Re: best bass bridge in your opinion
mippit said:
What brand is the badass?
Leo Quan Badass...
I think bridge "upgrades" are incredibly overrated.
As long as you have a well made bridge that solidly attaches to the body, provides good action and intonates well- there's no real reason to **** with it. Seriously. People will give the biggest hoo-hah reasons why a Badass is such an improvement in "tone" or "sustain." While it may be good on some basses and and improvement on some bridges- I say- Prove it. Objectively prove your bass has more "sustain" or has more "tone" than with the stock bridge.
Yes, it makes sense that the larger footprint of the Badass is going to transfer more resonance to the bass- but prove that it actually does. Yes, it makes sense for the saddles to sit in their own trough so they don't "slide," but what's damaging about that? Common sense tells you that a good bridge will "upgrade" your bass, but that common sense doesn't necessarily translate into quantifiable results. If it's worth it for you to spend a bunch of money and
think you've got a better bridge, then do it. Chances are you'd never be able to tell the difference in a blind test.
So, what makes me say this?
This is my Jazz Bass:
Notice the Badass II on there.
Somewhere around 5 years ago one of the saddle height adjustment screws fell out of my stock bridge. After realizing I'd have to fork out a bunch of money for a 40 year old part, I decided to "upgrade" my bridge to a Badass. (Oddly enough, I found the saddle screw when I was installing the Badass) After dropping like $65-70 on the bridge I realized the bass doesn't sound any "better" or even much "different." There's no added resonance, there's no noticable increase in "sustain." It's a good bridge, don't get me wrong- but after switching back and forth a few times between the stock bridge and the Badass- there's not a heck of a lot- if any difference.
Most of what I said goes out the window if you're talking about a 2 or 3 point bridge that floats off the body- most any bridge that is solidly attached to the body is an improvement for "sustain," "attack" and "tone." I know this from first hand experience as well.
This is my '71 EB-0:
It came stock with the 2 point bridge. That was a whole lot of suck in one place. And what tops off it's suckage is the nylon saddles.
Anyway, the G&L bridge is the bridge that makes the most sense for me... The saddle traverse, the footprint size and the saddle lock feature make it a really, really good bridge.