geoham Posted January 24, 2015 Posted January 24, 2015 Hi, Hopefully one of you can help here! I've had a Gotoh 201 bridge fitted to my Jazz for some time now, and I had no problems fitting it - straight replacement for the BBOT! Last week, I had the opportunity to pick up the same bridge used for £20 and jumped at the chance to get one for my P. It seemed no problem to fit, but it doesn't appear to be sitting flush at the front (i.e. - neck side). To give you an idea of the size of the gap, I can fit three sheets of cheap printer paper under it snuggly, but not 4, so approx 0.3mm It's definitely not the earth wire that's causing it btw. Any suggestions? Quote
HowieBass Posted January 24, 2015 Posted January 24, 2015 Had you not already said so I would have suspected the earth wire... where does it sit in relation to the mounting screws? The other possibility is that the bridge baseplate isn't completely flat (I suppose that if it were the bass body with some kind of bump you'd have had a similar gap with the stock BBOT). Quote
PlungerModerno Posted January 24, 2015 Posted January 24, 2015 As I see it - either the body, the bridge plate or both aren't completely flat - or something is getting in the way - the screws, etc. Can you get it to sit flat without it being screwed tightly on? (loosen strings, loosen screws partly so they keep the bridge centred but don't hold it flat to the body). If it won't sit flat then, I'd grab a straight edge (or a cheap ruler that's straight, or anything with straight edge) and carefully check the body area (including ground wire), as well as the bridge plate. Quote
geoham Posted January 24, 2015 Author Posted January 24, 2015 With the screws loosened off, it does appear to sit flush, it's when tightening the screws, it angles it back. I'm confident it's not the earth wire, because I managed to pull it out a while back when changing the pickup, and put a wee mod in place. The earth wire is sitting entirely in the little recess, and I have some aluminium tape (ultra thin) providing a good contact to the bridge. It's never shifting again! I'll pull the bridge back off tomorrow and make sure all is as it should be. Cheers, George Quote
Qlank Posted January 25, 2015 Posted January 25, 2015 Are the screws dead centre from bridge holes to screw holes in the body? If not, the screws may not fit flush to the countersink on the bridge and not screw all the way in. Quote
geoham Posted January 25, 2015 Author Posted January 25, 2015 Well, got to the bottom of it - the baseplate of the bridge isn't straight. Seems to be slightly bent where screw holes are. It's the same at both the bass and treble sides. So, for now I need to decide whether to live with it, put the BBOT back on, or try and fix it. My uncle is a blacksmith....perhaps he could straighten it! Quote
Thunderbird Posted January 26, 2015 Posted January 26, 2015 Blimey I would of thought it would take hell of a force to bend one of those wasnt put on at Kwik Fit with an air gun was it lol Quote
HowieBass Posted January 26, 2015 Posted January 26, 2015 The issue you've encountered with the bridge might be why you got it cheap Quote
Dan Dare Posted January 26, 2015 Posted January 26, 2015 I had this with a 201. The holes in the bridge were too tight a fit to the screws and tightening them lifted it as the threads engaged with the base plate. Slightly (note SLIGHTLY) enlarge the holes in the bridge with a file and it'll be fine. Quote
franzbassist Posted February 7, 2015 Posted February 7, 2015 (edited) I have noticed this is happening on one of my P basses. The front of the stock bridge lifts up as I tighten the screws. I have checked the surface of the bass body, and the baseplate, and both are flat, so I am hoping string pressure will put it flat again when I fit the new neck on. Edited February 7, 2015 by walbassist Quote
geoham Posted February 8, 2015 Author Posted February 8, 2015 I took mine right off and placed it on a flat surface, won't sit flat. I'm baffled as to how it could have happened! Quote
pfretrock Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 [quote name='Dan Dare' timestamp='1422299991' post='2670924'] I had this with a 201. The holes in the bridge were too tight a fit to the screws and tightening them lifted it as the threads engaged with the base plate. Slightly (note SLIGHTLY) enlarge the holes in the bridge with a file and it'll be fine. [/quote] The screws supplied with my Gotoh were very thin compared to iriginal screws. Did you use the original screws? I opened up the holes by 0.5mm (with a drill) and used Fender screws - the Gotoh screws would probably not tighten up in the holes in the body anyway. Quote
Dan Dare Posted February 12, 2015 Posted February 12, 2015 Yep. I re-used the Fender screws as the Gotoh ones were too thin for the holes in the body. Quote
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