]

The Gotoh is a nice piece of kit, well designed, in keeping with the original looks, and reasonably priced. I found, however, when having these on my Precisions, that they tended to "hi-fi" the sound somewhat, making the lows & highs seem crisper, and reducing the mids slightly. Ultimately, I decided I preferred the original, but each to their own. It`s not an expensive tryout, no mods needed, and if you don`t like it, you`ll easily be able to sell it on, on here.