Bell Brass/Titanium bass bridge

[joshuas5150]

Hello all, I think I've found a way to remake my hard to find Bad Ass III bass bridge in either bell brass, or titanium at a reasonable cost.
Would it be worthwhile looking into making this happen, or would it be too much hassle for the benefit over the original Bad Ass III?
Also, would it be worth considering a nut made from the same material as the bridge?

[BlueTalon]

Re: Bell Brass/Titanium bass bridge

I wouldn't do the nut. If you want it to match the bridge for aesthetic purposes, fine, but other than that, I wouldn't. I want the string to slide easily through the nut grooves, so I want the nut to be made of a material which facilitates that, like TUSQ. I remember 35 years ago when getting a brass nut was a bass player fad, and the rationale for it was better sustain. Through my own experience, I have never noticed a reduced sustain because of a non-metal nut. Besides, how often do we actually play open strings, and how long do we really need to sustain when we do? I usually have to mute the string at some point, if I'm not playing another note right away.

About the bridge, I say why not? I think it would be a fun learning experience -- unless you are paying someone to do it, in which case it's money out and not much experience, and I wouldn't recommend it. One exception -- if you really like the Badass III bridge but want to tweak it a bit, doing this would allow you to modify it however you want, and not ruin the resale value of your original Badass III.

To answer your question, it's not too much hassle if you view it as a project. If you don't look at it that way, and you are just trying to get a better bridge than the Badass III, then I'd recommend just getting another bridge. Personally, I'm not a big fan of the Badass -- I put one on a bass 35 years ago, and it was ok, but IMO there are a lot better options available today.

[Falloffthebonetone]

Re: Bell Brass/Titanium bass bridge

Sounds well... badass and I support you. If you decide to modify the design to your taste after remaking it, then I recommend making something that locks the saddles together, sort of like the G&L saddle lock or Babicz FCH bass bridge. Or, if you want, you can follow BT's advice and just replace it all together with either of the 2 examples I gave or something you like more. (The G&L would require a little routing for an extrusion beneath the bridge)

Otherwise, one thing you could try is just change the SADDLES to brass or titanium first, like testing the waters. You can see how it sounds with just the new saddles and decide from there if you want to stay where you are, keep going for the whole bridge, or just go back to the original badass.

[Demanic]

Re: Bell Brass/Titanium bass bridge

Titanium? Are you kidding? Are they for sale? A Badass in titanium should sound quite nice. How about a titanium bridge piece with bell brass saddles?