Purpleheart acoustic bridge with saddles

[tommorichards]

So, my acoustic bass doesnt intonate well, so i felt like i needed a new bridge for it which had adjustable saddles. I looked out there and couldnt find any aftermarket ones for what i wanted, so i decided to make one.[size=4]I began with a few sketches of designs, before settling on this one. a slightly bat shaped thingy.[/size]



So i ordered some purpleheart wood as i like the way it looks. I had a quick go using sapele, but it went nowhere. So here i bring you the build diary of my purpleheart bat bridge.[size=4]Heres the purpleheart blank next to my design[/size]



And the template stuck onto the wood with double sided tape so i could use it for a rough guide.



And cut out with a coping saw.

[tommorichards]

I had smoothed out the cutouts with a rasp and then a smooth cut file. I had a go at using a cabinet scraper, but it made the surface bumpy, so i used sandpaper to smooth it out. I then mounted a dremel router bit into a pillar drill, and it was just fast enough to cope. Would have been better going faster, but its all i had. Here is a first pas on one of the saddle channels. I also had drilled the holes to attach the bridge to the bass.



And this is the width determined for the channels. It took a steady hand, and patience to get it to get close to the edge freehand.



Here i got the depth done, and then used a straight edge dremel bit to get the walls straight(ish). Had a small issue with tearouts at the end, but nothing too bad. I cleaned up the edges with a craft knife.



Here i used the same small bit with 2 passes at different depths to create the string channels. I ended up andgling these later on.

[tommorichards]

I decided on slope the edges instead of just flat as i thought it would look better. I used a rasp again, but had a tiny issue of the very tip of the wing tearing off. Not a biggie though. I screwed it to a bit of wood so i could rasp away without fear of the wing snapping off due to force.



Here is one wing done, and the other in progress. At this point i was going to do a little step where the line is, but decided against it as it looked a bit odd.



And the wings finished and smoothed.



Because of the little step decision, i needed to cut down the height of the walls, but in doing so a piece came off at the back and i lost it and couldnt find it so itll have to do without. I got the height down by using the router bit and passing the bridge under it.

[tommorichards]

I was making a string retainer, and was drilling the holes for it when the bit snapped inside the hole. I was devestated. I then tried drilling the hole a little bigger, hoping to drill away the broken bit. And when i was screwing in the retainer (which you can see in progress in the vice), it got a bit tight, so i backed the screw out a bit, when the head of the screw snapped off!!!! I ended up wasting half an hour trying to unscrew the headless screw, and in the end decided to route out a small area where the screw was, and prise it out. It worked, and i got the broken bit out too. I then made a little insert (not perfect) to fill the gap. At this point i was too invested to start from scratch. So since its hidden, i dont mind it being there.



And here is the string retainer attached, made from aluminium i had lying around, bent over and filed to size. Even with the wood fill underneath, the screw goes in tight enough. I bent it to a rough radius first by hand, then once it was roughly right, i drilled the holes where the strings would sit, then used a hacksaw to make the channel, then a file to smooth the edges. Then jammed it in a vice and hammered it over using bit of wood between the hammer and retainer.



And here is where i took a break, as my mind was almost spent, having spent 6 hours so far on it. I think this picture shows off the purple heart very well.

[tommorichards]

I didnt feel like finishing before having some form of saddle in there. I was going to use brass, but wanted to try out a design first before commiting with brass. I used a few offcuts of the wood to make these with a file. They are rough for now, and i can alter them to give the correct height, but i will make better ones from brass with a different design. You can also see at the front that i had another tearout, but i kept the bit and will glue it in later. This was at 1am at this point, so my brain was dead.



And another angle



An another, showing the screws attaching the retainer. I need a different one as the strings are held too high for my liking. The bends need to be lower down. But thats for another day



And one last picture under a nice light. Ive also shown the little chip that came out.




Thats it for now. Ill update this once i have new saddles and its got a finish and finally when its on the bass itself. Cheers for looking

[Thunderbird]

Looking good am looking forward to seeing it finished slightly off topic but how did your spray attempt turn out on your other bass? or have you not sprayed it yet?

[Myke]

Looking nice! I'm gonna have to do this sometime! Nice idea!

[tommorichards]

I had a go at spraying it orange, it was going well until it fell over and landed in sawdust. So i had to wait for it to harden so i could sand it and respray. But it was going well. Finish seems to be good. It is showing up little marks, but im not too fussed as its a throwaround bass.

[alyctes]

Nice