Hi everyone. I've been a lurker in the Barker forums for a while now, and i've always wondered why the Barker bass has a fixed bridge.

Why not have a floating bridge like on a Hofner or double bass. I bet it would look beautiful! (and sound good too).

-Daniel Y

Hi Daniel--

Thanks for the question, and welcome--you can no longer count yourself among the lurkers.

The Hofner bridge is an elegant thing, no question about it, and I have a soft spot in my heart for the art deconess of it.

The only downside I can see is the lack of adjustment for individual string intonation.

String attachment would have to be addressed--possibly string through the body? There are those who prefer that bit of elegance.

It's doable in a custom instrument setting, certainly.

As for a double bass bridge, I really don't see that application working, in that we're utilizing a bass guitar profile neck for all the reasons that make the Barker absolutely and technically unique in the world of vertical basses.

I periodically get questions around making the Barker bowable, and my snappy answer is, "It isn't because all the others are!"

A better, more thoughtful and gracious answer is, the upright bass is made to be played arco, which it is, 99% of the time, in orchestral settings. In nearly all other settings, it is played pizzicato 99% of the time. So there's no real need to have those strings that high and that far apart; in fact, the electric bass string layout is much more efficient for both hands, provided we're playing anything but orchestral music.

Soo there's a wordy answer, Daniel, and I welcome more dialog on the subject and any other observations you have about the instrument.

Kindly,
Lee

ps Burt Munro is one of my heroes, and the oft-noted quality of our web site is attributable to Ian Blackie, formerly of Christchurch, now on loan to the U.S.