Bridge for vintage Bass VI

[BassAgent]

A befriended percussionist told me a while back he has an old Fender Bass VI at home that needs restoration. I offered to do that for him, and he sent me a few pics. The first thing that struck me was the missing bridge; does anyone know if a "regular" Mustang bridge will fit? I'm picking it up tonight, so updates about year, state and the likes to follow 
 

[BigRedX]

How authentic do you want to keep this instrument, or is the main purpose of the restoration to get it back to a playable state?

[BassAgent]

Well, a bridge that is as vintage as possible would be great. I know the Staytrem bridges have a waiting time of at least 12 weeks, and Mastery is great but not very vintage. If that's the only option however, it is what it is.

[BigRedX]

The problem with original 1960s Bass VIs is there are whole load of compromises between keeping the instrument original and having something that is usable and playable.

 

The next important question is what strings are you intending to fit? The strings that these basses came with (and AFAIK still do) tend to be on the light side for the low E and A for most bass players, but if you swap to the heavier versions from LaBella or Newtone you may not have enough intention adjustment with an authentic vintage bridge. That's where the modern replacements win out. What you pick will also depend on whether you intend to make use of the vibrato system. IME once you fit the heavier strings the vibrato becomes almost completely inoperative due to the tensions involved so you might as well go modern with your bridge choice (and get the posts changed to ones that don't wobble - the originals are great for doing MBV impersonations on the guitar but don't really have any useful place on a bass).

 

If this was my bass and I intended to play it in a band, I'd go for a modern replacement bridge with enough intonation adjustment to accommodate a set of Newtone Axiom VI strings, but also maybe keep an eye out for a vintage version to fit if I ever decided to sell it.