Changing bridge, Simple Mod?

[thewalruswaspaul]

Hi ,

Ive been thinking about changing the bridge on my bass to get a little more sustain etc on my p bass special. My question is, is this as simple as taking off the strings , unscrewing the old bridge and screwing in the new bridge , is there anything i need to be aware of so as not to make a pigs ear of things , I have very little technical knowledge which is why I have posted this. Thank you for any comments

[stingrayfan]

Buy a Gotoh bridge rather than a BadAss. The Gotohs are an easy swap - like for like - whereas the BadAss, you've got carve the slots into the saddles yourself. Just fitted a Gotoh to my Yamaha BB614 and it rocks!

[simon1964]

[quote name='stingrayfan' post='65570' date='Sep 25 2007, 10:02 PM']Buy a Gotoh bridge rather than a BadAss. The Gotohs are an easy swap - like for like - whereas the BadAss, you've got carve the slots into the saddles yourself. Just fitted a Gotoh to my Yamaha BB614 and it rocks![/quote]

+1.The Gotoh is very easy to fit to a P bass and is a direct replacement (assuming you've got a standard Fender type bridge on there at the moment). You will need to set up the action and intonation, but it is a pretty straight forward mod. And the Gotoh is also a lot cheaper than a Badass.

Edited September 25, 2007 by simon1964

[thewalruswaspaul]

Thanks for the replies , scuse my stupidity, i have no tech or electrical knowledge but I have heard that the bridge acts as a ground for the pickup wiring , is this true and by swapping the bridge do I risk doing the electrics in my bass any harm , again apologies for the dumb questions , you are probably reading this laughing your a**es off

[bass_ferret]

No we only do that with dodgy stuff on You Tube.

You should see the wire when you take the old bridge off - just make sure you pinch the end of the wire under the new bridge.

[The Burpster]

^^^ also to ensure a good contact you may want to check there is not a laquer finish on the body side if the bridge. When I replace bridges as a matter of routine I lightly sand teh area where teh earth wire makes contact before fitting (to ensure it is bare metal to bare wire).

And in answer to your above comment, of course its not a stoopid question, you wont do your electics any harm but you should ensure the earth is connected otherwise you'll get hum worthy of a very angry beehive!