BadAss Bridges

[BOD2]

[b]BadAss Bridge[/b]

The Leo Quan BadAss Bridge is a complete replacement bridge for Fender-type basses. Other replacement bridges are available (e.g. Hipshot, Schaller, Trevor Wilkinson, Gotoh etc.) but the BadAss seems to have become the accepted standard for Fender-type basses and is actually supplied by Fender on some models.

The BadAss II is the most popular version, as this is a direct “bolt-on” replacement for Fender Jazz and Precision bridges (using the same 5 mounting holes as the original Fender bridge).

[attachment=79:BadAssII.jpg]

The BadAss III is similar to the BadAss II but is designed for Fender American Deluxe basses with through-body stringing and only 3 mounting screws. It features pre-slotted bridge pieces and extra holes in the bridge plate giving the option of either standard stringing or through-body stringing

[attachment=80:BadAssIII.jpg]

The BadAss V is a 5-string version of the BadAss II with 6 mounting holes.

[attachment=82:badassV.jpg]

The original BadAss (with no numbers after the name) is less common. It is not a direct replacement for Fender bridges as the different height of the bridge may require routing of the body in order to fit.

[b]What Does It Do ? [/b]

The BadAss bridge claims to improve tonal quality and sustain. This is achieved by the greater mass of the bridge body/bridge pieces and the through the high engineering quality of the design.

[b]Where To Buy ? [/b]

There are many suppliers of BadAss bridges. Do an online search to find a suitable dealer and to get an idea of prices. You can also find them on eBay.

[b]Fitting A BadAss Bridge [/b]

It is a very straightforward job to fit a BadAss II bridge to a Fender-style bass. Remove the strings, unscrew the old bridge, and then screw the BadAss in its place using the same screw holes (note that the BadAss II has 5 screw holes but the BadAss III has only 3 screw holes). Make sure everything is tight and ensure that the bridge earthing wire is correctly trapped between body and bridge plate.

[b]Filing The Bridge Pieces on a BadAss II [/b]

There is a lot of discussion about this. The BadAss II, as supplied, does not have string slots cut in the individual bridge pieces. This is to allow for the installer to adjust the string spacing to suit the player.

The manufacturer recommends that string slots be filed into the bridge pieces during installation to avoid lateral movement of the strings while playing. This is not a difficult job but does require some basic skills, the appropriate tools, and some care.

Many people use the bridge successfully without strings slots. Through time the strings will create their own slots, though not as deep as correctly filed ones.

It seems that, provided your playing style is not overly aggressive, you can use the bridge without slots with no adverse effects.

[b]Issues With String Action [/b]

Due to the different design of the bridge, the amount of vertical travel of the individual bridge pieces is different to the Fender original. In particular, the BadAss bridge pieces cannot be adjusted quite as low as the Fender bridge pieces.

In most cases this will not be a problem. Unless your original bridge pieces are set very low before the BadAss is fitted then you are not likely to be affected by this.

If however, after fitting, it is found that you cannot adjust the action low enough then adjustment of the neck-to-body angle may be required.

For Fender basses with a “micro-tilt” neck adjustment this is very easy and involves screwing IN the micro-tilt adjuster to move the neck headstock backwards.

If the bass does not have a micro-tilt adjuster then the method of adjusting the neck is to add (or remove) “shims” to the neck pocket. This is still a potential DIY job, although it does require a little more skill.

Remove the neck from the body, and then adjust the neck angle using very thin pieces of wood, card or plastic. Inserting a shim at the body end of the neck pocket will push the headstock back and lower the action. Inserting a shim at the neck end of the neck pocket will push the neck forward and raise the action.

Before doing this I would suggest you do a Google search more detailed information about shim fitting.


[b]Fitting A BadAss II to non-Fender Basses [/b]

Remember that the BadAss II is designed as a replacement for Fender basses; it should fit most Fender-style basses without problems, although it is possible that the mounting screw holes may not be in exactly the right position. If necessary you can fill the original holes and drill new ones.

For basses that are not Fender replicas check the dimensions of the bridge to ensure that it will not protrude beyond the back edge of the bass or foul the pickup when fitted.

The BadAss II is a flat-top design so will not fit on bodies with a carved top without routing a flat area first.

