Got a '75 Fender reissue bridge

[gnome01]

Got tired of having to keep raising the bridge saddles of my '72 J bass every week, so I figured I should try out the '75 reissue bridge for something more stable. BIG MISTAKE!! The thing is just awful. I installed it, set it up with medium action, light gauge strings, played it on a gig, and discovered I was going flat after every song! The E and D string saddles lowered so much after a single song that the strings went about a quarter step flat, and didn't stabalize until the strings were nearly flat on the board. I'll have to see if I can send it back, but I've since done what I should have in the 1st place - put on a Badass II (which now comes pre-grooved). Much better! Anyone else have this experience?

[nls666]

Last year I bought a second hand RI75 Jazz bass and I noticed the same thing. Had a BAII bridge lying around, so I put it on and never looked back.
The original bridge on my 78 Jazz is much better though. Strange, it should be the exact same bridge technically...

[John Wentzien]

I installed a Gotoh bridge to take care of the side to side movement of the saddles, and replaced the saddles themselves with TUSQ saddles, TUSQ is made by Graphtech and is a man-made Ivory product. The hieght adjustment scews are very solid and tight on these and won't walk down like metal. The sound of them is a LOT better than metal also- Highly reccommended!

[bassman_al]

Greeeeaaaattt... I just bought a used (as new) '75 RI bridge since I didn't like the large barrels on the Gotoh I had on there, didnt seem like a good match, and I like the bridges on my other 2 fenders, so figured go back to the original spec... Hope I dont regret this!

[Lo-E]

Huh.... interesting. In over 25 years of playing Fender and Fender-style bridges I can't say that I've ever run into this problem.

Do you have both adjusting screws set to the same height (ie: the saddle is level)? If not, try that first. If the screws are still moving on you, put a small drop of clear nail polish on the threads just below the saddle to keep it in place or heat the saddle a bit with a soldering iron and melt a little bit of parafin wax into the threads. Either method will keep the adjusting screws in place.

[bassman_al]

Good ideas. I have also been playing Fenders for just about 25 years and never had this problem. I was thinking some plumbers putty in the threading might also work. But I like E's ideas too, although the nail polish sounds a bit permanent. I would want to keep the ability to adjust those screws to any position necessary.

Subscribed. Curious about other people's thoughts on this issue. I love it when reviving an old thread can help solve a current problem! Thanks guys.

[mongo2]

+1 for clear nail polish. I've used my wife's Sally Hansen Hard As Nails.

[Lo-E]

Yep. Just a dot of nail polish will hold the screw stationary, but if you apply any kind of torque with an Allen wrench or screwdriver the polish just cracks and pops off. Not permanent at all. It's too thick to run into the threads.

[96tbird]

Originally Posted by bassman_al

Good ideas. ... I was thinking some plumbers putty in the threading might also work. But I like E's ideas too, although the nail polish sounds a bit permanent. Thanks guys.

Nail polish flakes off the moment you turn the screw. You just dab the edge of the threads where they come out of the saddle, don't get it in the allen socket. Sticks just enough to hold. If that doesn't hold wind the screw out a turn and dab the threads and wind it back in. Beeswax works good too, just remove the screw and rub it on the threads.

[bassman_al]

Great advice! I like the beeswax idea. But I'll wait to see if the problem exists first.

[walterw]

Originally Posted by gnome01

Got tired of having to keep raising the bridge saddles of my '72 J bass every week, so I figured I should try out the '75 reissue bridge for something more stable. BIG MISTAKE!!

yep, that's the same bridge you'd find on a mexican standard.

you shoulda got the'62 reissue bridge with the threaded-rod saddles. the saddles are real steel and thus sound better, it would also give you the correct string spacing over the pickup magnets, which would hold the outer saddles in against the inner ones, improving sustain and reducing the drift. (+1 to a dab of loc-tite or nail polish on the screws either way, though.)

[bassman_al]

I have a '62 RI Jazz and the new bridge will be going on my "70's" (MIM) Jazz fretless. Not exactly apples to apples but I can compare the 2 bridges for anyone who is interested. Since this isn't my thread, just send me a PM if you would like my comparison. I had a '72 P-bass for years, as well as several other Fender models past and present.

I got this '75 bridge mint for $20 shipped and I'll be keeping the Gotoh until I am convinced that the Fender will work out better.

[bassman_al]

I'm a little confused. The '75 RI bass is listed on the Fender site as an American bass. Don't those basses have the higher quality, eg non-MIM, hardware?

[bassman_al]

From Guitar Parts Resource site, describing the '75 RI Fender replacement bridge. Note the steel components.:

"Genuine Fender USA '75 reissue bass bridge. Features steel baseplate and saddles with slotted height adjust screws. Perfect for replacement on 70's Precision and Jazz Bass models. Includes mounting screws."

[walterw]

here's why the single-groove bridges suck:



see how the G saddle gets pushed away from the other saddles by the string, and how the string spacing overall is narrower than the jazz pickup magnets?

with the threaded-rod bridge (i need to find a better picture):



you can spread the strings out a little, which one, lines them up between the pickup magnets where they belong and two, presses them in against each other, locking everything together for improved stability and sustain.

[walterw]

here's another example (also annoyingly lo-res) of the threaded bridge strung right:



the saddles are all pressed together (since the string spread is slightly wider than the saddle spacing), and the strings go right between the pickup magnets.

it happens to be a shot of one of the coolest basses ever, JPJ's main '61 jazz.

[mongo2]

Fortunately, it's not necessary for the strings to be perfectly aligned between the poles for the pickup to work properly. If the field is checked at the proper string distance from the poles with EMG magnetic viewing film the mag field is contiguous with no discrete fields so functionally it doesn't matter if the string is aligned precisely between the poles.

[C.Linton]

This is true. Unless the misalignment is extreme,however it only affects the aesthetics, re
gardless, having the saddles nice and tight up against each other is kind of important.
Having said that, The string/pole alignment on my Squier VM J iis slightly off, not enough to affect the sound, but I think I will eventually replace the saddles with threaded ones anyway
for both looks AND stability (even tho they are pretty stable right now). It's not critical, tho, and it can wait.

[bassman_al]

I have had both kinds. They seem to work equally well, with other factors like string type, amp and can choice playing a far larger role in overall sound. But I will be paying more attention to the bridges contribution to this equation. I drooled the top load holes myself in my '98 P, so alignment is never going to be perfect on that single groove bridge anyway. But it is a nice sounding bass so that is all I care about.

[mongo2]

Originally Posted by C.Linton

This is true. Unless the misalignment is extreme,however it only affects the aesthetics

IME, even extreme misalignment (such as the string directly over a pole) doesn't effect the sound...but it does look odd. I often tilt the E and G string saddles lower at the outside so the string pressure can assist with forcing the saddles together.