Buying a New Bridge

[beanbass123]

I have a bergen bridge that has been on my bass since I got it. It's quite warped and I need to buy a new one.

The local music store in boston quoted me $371 to build a new adjustable bridge. I don't know much about buying bridges can someone tell me if I'm getting ripped off or not.

Thanks

[Zachary Martin]

The Quote is a bit steep, especially if your unsure of the work.

[nicklloyd]

Zach does fine setup work, as well as Mark Carlsen and John Styklunas.

The Set Up Shop,Tewsbury,MA
Mark Carlsen,
(978)851-4499

John Styklunas, MA, Jamaica Plain, MA
617-983-0001

[Paul Warburton]

GIRLS,GIRLS!!!!!!

No matter how you slice it ( So to speak ) that's still way too much for a God Damn bridge.

Also Bean, please fill out your profile....this info helps us help you, and congratulations on being able to start a luthiers frenzi in less than 5 posts.

[uptonbass]

$370 is ok IF the shop does a bang up job with a great quality bridge and stands behind the work for some adjustments after the sale. Where does the $1 come from?

You should expect with a new bridge that you get to spend some time with your bass at the shop after it is fit to make sure you don'g want anything adjusted on the spot.

[uptonbass]

smarty pants

[mcnaire2004]

Why don't you just but a bridge instead of having one built? It will be much cheaper (like around $50-150).

[reedo35]

A bass bridge isn't something you buy "off the rack". You buy the bridge blank, and the feet and top are shaped to custom fit your bass. Add in some Adjustors, and that results in the end cost.
(WELL WORTH IT IF YOUV'E NEVER DONE IT BEFORE....)

[arnoldschnitzer]

Originally Posted by Paul Warburton

No matter how you slice it ( So to speak ) that's still way too much for a God Damn bridge.

Really? In the Northeast, having a car serviced costs $90-100 per hour. A ten minute doctor visit is $150 or so. An hour with a decent attorney (is that a contradiction in terms?) is $400.

I figure 4 to 6 hours to properly fit a bridge, install adjusters, carve the decorative facets, finish and do the final set-up. And like Uptonbass said, I can plan on a return visit for tweaking every so often (at no charge). A good bridge blank costs $30-50, plus $10-50 for adjusters, depending on which type. So if I charge $350 I will average half of what a mechanic charges to change my oil (on an hourly basis).

Paul, are you stuck in the past? (I ask this with affection and respect)

[Mark Carlsen]

Originally Posted by arnoldschnitzer

Really? In the Northeast, having a car serviced costs $90-100 per hour. A ten minute doctor visit is $150 or so. An hour with a decent attorney (is that a contradiction in terms?) is $400.

I figure 4 to 6 hours to properly fit a bridge, install adjusters, carve the decorative facets, finish and do the final set-up. And like Uptonbass said, I can plan on a return visit for tweaking every so often (at no charge). A good bridge blank costs $30-50, plus $10-50 for adjusters, depending on which type. So if I charge $350 I will average half of what a mechanic charges to change my oil (on an hourly basis).

Paul, are you stuck in the past? (I ask this with affection and respect)

Not really,I would guess that Paul hasn't changed the adjustable bridge[Fitted w. an Underwood] for some 15 plus years...he is smart enough to check it every week or so and make sure it isnt warped.
Now we live in the world of The Euro Rules in the String World, so welcome to the World of $300.00 plus bass bridges.
Although ,if you take care of this very expensive bridge like Paul and me,that isnt so much to pay.You do get what you pay for in this life....

[Mark Carlsen]

By the way , I totally agree w.Arnold...

[Jeff Bollbach]

Originally Posted by Mark Carlsen

By the way , I totally agree w.Arnold...

Of course I agree as well. But I sure don't agree with how this thread was sterilized. TalkBass has more censorship then primetime TV.

[COUNT ZACULA]

Originally Posted by Jeff Bollbach

Of course I agree as well. But I sure don't agree with how this thread was sterilized. TalkBass has more censorship then primetime TV.

c'mon Jeff. Dont want to offend the sponsors......

[Paul Warburton]

Originally Posted by arnoldschnitzer

Really? In the Northeast, having a car serviced costs $90-100 per hour. A ten minute doctor visit is $150 or so. An hour with a decent attorney (is that a contradiction in terms?) is $400.

