BBOT

[Fishman]

Having done lots of bridge research for my in-progress @Andyjr1515 build I came across this amazing looking bass from Stradi that has a bent bit of tin for a bridge

Personally I'm not sure a bridge is something that does much more than hold the string down at the body end of things – obviously others will disagree, but sustain is hardly ever necessary and didn't mean much to Jaco or Jamerson anyway 😊

https://www.notreble.com/buzz/2020/11/30/bass-of-the-week-stradi-reformer/?fbclid=IwAR22HPFJshnDsjuAy1h3Z6t4p0jUElmc4a-awwCw5YXFwN4lKposjD1UaFQ

A bit of a nod to the Alpher Mako body shape too I reckon

[Si600]

To be honest,  as long as you have something to hold the strings up and adjust the intonation,  then the loose end can be attached to the body with fence staples

Have a look at Crimson Guitars Nebula, the ball ends are hooked on little brass rods with a Gibson style saddle to adjust. 

[LukeFRC]

this topic has been done at least once I think... 

you fit the bits on a bass to get the result you want. I personally think that the BBOT is a big part of the precision sound. Others would disagree. 

[pineweasel]

That is the Gotoh vintage bridge, which is a bit more substantial than the old Fender bridges. Look at the thickness of the plate. 

[Rich]

28 minutes ago, pineweasel said:

That is the Gotoh vintage bridge, which is a bit more substantial than the old Fender bridges. Look at the thickness of the plate. 

Agreed. The basis might be similar, but really the Gotoh bridge has as much in common with a cheapy BBOT as a Lamborghini does with an Allegro. 

[LukeFRC]

visually though it does look a wee bit odd on that bass. 

[wateroftyne]

My stock answer to this: Most of history's iconic basslines involve a BBOT.

Edited December 29, 2020 by wateroftyne

[Fishman]

4 hours ago, LukeFRC said:

this topic has been done at least once I think... 

never mind – we're doing it again 😊

 

[Fishman]

2 hours ago, Rich said:

Agreed. The basis might be similar, but really the Gotoh bridge has as much in common with a cheapy BBOT as a Lamborghini does with an Allegro. 

I would say that it is just a thicker bit of BBOT – not dissing the Gotoh 201 but it ain't nothing like the sophistication that a lot of bass folks are spending money on these days – I'm sure that a blind test wouldn't reveal any difference

I saw an Italian Allegro once, called the Innocenti! ☺️

 

[BigRedX]

As I've said in previous threads when this question has been brought up, once the bridge has been attached to the body, in mechanical terms they become a single item, so the added mass of the baseplate on a "high-mass" bridge is negligible when taken as a percentage of the overall weight of the body and all the other things attached to it.

What does make a difference is that most high mass bridges are better engineered than the original BBOT, especially in terms of preventing lateral movement of the individual saddles, but that is it.

If it was me I'd pick a bridge for its looks and ease of intonation adjustment.

[Fishman]

42 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

If it was me I'd pick a bridge for its looks and ease of intonation adjustment.

I agree

I must say that my description of the 201 as a BBOT is wrong – what I really meant was that the bass is high-end  and usually those kinds of basses have more expensive bridges

🤐

 

[chris_b]

17 hours ago, Fishman said:

Personally I'm not sure a bridge is something that does much more than hold the string down at the body end of things

On a solid body electric bass a bridge does 5 things; anchors the strings, intonates the strings, adjusts the action, sets the width of the strings and passes the energy from the string vibrations into the body and then back again. The weight and material of the bridge affects this last point.

BBOT's were fine in the 50's when bass amps struggled to be heard past the 2nd row and your competition was an upright bass.

These days the sonic information in a bass signal chain is significantly more complex than back in the day, and that's all thanks to the many small advances in the engineering (as in modern bridges) of our bass gear.

[Nail Soup]

19 hours ago, Fishman said:

I came across this amazing looking bass from Stradi

For anyone else who is not understanding the debate about bridges  here is a pic of the the bass so we can admire the aesthetic qualities. Nice looking bass.

[BigRedX]

3 hours ago, Nail Soup said:

For anyone else who is not understanding the debate about bridges  here is a pic of the the bass so we can admire the aesthetic qualities. Nice looking bass.

And as you can see underneath all those fancy woods, it's essentially a P-Bass so the BBOT bridge is the perfect solution.

[BigRedX]

5 hours ago, chris_b said:

On a solid body electric bass a bridge does 5 things; anchors the strings, intonates the strings, adjusts the action, sets the width of the strings and passes the energy from the string vibrations into the body and then back again. The weight and material of the bridge affects this last point.

As I said in a previous post and in previous threads, once you attache the bridge to the body, mechanically they become a single item. So although the high-mass bridge will add more weight than a typical BBOT bridge, in overall terms, unless you bass is a hollow-body, the increase is negligible.

[AndyTravis]

18 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

As I said in a previous post and in previous threads, once you attache the bridge to the body, mechanically they become a single item. So although the high-mass bridge will add more weight than a typical BBOT bridge, in overall terms, unless you bass is a hollow-body, the increase is negligible.

I just added a Babicz FCH-3 to a Jack Casady - the difference was massive.

I have added badass 2 bridges to lots of fender basses and found there to be some difference, but how much of that was down to larger footprint of contact or added mass - I don’t know. I do think they look loads better than a bbot if nothing else.

[BigRedX]

And as I also said before the biggest advantage of the high-mass bridge is the better engineering of the saddles to prevent lateral movement.

[Lozz196]

I’ve found when adding hi-mass bridges such as the Badass to Fender basses that they seem to modernise the lows and highs a touch. Nothing I think that could be determined in the mix, but enough so that I noticed it on my own basses. To me it kind of emphasised what a Jazz is about but detracted from the natural rounded mids of the Precisions.

Nowadays I only change the bridge for stability - Gotoh do a baseplate with pre-cut grooves so I’ll get one of those but keep the springs/saddles from the original. Whether or not I’ll ever need that extra stability who knows, but it gives me reassurance and that’s what it’s all about, having greater confidence in my bass.

[Rich]

18 hours ago, Fishman said:

I saw an Italian Allegro once, called the Innocenti! ☺️

 

More of a Guilti really

[Ricky 4000]

4 hours ago, Nail Soup said:

For anyone else who is not understanding the debate about bridges  here is a pic of the the bass so we can admire the aesthetic qualities. Nice looking bass.

Nice! Though I reckon it'd look better with a fendery headstock.

[Fishman]

5 hours ago, Nail Soup said:

For anyone else who is not understanding the debate about bridges  here is a pic of the the bass so we can admire the aesthetic qualities. Nice looking bass.

That big knob is quite impressive 😉

[wateroftyne]

 

2 minutes ago, Fishman said:

That big knob is quite impressive 😉

There’s a bigger one on the Fraud thread.

[Fishman]

Just now, wateroftyne said:

 

There’s a bigger one on the Fraud thread.

Yeah, I saw that – unbelievable behaviour

[bassbloke]

The bridge is no more incongruous than the four screws holding the neck in place. 

 

IMHO. 

[Nail Soup]

16 hours ago, Fishman said:

That big knob is quite impressive 😉

Yes, you wouldn't waste much time fumbling for that!