[b][i]Extra Information[/b][/i]

[b]Fender Aerodyne Basses[/b] (thanks to "buzz")

The Aerodyne jazz bass with the curved top, both the exported and non-export models have trouble with the bridge, this is due to the standard fender one sitting in a recess, and the badass being larger than it (the badass just sits over it and makes minimal contact)

To get around this, either routing of the recess is required, or using a wooden/metal plate to fill the recess in, so the entirety of the new bridge makes contact.

It's not just an bolt on job like on normal flat topped fenders.

[b]Practical Tips [/b] (thanks to LFalex)

I've just fitted a BadassII to my new Squier 70VM Jazz, and found the following points to be noteworthy when installing a Badass...

* Protect the body of your bass with card or a duster etc. to prevent scratches.

* Slacken your strings gently. I don't favour having all the strings off at once (I change them one at a time). For this job, it's a necessary evil.

* Make sure all the holes line up on the bass / Badass.

* Watch out for the screws supplied with the Badass. I found them rather "soft" and the heads began to burr as I screwed them in. I reverted to the original screws, and they seem fine, in spite of being a little shorter.

*Make sure that you get a good contact with the bridge earthing lead, or hum and buzz may result (NOTE - to help with this splay out the individual wires of the earth wire, and roughen the underside of the bridge plate where the wire will contact with sandpaper/emery cloth)

* IF you elect to file slots in the Badass II saddles (as I did), Please don't try and do it with the unit on the bass. It's a nightmare, as they bounce to and fro on the intonation springs. Bite the bullet and remove the saddles!

To mark the slots, I put the bridge on the bass and put on the strings. I tuned it to the desired pitch (GDAE), positioned the strings as I wanted them, and marked either side of the string. This gives a bare patch on the saddle between two lines, showing where the groove should lie.

Remove each saddle in turn. Clamp in a vice (ideally with wooden cheeks, so as not to damage the saddle)

Start each groove with a hacksaw. It helps centre the file later and gives a nice, straight groove.

Use appropriate files! Mine cost a whole £2.88 from B&Q for a set of six. I cut a V profile with the triangular thread file, and then rounded it out with the tip of a circular rat's tail file to give good string to saddle contact.

I used an old set of 0.040 - 0.100 gauge strings to "offer up" to the grooves and decide when to stop cutting. I filed to a depth equal to half that of the relevant string's diameter in each case, so the strings sit nicely in the saddle.

I put each saddle back and took off the next one, keeping the other 3 strings in tune to help the truss-rod out.

* Keep your old bridge handy. It's useful to compare in order to establish roughly where the saddles should be for the correct action and intonation.
Naturally this'll need further adjustment, but it's a start.

* For those of you who like your intonation spot on, try using the harmonic note against the fretted note at the 19th fret. The pitch is higher so tuners pick it out more quickly and more accurately. This is a good one for anyone who uses chords or plays up at the "dusty end" of the fretboard.

All of the above came from my first attempt at fitting a Badass II and filing slots in the saddles. They describe what I believe to be helpful practices drived from what I learned the hard way.

* Tighten the screws that hold the bridge in place after a week. I got another 1/8 of a turn on all of them. Definitely felt and sounded better for it.
Then I had to raise the action, as the whole bridge was now a fraction lower (but I do run the action insanely low in the first place.)

Edited May 18, 2007 by BOD2

[Freuds_Cat]

Excellent article BOD2.

I can offer the following 2 pics of basses fitted with Badass 1 bridges where the body has been routed to fit properly.





I have tried Badass II bridges and they are great sounding bridges but have a personal preference for the Badass 1.
My only tips are: unless you are very confident in filing the bridge saddles then get a luthier to do it for you. And be aware that the distance between the string entry point and the saddles can in some cases be quite short (depending on the positioning of the bridge on the body). This causes the srting to deviate very sharply over the saddle. If the groove in the saddle is not done correctly then broken strings will result.

I haven't tried the Badass 3 bridges yet and might give one a try on a Squier Jazz project I'm into at the moment.

Good luck all.

Edited December 25, 2007 by Freuds_Cat

[Freuds_Cat]

As a follow up for those interested, I got an 83 JV Squier Jazz fitted with the Badass 3 bridge and I'm very impressed.
No routing required on a Jazz Bass.
The same footprint as the Badass 1
and all that sustain and solid sound to boot.

