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Jazz Bass bridges - What's the issue?


AinsleyWalker

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1 hour ago, NancyJohnson said:

@Andyjr1515

Just to add on here, it really doesn't seem to matter which bass I use, I know what my desired tone is, so I'll shape my outboard gear to achieve this; any perceived difference in tonal output after installation of a new bridge will be lost in a band environment, too.

^  as above I seem to make most basses sound pretty much the same.  Not sure what I do to them....   When I get to the volume needed to deal with play with a drummer any tone subtleties (real or perceived) with different bridges (or even £ vs £££ basses) are lost.

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  • 3 weeks later...
8 hours ago, AndyTravis said:

Basically making out it’s a crude/agricultural design...

Like every thing Fender did, the BBOT is perfectly functional. So were solid tyres on the first cars and propellers on the first planes.

Evolution is never a bad thing.

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On 12/12/2019 at 14:21, AinsleyWalker said:

I've always heard Jazz bass bridges are terrible, my friend changed his to a Badass bridge  a few years back and that seems to be very common if I'm not mistaken.
Can anyone explain why?
I've just bought a MiM 5 string jazz and I'm wondering whether I should considering replacing the bridge.

 

In what way are they terrible?

I see some people changing them (while common, it's far from being a majority), but I have never found the original bridges lacking, and it would not be just Jazz basses being affected, as other instruments use the same design.

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34 minutes ago, mcnach said:

In what way are they terrible?

I see some people changing them (while common, it's far from being a majority), but I have never found the original bridges lacking, and it would not be just Jazz basses being affected, as other instruments use the same design.

This.

The stock bridges are OK. Before you go changing anything because of what other people have said, check that you actually have a problem with your bass that a new bridge would remedy.

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Its also a case of making certain before installing a bridge, that the base plate is flat for the best contact to the body. I've had bridges from two well known companies that needed grinding work to flatten them. One company advised I screw down hard on the (thick) plate to help flatten it when installing. Give me a break! 

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I have considered swapping out the bridges on previously owned jazz basses but only for aesthetic reasons as I think jazz bridges look poo but having played original and modded I don’t think it makes any discernible difference, no doubt people will disagree but you’ll not get any actual evidence of such.

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On 31/12/2019 at 17:48, AinsleyWalker said:

If I knew the answer to this, I wouldn't have posted a topic asking why people think they're terrible, would I lol?

 

I would trust more your own judgement and experience than what other faceless anonymous people say on the interwebz, when it comes to things like this. ;)

 

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6 minutes ago, mcnach said:

I would trust more your own judgement and experience than what other faceless anonymous people say on the interwebz, when it comes to things like this. ;)

I’ve made many successful and game changing decisions about basses using the wealth of experience, wisdom and knowledge of the faceless anonymous people on this forum. I agree trust your own judgement but sometimes those decisions can be made in a far more informed fashion with the help of folk on here.

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On 31/12/2019 at 17:48, AinsleyWalker said:

If I knew the answer to this, I wouldn't have posted a topic asking why people think they're terrible, would I lol?

You started with "I've always heard Jazz bass bridges are terrible". 

First, that's such a general statement that it is very unlikely to be true.

Second, do you hear any issues with your bass?

My guess is that you don't have a problem but think you do. If you really think that replacing parts on your bass will make it sound better, my advice is to just buy a better bass. Then you'll have lots of better sounding parts rather than just an upgraded bridge.

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17 hours ago, Frank Blank said:

I’ve made many successful and game changing decisions about basses using the wealth of experience, wisdom and knowledge of the faceless anonymous people on this forum. I agree trust your own judgement but sometimes those decisions can be made in a far more informed fashion with the help of folk on here.

 

Me too. But not when it comes to something I have being said it's 'terrible': if I like it it's all I need.

You need to discern. Otherwise I'd probably be playing a Precision with flats and talking crap about active instruments or some such, you know what I mean?

The OP starts by stating that he's heard the Jazz bass bridge is terrible, without any idea of why it is so. It's not a good starting point.

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23 minutes ago, mcnach said:

 

Me too. But not when it comes to something I have being said it's 'terrible': if I like it it's all I need.

You need to discern. Otherwise I'd probably be playing a Precision with flats and talking crap about active instruments or some such, you know what I mean?

The OP starts by stating that he's heard the Jazz bass bridge is terrible, without any idea of why it is so. It's not a good starting point.

I do know what you mean. I remember taking my first jazz bass up to the chap who usually sets them up for me and mentioning that at some point I’d probably get the bridge swapped out, “Why?’ He asked and when I failed to cone up with an answer he said “Because that’s what the Internet said?” He was right, I had no problem to which a swapped bridge was the solution. This is why I have sought to try with and without swapped out bridges, can’t hear any difference myself.

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On 12/12/2019 at 15:34, chris_b said:

People were upgrading bridges long before the internet was even a twinkle in Berners-Lee's eye.

The idea is that more mass in the bridge gives a better transference of energy from the string into the body and back again. Thus improving the tone. If you are recording then this might be a worthy upgrade, depends on your sound, but in a semi-pro band crashing through the usual fare it's probably not worth the trouble.

On a technicality, Berners-Lee pioneered the World-Wide Web; the Internet was designed under an initiative of the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

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Badass bridges are really good; here's a couple of basses of min with them.

kKN2Otr.jpg

I've also got a Fender Hi-Mass one on another bass.

EUC2NAC.jpg

The original Badass was quite tall and sometimes needed a cutout to be routed to fit it; the Badass II was a straight replacement for a stock Fender bridge.

Badass bridges were made by Leo Quan, but the company is defunct; Hipshot (Kickass), Allparts (Omega), and Fender (the aforementioned Hi-Mass) are equivalent/copies. The Fender ones are stupidly cheap (under £30)!

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