Upright Bridges

[ttekulve]

Anyone have any thoughts on upright bridges? I'm having a set up done and wonder if there is a big difference in bridges..Rosewood VS hard maple etc..any opinions...how about experience with adj ones???

I could use a recommendation as well to breand names...where to get them. I can go online or local. I'm in the Cincinnati, Northern KY area.

Thanks,

tom t

[nicklloyd]

Tom-
I'm right across the river; I'd be happy to answer any questions for you...513.675.5709.

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Tom,

Give TRUCKLLOAD a call. He's a nice dude, does great work, and shoots pretty straight as well. Plus, he's got some pretty funny Charlie Haden stories if you're hanging around the shop while he's cutting on your bass.

[ttekulve]

I don't know that much about it, but one the guitar player I play with has an old Kay bass siting sad and unplayed in his parents house (a crime for which he should be flogged)and he put a rosewood bridge on it and it sounds great!!! He said he could get me one

[ttekulve]

I don't know much about it either other than he has one...hence my question as to if anyone knows anything about them. I'll check it out. I'll see him tonight. It's possible he makes them himself. He did tell me it was very difficult to fit properly as you assumed it would be. I've only used maple. Just sounded interesting and I couldn't find any info on them. His bass sounds great. Certainly not thin. Of course it could be the bass. I'll let ya know what he says about it.

t

[Mike Goodbar]

Here's a discussion of another alternative bridge material that you may find edifying:

Graphite bridges

[Damon Rondeau]

Well, none of the luthiers have jumped on this one yet. I'm only a wannabe, but I believe I'm not out of line by saying that a rosewood bridge would be an extremely unusual beast. Bridges are almost always made from quartersawn maple harvested in eastern Europe and processed in western Europe (mostly France & Germany.) That quartersawn maple is really great stuff.

A bridge needs to transmit vibrations from the strings on through to the instrument. Generally speaking, the lighter it is, the better it does that job. The quartersawn maple is superb because it is very strong, very stable, and not too massive.

So, in addition to the reasons Ed mentions (tough to work, brittle when too thin), the rosewood is very massive and dense. Usually that's what we're looking for in fingerboards, saddles, and tailpieces, not bridges.

You've piqued our curiosity now! Let's see this rosewood bridge....

[mje]

The purpose of the bridge is to transmit the vibrations of the string to the table, so theoretically the ideal bridge material would be of infinite rigidity and zero mass. By this reckoning carbon fiber composites would be closer to ideal, and rosewood, being pretty dense, less so.

But then, basses have evolved using maple bridges, so perhaps maple is ideal. And maybe the additional mass of a rosewood bridge provides desirable loading and damping on some basses. Who knows?