I am trying to accomodate the transition of a CVJ bass to a
"B" tuning. I spent a couple hours today perusing the subject of 5-string and 4-string jazz bridges and their saddles. But at the end of it all, I still don't have a clear answer to this question, but I think the answer is "sometimes, some-makers".
The question is: for the barrel/cylinder-shaped saddles that this bass has, is there any difference in the groove size for the fatter bottom strings on a 5 vs. a 4? I went into this thinking "certainly" but now I'm not so sure, especially since not all bridges even use a single groove, or even a groove at all, and some use multiple grooves which really strikes me as counter-intuitive. on one site... and I forget which one, a parts supplier mentioned only two different groove diameters: dubbed "A" and "B", suggesting the "A" for the fatter strings and the "B" for the skinnier.
What's the real answer?
The goodness is that there are so many similar-looking bridges [complete] on the market in both 4 and 5 flavors, that one might as well just buy a 5-string bridge and rob the parts, IF the parts are actually calibrated to the fatter 5-string dimensions.
