Broken Bridge on my Peavey Grind

PhotoJoe · #1 11-05-2009, 11:40 AM

OK, I'm new here, so be gentle!

Also, I have done a search and have not come up with any answers, though I did see one other reference to the same problem.

I have a Peavey Grind and my bridge has broken....TWICE. Peavey was kind enough to send me a new one at no cost, but that one broke as I installed it. Now Peavey won't return my calls or emails. I've spent a half hour searching the web for a pic of my bridge, but I just can't find it. I'll try to post one up later today, if it would help.

The part that broke is the cast threaded receiver that you screw a screw into, thus adjusting the height of the saddle. The cast section broke and now I have no height adjustment. It's working, but I know the bass could sound better if it were setup right.

I'd like to replace this cheap bridge with something a little more substantial. I do not need anything extreme and image is not what I'm after. I just want something that will sound decent and hold up. The bass is a four string, through body stringing. I'd like to keep the black theme in tact. I'm currently looking at the Hipshot A Style however, it's a bit more expensive than I was hoping. After all, I play one night a month, for the Kindergarten-6th graders at my church. Obviously, I don't have to get extreme here. I have a friend who's a guitar tech and will do the install, so if we need to re-drill, I'm OK with it, however, would love a direct replacement, if possible. Should I just ignore the through-body feature and put a Gotoh 201 on it? (I am correct that this is NOT a through-body bridge, right?)

Where do you recommend I order this. I prefer to deal with a real company as opposed to ebay.

What would you suggest?

Thanks for helping the newbie!

ON EDIT: I emailed Peavey late last night and got a call this morning. If I send them the bass, they're willing to replace the bridge, but only with the stock original bridge that I have no faith in. However, I appreciate the call and am VERY impressed with this level of customer service. First class, in my book. So, I'm still debating on what to do. I'm tempted to just swap out my bridge myself (my tech friend) and be done with it.

Now that I've posted a picture of the bridge, any thoughts of what it is and it's quality? Peavey said I was tightening the screw too tight and these bridges hold up very well. Thoughts?

*pr1mo* · #2 11-06-2009, 12:18 PM

i vote for the Hipshot A .787

FunkMetalBass · #3 11-06-2009, 01:12 PM

Can you pull the old one from your old bridge and just mix & match the two to get a fully working bridge?

I don't know from your picture exactly which part you are referring to.

PhotoJoe · #4 11-06-2009, 02:12 PM

I wish I could salvage it. I'll post a pic tonight that I found of the actual broken piece. On the base plate, there is a threaded receiver for the hex screw to screw into, thus adjusting the height of the saddle. That threaded receiver is not a full circle, but more of two protruding sections that are a third of a circle each, with an opening in between. The bottom section broke off, leaving only the threads on the top. Right now, the A string height adjustment screw is being held in place by about one thread in the base plate. If I look at it wrong, it's going to pop out....and I can not get it set up this way. This pic is of the first plate that broke, thus it being the E string. The second one to break is the A string.

The bottom line, no, I can't pillage to make one good bridge. It's the base plate that broke each time.

Carvin sells the Hipshot A in .750 (19mm) spacing at $89. I'm at work and the bass is at home, so I haven't measured it, but if the bass is set up for .787 (20mm), as Pr1mo pointed out, will the .750 work? It would save me about $40. I would assume it would make no difference if I top loaded the strings, but how about the through-body aspect?

PhotoJoe · #5 11-08-2009, 04:15 PM

Well, I opted to order the Hipshot.

OldGreg · #6 08-01-2011, 05:48 PM

Hey, sorry for the necro-posting, but I have this same exact problem. Anyone else had this problem? Looking for a cheap fix. If I don't have to re drill the bass even better.

I have a email out to Peavey and I'm waiting to hear back, thought this may be a little quicker. Bought this bass 2nd hand, so I'm guessing Peavey won't just send me another bridge.

Any suggestion outside of what had been said previously?

Thanks in advance for any help.

darkstorm · #7 08-01-2011, 07:37 PM

Good grief, thats one cheap qaulity bridge. Peavey should be ashamed of themself. One bridge breaking is bad, two is unforgivable.

Id replace the bridge with other mfg one pronto and prob all the screws in the bass while I was at it. If bridge metal is so soft it breaks, one can assume all the other metal parts are also very cheap soft metal to.

JLS · #8 08-01-2011, 11:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by darkstorm

Good grief, thats one cheap qaulity bridge. Peavey should be ashamed of themself. One bridge breaking is bad, two is unforgivable.

Id replace the bridge with other mfg one pronto and prob all the screws in the bass while I was at it. If bridge metal is so soft it breaks, one can assume all the other metal parts are also very cheap soft metal to.

That's not the height adjusting screw; the two allen screws
are. That's a locking screw, which the OP overtorqued, and broke--twice!--because he didn't know what he was doing.

When you assume, you make a what, out of you & me?

96tbird · #9 08-02-2011, 01:30 AM

winndaddy · #10 08-02-2011, 01:50 AM

Yea, I don't think its peaveys fault on this one. Need to learn what everything does before you just start turning screws. I think Gotoh makes a brigde that will work, They're pretty cheap too.

OldGreg · #11 08-02-2011, 11:15 AM

By no means did I put excessive amount of force on it. Been setting up my own basses for years and never seen anything like this. It does seem to be a common problem with this bass. Outside of Fenders, I haven't had a whole lot of experience swapping bridges. Outside of the previously mentioned Hipshot A .787, what would be some other options, preferably cheaper options?

darkstorm · #12 08-02-2011, 06:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OldGreg

By no means did I put excessive amount of force on it. Been setting up my own basses for years and never seen anything like this. It does seem to be a common problem with this bass. Outside of Fenders, I haven't had a whole lot of experience swapping bridges. Outside of the previously mentioned Hipshot A .787, what would be some other options, preferably cheaper options?

The two of you arent the only ones whove had this problem and as you noted it is fairly common issue. Ive read of this issue with those a few times over the last year. They are very cheap qaulity bridges imo.

Gabriel51 · #13 01-15-2012, 11:22 AM

It's not common! I have two Grind 5r's and have no problem at all with the bridge.
It you try to raise the string height without loosing the lock down bolt it could brake the bridge.
The lock down bolt needs to be just snug enough to hold it in place, as you can see the bolt is between two stable points and over tightening it will snap the upper part...
Got a picture of the broken one?

SandraButtock · #14 05-16-2012, 01:41 PM

Actually, the bridge is really cheap. When my 4 string was purchased new (as a gift) the bridge was broken. The blocks that the bolts sit down in were already broken on 3 strings. When I called Peavey about it they were going to make me pay $69 for a replacement bridge. I will not be putting that cheap piece of crap back on my bass. I think I'm going to check out this one you guys were talking about.