I figure 4 to 6 hours to properly fit a bridge, install adjusters, carve the decorative facets, finish and do the final set-up. And like Uptonbass said, I can plan on a return visit for tweaking every so often (at no charge). A good bridge blank costs $30-50, plus $10-50 for adjusters, depending on which type. So if I charge $350 I will average half of what a mechanic charges to change my oil (on an hourly basis).

Paul, are you stuck in the past? (I ask this with affection and respect)

No Arnold, I live in Colorado.

[uptonbass]

Originally Posted by Jeff Bollbach

Of course I agree as well. But I sure don't agree with how this thread was sterilized. TalkBass has more censorship then primetime TV.

Ha! Isn’t it great, at the root of the issue are those users (not going to list names) that just can't leave Paul and Chris and other mods alone always bugging them with complaints "he said this, she said this" etc. Man I always hated tattle tails……Admittedly I stepped on the puc.... that’s policy users commercial But…yeah

Google China…..

arnold, time for us to start charging $600 plus

[drurb]

Originally Posted by arnoldschnitzer

Really? In the Northeast, having a car serviced costs $90-100 per hour. A ten minute doctor visit is $150 or so. An hour with a decent attorney (is that a contradiction in terms?) is $400.

I figure 4 to 6 hours to properly fit a bridge, install adjusters, carve the decorative facets, finish and do the final set-up. And like Uptonbass said, I can plan on a return visit for tweaking every so often (at no charge). A good bridge blank costs $30-50, plus $10-50 for adjusters, depending on which type. So if I charge $350 I will average half of what a mechanic charges to change my oil (on an hourly basis).

Paul, are you stuck in the past? (I ask this with affection and respect)

Gee, I gotta agree. I had a new sounpost installed at Upton just about three weeks ago. Jack worked for a full hour carving, shaving, and fitting until it was precisely in the position he targeted, fit with no gaps, and was the desired tightness. It cost me about $100. Given there are precious few people who can do this properly to begin with, I sure wasn't complaining! Now, a bridge? Yeah, I can easily see $350. Then again, I live in the northeast.

(Damn! Now Gary's gonna charge me $450!)

[D McCartney]

1 Tim 5:18
"For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward."

[uptonbass]

Les for you how about a sweeeeet deal....well make it an even grand.

[Foamy]

Originally Posted by beanbass123

I have a bergen bridge that has been on my bass since I got it. It's quite warped and I need to buy a new one.

The local music store in boston quoted me $371 to build a new adjustable bridge. I don't know much about buying bridges can someone tell me if I'm getting ripped off or not.

Thanks

I am not a DB'er, but play electric bass; however, I am a very experienced woodworker, and I'll share my thoughts on this.

A previous poster stated $30-50 for the blank, and $10-50 for the adjusters. So, I'll use $20 for the blank, and $30 for the adjusters - so far, we're at $50. $40 for the blank sounds like an awful lot of money, even for an exotic hardwood that size. I would hope that this guy has this wood in bigger lots.

Now, does he use your existing bridge as a template? Or does he start from scratch? Even starting from scratch, I doubt he truly would do that. There are tools that make "measuring" the contour and marking that on the blank very easy to do. There are also some pretty standard templates I would imagine, and ways of transfering maybe the fingerboard radius, so that's not a real scientific process. So, I'm going to say about 20 minutes to mark the blank to get it ready to cut - including a visual double-check, and done by someone who's done a nmber of these.

From there, another 30 minutes to actually make the cuts (and that's a tad generous). Once cut, there will need some (probably) hand finishing and smoothing of the part where the strings sit, and inside the decorative cuts. That'd probably take a skilled woodworker about another 20 minutes. Another 20 minutes to file the top for the strings to sit in - they do that, right?

Once that's done, I'd estimate another half hour to finish off the part that actually sits on the bass body. Here's where my ignorance shows. I'm not sure how much time the adjusters take to install, or if they would change things. I'm basically thinking of mounting the bridge directly to the body.

So, we're at 2 hours for the woodworking part of it. We've got about $50 for parts. Plus, we are "in a business", so there is some overhead there - let's call it $100 an hour. I'd feel OK about charging that, and not OK really charging much more.

So, that gets me to about $250. And I have been pretty generous with my alotted times, meaning, I could easily do it in the times I've stated, so I would expect an experienced bridge maker to be faster. I think $350 is too high. Even my $250 may be high, but you see how I got to that figure.

If you want to flame me, go ahead, but with regards to woodworking technique only please. I do not honestly know the first thing about making a bridge for a bass, only how I would approach it in my shop.

Cheers!

[Chris Fitzgerald]