I'm really enthusiastic about the Badass 3
I highly recommend it on a Jazz Bass if you like Punch and sustain.


And yes I did notice that the G string was fed through the wrong hole when the picture was taken. This was corrected the next day.

Edited December 25, 2007 by Freuds_Cat

[thumbo]

That Badass 1 looks great on your Jazz Freuds_cat.

Here's my offering of a Black Badass 2-

[Freuds_Cat]

Thanks Thumbo.

Thats a very Stealth looking jazz you have there.
Gorgeous!

[thumbo]

Cheers! It's got EMG's in it now, so it's even stealthier.

[Freuds_Cat]

[quote name='thumbo' post='109270' date='Dec 26 2007, 01:24 AM']Cheers! It's got EMG's in it now, so it's even stealthier.[/quote]


Any Pics?

[mike257]

Haven't seen it mentioned on here, but a few places stateside have started stocking pre-slotted Badass II units. As I'm far too lazy to indulge in the precision craftsmanship required to file my own saddles, I've got one of them on order at the moment.

If anyone's interested, I'll let you know how it works out.... although I haven't got experience with a standard Badass to compare, so it's probably (like much of what I have to say) of questionable value

[Dr.Dave]

BaseJase started a thread here re. the size of allen key required to adjust the saddle height on badass bridges.
[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=16088&st=0&gopid=170250&#entry170250"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...mp;#entry170250[/url]

Summing up from that thread - it appears the size you need is .05" that's 1/20th of an inch. Not an easy size to find. There is , however , a 1.3mm size in a set sold cheaply at Maplins that fits.

Edited April 5, 2008 by Dr.Dave

[blunderthumbs]

Just had a Badass III fitted to my USA fender jazz (brand new off e bay usa seller £42)
It has the three screw holes and Quan claim it will bolt
straight on using the existing holes
This was not the case with my bass the holes didn't line up
with the existing ones. And some drilling had to be done.
I got a professional guitar luthier to do the job
At a cost of £30. (inc full set up)
The sound is much improved and you can really
get some sustain out of it that wasn't there before.

Edited April 15, 2008 by blunderthumbs

[Muppet]

[quote name='blunderthumbs' post='177344' date='Apr 15 2008, 08:49 PM']Just had a Badass III fitted to my USA fender jazz (brand new off e bay usa seller £42)
It has the three screw holes and Quan claim it will bolt
straight on using the existing holes
This was not the case with my bass the holes didn't line up
with the existing ones. And some drilling had to be done.
I got a professional guitar luthier to do the job
At a cost of £30. (inc full set up)
The sound is much improved and you can really
get some sustain out of it that wasn't there before.[/quote]

What year is your Jazz? A BadAss III fitted perfectly to my 2007 Jazz model, AND my 2006 Precision AND my 1996 Precision so I'm with Quan in that it'll fit. Something's not right with your jazz bass. A Friday afternoon model perhaps?

[seddy20]

hi does anyone now if a badass 2 will fit on a fender [b]mexican[/b] p bass

[budget bassist]

[quote name='seddy20' post='214408' date='Jun 7 2008, 03:18 PM']hi does anyone now if a badass 2 will fit on a fender [b]mexican[/b] p bass [/quote]
Should fit on most fender basses i think, the badass 2 was designed for jazzes and precisions.

[Jono Bolton]

[quote name='seddy20' post='214408' date='Jun 7 2008, 03:18 PM']hi does anyone now if a badass 2 will fit on a fender [b]mexican[/b] p bass [/quote]

Yes, it will, it's a straight replacement, and a [b]massive[/b] improvement on the standard Fender bridges.

[Muppet]

Just remembered I drew this a while ago. Might help some people when measuring their guitars to see if it will fit. The measurements are correct for a BadAssIII only.

[Dr.Dave]

Happy to report that I've just put a III on my Jap 54 re-issue. Dropped straight into the 3 screw holes and the 4 string holes line up perfectly.
What I didn't realise is that the III comes with 2 sets of saddles , the spare set having no grooves. For some reason they're called a Billy and a Bob set !! and even better each saddle is marked (L1 L2 R1 R2) so you put them on in the right order.

For the first time ever I'm without a II , which I now consider to be of poorer design than my III or my original Badass - though it's still a bloody good bridge and miles better than the Fender baked bean tin.

