Bent bridge on old Tanglewood Rebel

[max_overdrive]

I purchased my first beginner bass guitar back in 1998. At the time, my options were very limited because I'm left-handed, so I had to settle for a Tanglewood Rebel 4 string (British company that at the time made cheapo basses in Korea). After 25 years under tension, the bridge has bent, and it started pulling one of the screws out of its hole, stripping it. I guess this is one of the many drawbacks of a guitar made on the cheap using an extremely lightweight basswood body.

 

I'll fill the the hole with Titebond and slivers of wood, that's not a problem. Luckily this mass produced model is still in production, but they want €55 / £48 / $60 for an exact replacement. In normal circumstances dropping in an exact replacement is the sensible thing to do, but I assume Tanglewood still uses the same metal that warped over time. Plus, I always felt the old bridge was one of the main reasons why this bass always had a high action, so I'm considering spending a bit more to upgrade the bridge instead. 

 

1. I'm concerned about existing screw holes being too close to the new ones I'd have to drill. It's not easy to get a bigger plate because the existing bridge is quite large measuring 85x57mm. What are the chances of me finding a better bridge that lines up perfectly with the scew holes? 
2. Unfortunately I didn't measure the spacing between strings before removing the bridge, but the saddle width is 19mm. What would a bridge with a different spacing change?

 

Edited October 27, 2023 by max_overdrive

[Hellzero]

Did you first check if the body isn't warped?

 

That bridge looks to be made out of bloody zamac to me, the worst alloy ever.

[max_overdrive]

1 hour ago, Hellzero said:

Did you first check if the body isn't warped?

 

That bridge looks to be made out of bloody zamac to me, the worst alloy ever.

 

It left marks on the body (photo attached) but not in a way that would affect the setup. Just goes to show how soft that allow is... and why I feel so uncomfortable spending £48 to get an identical bridge if it sucks so badly.

[neepheid]

I'd say get whatever bridge takes your fancy that the base plate covers the existing screw holes, fill and redrill.

[neepheid]

There's an outside chance that the Albridge with Sire screw pattern might fit, but I'm clutching at straws here (plus you'll have unused thru-body stringing holes which may irritate you)

 

Hipshot Transtone also has a screw in each corner:

 

Edited October 26, 2023 by neepheid

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

2 hours ago, max_overdrive said:

The two back screws in tis pic look like they came from B&Q rather than being the type used on instruments, so maybe the bridge isn't original to the bass?

 

In your position I would be inclined to order something like this one: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/276111677941  and be prepared to fill & redrill the holes if they don't match up.

 

[max_overdrive]

4 minutes ago, Jean-Luc Pickguard said:

The two back screws in tis pic look like they came from B&Q rather than being the type used on instruments, so maybe the bridge isn't original to the bass?

It's the original bridge. I had swapped the original small screws with larger ones years ago because they wouldn't tighten all the way.

[bobbass4k]

I might have the original bridge from my old rebel 4k somewhere if you just want a cheap option and aren't bothered about upgrading - yours for postage, assuming I can find it.

 

When I changed mine I put a hipshot on and just re-drilled.

 

 

[max_overdrive]

4 hours ago, bobbass4k said:

I might have the original bridge from my old rebel 4k somewhere if you just want a cheap option and aren't bothered about upgrading - yours for postage, assuming I can find it.

 

 

Thanks Does your bridge look identical to mine? Asking because mine is the 4 string Rebel from before they started calling it "4K".

Edited October 26, 2023 by max_overdrive

[Paul S]

1 hour ago, neepheid said:

I'd say get whatever bridge takes your fancy that the base plate covers the existing screw holes, fill and redrill.

 

This.  Most bridges, even cheap eBay jobs, have the relevant measurements on the listing.  But a Gotoh 201, for example, will be as good a bridge as you could ever want and costs £35 from Thomann.

[max_overdrive]

5 minutes ago, Paul S said:

 

This.  Most bridges, even cheap eBay jobs, have the relevant measurements on the listing.  But a Gotoh 201, for example, will be as good a bridge as you could ever want and costs £35 from Thomann.

I'm concerned about existing screw holes being too close to the new ones I'd have to drill. Also, the existing bridge isn't very small, the plate measures 85x57mm.

[Hellzero]

1 hour ago, neepheid said:

There's an outside chance that the Albridge with Sire screw pattern might fit, but I'm clutching at straws here (plus you'll have unused thru-body stringing holes which may irritate you)

I had an ALBridge on a bass, bought new from the USA, wasn't cheap at all but a massive upgrade.

 

https://www.albridgeparts.com/

 

[Baloney Balderdash]

On 26/10/2023 at 14:22, max_overdrive said:

I'm concerned about existing screw holes being too close to the new ones I'd have to drill. Also, the existing bridge isn't very small, the plate measures 85x57mm.

Just fill the existing holes with standard wood glue, squeeze some tight fitting wooden sticks down in the holes, pinch or cut off the excess sticks above the holes, wipe away excess glue with a moist cloth and let it cure for 24 hours.

 

After that you don't have to worry about this.

 

Also just because the body wood of the bass is relatively soft doesn't necessarily makes it a crap bass, the Music Man Bongo Bass and several other relatively high end basses got bodies made out of Basswood, which is a relatively cheap and soft wood that is infamous for stripping screws if exchanging anything, but also acknowledged for actually being a great Tonewood.  

 

Edited October 27, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash

[lemmywinks]

Have a look on AliExpress, you'll probably be able to get exactly that bridge for not much money. I've bought 2 very similar ones in the last year or so for projects, I'll check my purchase history

[lemmywinks]

This is the one I bought:

https://a.aliexpress.com/_EzRzvh5