Double Bass Bridge

[thebigyin]

Hi Folks the action on my Double Bass is way too high and makes the Bass difficult to play, the strings are awful.
If i carefully loosened each string individually and filed carefully the string resting point filing it to lower the action and doing this to each string would this be advisable? Or does it require a professional set up. My friend is a cabinet maker and he reckons it could be done and he would do it, but i'd rather see what some folks views are on here first thanks in advance cheers

[lowlandtrees]

I have always get my luthier to do this. He will charge around 20-30 quid. New bridge could be £150-200 if it is buggered up. He will also look at the nut and other stuff.

[thebigyin]

Thanks for the reply i thought as much cheers Bob

[stingrayPete1977]

If you do take it off I'd suggest putting masking tape around the feet on the bass top so you know where it goes back on after,some people actually neatly mark them with a sharp pencil line that's barely visible with the bridge back on.

Edited October 20, 2016 by stingrayPete1977

[thebigyin]

I think i will get it done by a proper Luthier Pete thanks for your reply Cheers Bob

[stingrayPete1977]

Probably best, good luck

[Mr Bassman]

I've just recently lowered Artisan's action without removing it the bridge.
It can be done by slackening just 2 outer strings at a time, then the 2 centre strings if necessary keeping tension at all times.
Just be careful with the chainsaw!

Edited October 21, 2016 by Mr Bassman

[artisan]

[quote name='Mr Bassman' timestamp='1477070042' post='3159718']
I've just recently lowered Artisan's action without removing it the bridge.
It can be done by slackening just 2 outer strings at a time, then the 2 centre strings if necessary keeping tension at all times.
Just be careful with the chainsaw!
[/quote]
And a mighty fine chainsaw job it is too,my bass has never played so good

[thebigyin]

[quote name='Mr Bassman' timestamp='1477070042' post='3159718']
I've just recently lowered Artisan's action without removing it the bridge.
It can be done by slackening just 2 outer strings at a time, then the 2 centre strings if necessary keeping tension at all times.
Just be careful with the chainsaw!
[/quote]

Lol....thanks

[NickA]

The action on my DB became too high (after major repair work which ended up raising the belly!). I fussed about this for years and asked the luthier at Tim Toft what could be done. She wanted to alter the neck angle, bringing it up to the strings and lower the nut a little (few £100s) and told me that reducing the bridge height wasn't a great idea as it would leave too little wood at the top of the bridge (??? no I don't understand).

Anyway, at risk of needing a whole new bridge, I very carefully fret-sawed 0.5cm off the top edge of the bridge and re-filed the grooves for the strings. Now it sounds great to me and the lowered action means I can actually play those Grade 8 classical pieces I'd struggled with for years (the discomfort of thumb position greatly eased).

Can anyone explain that thing about the amount of wood at the bridge top? Strikes me that the shape of the bridge is more tradition than science - but no-one seems interested in changing it.

Edited November 6, 2016 by NickA

[Mr Bassman]

Sounds to me like the luthier is short of work

[Beedster]

[quote name='Mr Bassman' timestamp='1478448541' post='3169097']
Sounds to me like the luthier is short of work
[/quote]



Absolutely Keith, it's true you need some wood in the bridge, but in the situation above you simply install a new bridge with appropriate proportions.

[3below]

Am thinking that the issue was how much wood was left above the wing cut outs etc. The answer is above from Beedster. As for DIY bridge adjustment it depends on how much your action needs lowering. Three to four mm I would go for it DIY personally. With my DB I spent £12 on a replacement bridge (Chinese maple) and fettled it based on the original one (my original bridge was 'buckling' and increasingly of no use).

[stingrayPete1977]

It's hard to know with only one side of the story, tbh though Helen's repair skills are well known and her knowledge about basses is far more than mine will ever be.

Once you get into classical repairs part of the problem is that what we might deem adequate the next luthier to see your bass might ask "who the hell did that?!", what happens then is the owner tells them who it was without telling them they strongly advised against it and that it needed a new bridge, it's their reputation to work on hugely valuable basses in tatters for the sake of doing what they felt was a bit of a bodge.

[NickA]

"you simply install a new bridge with appropriate proportions." indeed, new bridge fitted to bass by top notch luthier = £200 + and two round trips to Stone. 30 minutes in the garage with a fretsaw = FREE!

But I guess if you get too close to the cut-outs it isn't good (I didn't) on the other hand what are those cutouts for anyway? Strikes me that a solid bit of wood (or better a plain carbon fibre arch) would do a fine job! But I'm an engineer not a luthier. (feel a retirement project coming on).

[thebigyin]

Still not got round to sorting this....my DB is just stood in it's case been stood idle now for months...seriously thinking of slacking outer E and G strings filing the string housing groove on bridge....re-tuning then doing the same with A and D but need some new strings first....just lately resorted back to playing Electric Bass

[JoeEvans]

You don't want the grooves to be too deep or the strings can have too much friction going through them. I think they are supposed to be 1/3 of string diameter?

[thebigyin]

[quote name='JoeEvans' timestamp='1480702765' post='3186624']
You don't want the grooves to be too deep or the strings can have too much friction going through them. I think they are supposed to be 1/3 of string diameter?
[/quote]
Thanks Joe

[PaulKing]

If you're reasonably practical, its no sweat to lower the string height your self.
Lie the bass flat, slacken strings, take off bridge. Post shouldnt fall. If it does, time to learn how to reset it.

Measure the thickness of your bridge along its top edge. (see later)
Draw a pencil line parallel to the curve of the bridge top, spaced however much you want to lower the height. Keep the curve (profile) the same
Draw vertical lines down from existing notches.
Easier to remove the excess wood before recutting notches, but make sure those vertical lines dont get rubbed off ... they show where to cut your new notches.
Place sandpaper on firm flat surface, and then draw top edge of bridge along sandpaper, rolling it along the curve as you go, until the top edge is taken down to your new pencil curve.
You might want to thin out the lower side of the bridge to restore the curve, and make sure your new top edge is the same thickness as it started (see above)
Then re-cut the notches using appropriate chainsaw file, and round off the edges of the notches so strings don't catch.
An rub pencil lead into notches to lubricate them.

Dont be scared.

Edited December 5, 2016 by PaulKing

[thebigyin]

[quote name='PaulKing' timestamp='1480960163' post='3188452']
If you're reasonably practical, its no sweat to lower the string height your self.
Lie the bass flat, slacken strings, take off bridge. Post shouldnt fall. If it does, time to learn how to reset it.

Measure the thickness of your bridge along its top edge. (see later)
Draw a pencil line parallel to the curve of the bridge top, spaced however much you want to lower the height. Keep the curve (profile) the same
Draw vertical lines down from existing notches.
Easier to remove the excess wood before recutting notches, but make sure those vertical lines dont get rubbed off ... they show where to cut your new notches.
Place sandpaper on firm flat surface, and then draw top edge of bridge along sandpaper, rolling it along the curve as you go, until the top edge is taken down to your new pencil curve.
You might want to thin out the lower side of the bridge to restore the curve, and make sure your new top edge is the same thickness as it started (see above)
Then re-cut the notches using appropriate chainsaw file, and round off the edges of the notches so strings don't catch.
An rub pencil lead into notches to lubricate them.

Dont be scared.
[/quote]
Thankyou Paul