[markytbass]

Can anyone tell me how much needs to be routed out to fit a Badass to a Fender? Just an observatoin but why is a pre grooved BA2 more expensive than a non grooved BA2, and more expensive than a BA3 which comes with 2 sets of saddles, and why does a BA3 have 2 sets of holes 3 if you count the throught body holes? Judging buy the comments below I'll probably plumb for a Badass or BasassIII

[markytbass]

Doh! the 3rd set are for left hand conversion arn't they?

[andy till]

Hi!

Thanks Bod2 for this infomation on the bad ass bridge, I don't know anything or why players
change there bridge for a bad ass bridge. Your post has given me the answer!

Cheers,
Andy

[Geejay]

Hi,
I don't have any screws for my Badass II. Any suggestions on what they should be?

Graham

[~tl]

Thought I'd add some information of my Badass V modification for Fender AmDlx. Basically, the Badass V lacks the holes for the through-body-stringing, so half an hour with a drill later:

[attachment=23387:DSC02131.jpg] [attachment=23386:DSC02127.jpg]

The slight problem is that the "channels" in the Badass V don't completely line up with the string holes. Having the holes in the same place as the stock bridge would put them half way across the wall of the channel on the B and G strings. Since I was going to have to drill a couple of extra holes in the body for the two extra screws, I thought it would be neater to drill the string-holes in the middle of the channels and modify the body to let the strings through. The results, are what you can see in the photos above. I'm also using Badass III saddles, since the stock ones are too wide to intonate the B-string properly.

Edited April 6, 2009 by ~tl

[Nostromo]

[quote name='Muppet' post='238407' date='Jul 13 2008, 10:20 AM']Just remembered I drew this a while ago. Might help some people when measuring their guitars to see if it will fit. The measurements are correct for a BadAssIII only.

[/quote]

I'm thinking of fitting a badass to my Precision/Jazz mongrel ?

So, big thanks for this topic and especially to Muppet for the excellent diagram - which has made me think this through properly before spending any money . . . always a wise move ! !

I have just taken some measurements and deduced that as my current bridge is set very low, I dont have sufficient string height over the body at the bridge to do a straight swap over to a badass without creating very very deep groves in the saddles ? . . . that leaves me with two options - either shim the neck to kick the string up off the body a little, or recess the badass into the body to make the installation work out ?

Any thoughts about which would be the best way to go . . . recess or shim ? ? . . . both from a practicle installation point of view and resulting sound . . would one of these options be likely to produce better sustain ? . .

(the guitar sounds very nice already so its not as though Im trying to make up for any more fundimental problems - just fancied trying the upgrade).

Cheers,

[Mr. Foxen]

[quote name='Nostromo' post='767355' date='Mar 7 2010, 09:36 PM']I'm thinking of fitting a badass to my Precision/Jazz mongrel ?

So, big thanks for this topic and especially to Muppet for the excellent diagram - which has made me think this through properly before spending any money . . . always a wise move ! !

I have just taken some measurements and deduced that as my current bridge is set very low, I dont have sufficient string height over the body at the bridge to do a straight swap over to a badass without creating very very deep groves in the saddles ? . . . that leaves me with two options - either shim the neck to kick the string up off the body a little, or recess the badass into the body to make the installation work out ?

Any thoughts about which would be the best way to go . . . recess or shim ? ? . . . both from a practicle installation point of view and resulting sound . . would one of these options be likely to produce better sustain ? . .

(the guitar sounds very nice already so its not as though Im trying to make up for any more fundimental problems - just fancied trying the upgrade).

Cheers,[/quote]


Shim, it isn't surgery, if you make a real nice shim by sanding the wood at an angle its nest, but a bit of card is the true Fender way.

[stevie]

[quote name='Geejay' post='431978' date='Mar 11 2009, 10:27 PM']I don't have any screws for my Badass II. Any suggestions on what they should be?[/quote]
The grub screws on my Badass I are just a tad too short. Does anyone know where I can get longer ones?

[Mr. Foxen]

[quote name='stevie' post='783103' date='Mar 23 2010, 09:33 AM']The grub screws on my Badass I are just a tad too short. Does anyone know where I can get longer ones?[/quote]

You need to raise it more? Have you checked the neck pocket for a shim you could remove?