Stingray Bridge replacement

[Sardonicus]

I'm looking to change the bridge on my Stingray to something with a bit more mass, can anybody recommend a suitable replacement?  

I don't want a like for like as I can't stand the existing bridge.

[songofthewind]

Is it the more recent MM bridge, or the older style with the studs?

[Sardonicus]

1 hour ago, songofthewind said:

Is it the more recent MM bridge, or the older style with the studs?

It's this type.

[songofthewind]

Ah, it looks like you’ve got a Sterling, the kind that used to be called a Sub Ray 4, but is now called a Sterling Stingray 4. Just to confuse matters.

 I have one of these basses, and I’ve also been looking for a replacement bridge. There are near copies of the real Stingray bridge on eBay. 

I got one for about twelve quid, and found that it looks better, but the string spacing is too narrow, by about 3mm at the bridge. The build quality is about the same. I attach a photo of a similar one, but with Sterling logo.

I am going to try drilling or filing out the stud holes, so that I can use the wider spaced saddles from the original (as in your photo). 

Some folks have tried the Badass II bridge, with good results.

Hope this helps!

[MoonBassAlpha]

Just out of curiosity, what do those studs do?

[ikay]

They screw into threaded inserts in the body as part of the bridge mounting mechanism along with the three screws at the tail end

 

[bloke_zero]

On 11/10/2019 at 16:50, MoonBassAlpha said:

Just out of curiosity, what do those studs do?

The studs are for the mutes on early stingrays you can see more here: http://www.musicmanbass.global/bridges-pre-eb-eb/

[ikay]

1 hour ago, bloke_zero said:

The studs are for the mutes on early stingrays...

The studs are just for the bridge mounting, the mutes are a separate component of early bridges. The studs carried over onto the later bridges without mutes.

[bloke_zero]

Interesting!  I played an early pre EB stingray yesterday (the most amazing dark brown colour) and it had the studs but not the mutes - I thought it was missing the mutes.  Good to know!

[ikay]

I think we might be getting our wires crossed here! All Stingray bridges have studs (except the new post-2018 specials) but only early versions (pre-EB and up to 1994 ish) had mutes. The pre-EB you were playing would have had mutes, so they must have been missing.

Edited October 29, 2019 by ikay

[mcnach]

On 29/10/2019 at 09:33, bloke_zero said:

The studs are for the mutes on early stingrays you can see more here: http://www.musicmanbass.global/bridges-pre-eb-eb/

 

The mutes were installed separately, not on the studs.

The studs served to anchor the bridge and as stops for the saddles, so that they don't move sideways.

[Sardonicus]

Finally got round to getting rid of the existing bridge on my Stingray copy,, hated the old bridge and I love the new one.

[rmorris]

What did you dislike about the original bridge ?

Sound  / Tone ?

Or aesthetics / ergonomics ?

[bloke_zero]

15 hours ago, Big Rich said:

I love the new one

Is that one of the Northwest ones? I have pretty much the same thing on my pbass/stingray cross - really like it - nice weight, looks good,  feels good under the palm.

[songofthewind]

I got round to changing out the bridge on mine.

[mcnach]

25 minutes ago, songofthewind said:

I got round to changing out the bridge on mine.

 

That, I like

[Sardonicus]

16 hours ago, rmorris said:

What did you dislike about the original bridge ?

Sound  / Tone ?

Or aesthetics / ergonomics ?

Aesthetically it annoyed me 😂 

[Sardonicus]

9 hours ago, bloke_zero said:

Is that one of the Northwest ones? I have pretty much the same thing on my pbass/stingray cross - really like it - nice weight, looks good,  feels good under the palm.

It actually came off my Spector Performer, I replaced the original silver Spector bridge with a black one from Northwest 👍🏻.

I’ve got Northwest bridges on 3 of my 4 basses now, They’re on my Precision, my Jazz and my Spector.  I love them.

Edited May 20, 2020 by Big Rich

[funkle]

On 20/05/2020 at 12:00, songofthewind said:

I got round to changing out the bridge on mine.

Where did you get the replacement bridge? Thinking about modding my Ray4...
 

And how was the install?

[songofthewind]

I got the bridge from Retrovibe, via eBay.i think I’ve seen them on AliExpress too.

As it came the new bridge had narrow saddles, which meant the string spacing was too narrow. I installed the correct width (20mm string spacing) saddles from the bridge that came with the SUB Ray 4. so that was fine.

However, this meant that the big anchor studs were too close together to permit the new saddles to fit comfortably between them, so I had to laterally enlarge their mounting holes in the baseplate, so that I could move them further out from the centreline. This was a bit rough looking, but is well hidden by the massive studs.

I carefully located the bridge on the body, and drilled the holes for the stud bases. The top part of each stud passes through the baseplate and screws into the base. There are three additional mounting screws at the rear of the bridge.

Doesn't look bad at all, eh?

 

[funkle]

Looks great. You may have convinced me it’s a bit much work for a cosmetic change,  though. Thank you!

[songofthewind]

17 minutes ago, funkle said:

Looks great. You may have convinced me it’s a bit much work for a cosmetic change,  though. Thank you!

Yeah, it wasn’t just a drop in, but it wasn’t too difficult. I just really dislike the big OEM slab bridge plate!

[funkle]

I agree that. It’s fugly. But, the bass still sounds great, and I run a significant risk of stuffing up the job, so....prudence is the better part of valour, lol. 

[Arnoldas]

Hey guys, not to revive a dead thread, I'm also looking to replace my bridge BUT, I'm am looking for a bridge that has the option of adjusting string spacing. Is there any recommendations of such a bridge for a 5 string MM sterling?

Edited August 31, 2023 by Arnoldas

[bloke_zero]

7 hours ago, Arnoldas said:

Hey guys, not to revive a dead thread, I'm also looking to replace my bridge BUT, I'm am looking for a bridge that has the option of adjusting string spacing. Is there any recommendations of such a bridge for a 5 string MM sterling?

 

Not with adjustment per se, but these guys seem to suggests they might make a custom bridge with your string spacing?: https://www.albridgeparts.com/ - I have one and I'm very happy with it, very well made and thought out.

 

Hard to find MM bridges generally! Let us know if you have any joy.

Edited August 31, 2023 by bloke_zero