Replacement Bridge on Acoustic Bass

[J. Crawford]

I have a Fender Kingman Acoustic and love it, it plays decent and sounds incredible. Thing is, the action is pretty high and I can't get it to lower. I've worked on the truss rod but it can only do so much.

Question is, can the bridge me replaced? The stock bridge is the cheap plastic and wood bridge that has no adjustments. This seems to be making any adjustments impossible.

I plan on getting it setup, but I don't want to look like an idiot because there isn't anything they can do.

Any help is appreciated guys, thanks.

[202dy]

Originally Posted by J. Crawford

I have a Fender Kingman Acoustic and love it, it plays decent and sounds incredible. Thing is, the action is pretty high and I can't get it to lower. I've worked on the truss rod but it can only do so much.

Question is, can the bridge me replaced? The stock bridge is the cheap plastic and wood bridge that has no adjustments. This seems to be making any adjustments impossible.

I plan on getting it setup, but I don't want to look like an idiot because there isn't anything they can do.

Any help is appreciated guys, thanks.

Truss rods adjust the curve of the fingerboard. Period. Any effect on string height is incidental.

Acoustic bridges can be modified or replaced. Take lots of money to the repair shop with the guitar as it will not be inexpensive. Unless the bridge is cracked, lifting, or shows other signs of damage replacement is unnecessary.

Acoustic bridge saddle height can be adjusted.

String height is adjusted at the saddle(s). An acoustic guitar typically has a captured saddle installed in a wood bridge.

1. Loosen strings.
2. Remove saddle.
3. Remove material from saddle.
4. Install saddle.
5. Tune instrument.
6. Play.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

The saddle height can be cut by filing the top or by sanding the bottom. If the bottom is adjusted it is important to ensure that it is flat, square, and plumb.

The amount of material to be removed is twice the desired measurement of desired change in the string height at the twelfth fret.

Leave the truss rod alone unless there is an issue with relief.

[J. Crawford]

See, when I did my own setup on my P bass the truss rod worked magic. It made the action awesomely low. That is why I thought it was something to do with the truss rod.

I'll try and work the saddle down a bit. Its plastic so I was just nervous about it cracking.

[202dy]

Originally Posted by J. Crawford

See, when I did my own setup on my P bass the truss rod worked magic. It made the action awesomely low. That is why I thought it was something to do with the truss rod.

I'll try and work the saddle down a bit. Its plastic so I was just nervous about it cracking.

Most plastic saddles are relatively hard. If filing or hand sanding it may take a bit longer than you think.

Making an adjustment to one thing on a guitar (or anything else, for that matter) can change the setting of something else. That is why it is said that a set up is primarily a combination of relief (adjusted by turning the truss rod nut), string height (adjusted by raising or lowering the saddles), intonation (adjusted by moving the saddles parallel to the line of the string). Each one of these adjustments can and does affect every other setting to some degree. It may or may not require readjusting something else.

You got lucky.

[aquateen]

check the string slots in the nut, too. if they can be filed a little deeper it may help.

[Turnaround]

Originally Posted by aquateen

check the string slots in the nut, too. if they can be filed a little deeper it may help.

Do this only if you KNOW the slots are not deep enough and you know how to cut them to the proper height. If they are cut even a tiny bit too low you will end up with fret buzz at the first fret and backbuzz caused by the string vibrating against the frets behind the fingering poisition. Getting the nut height right is not a matter of guesswork.

[J. Crawford]

Originally Posted by aquateen

check the string slots in the nut, too. if they can be filed a little deeper it may help.

Originally Posted by Turnaround

Do this only if you KNOW the slots are not deep enough and you know how to cut them to the proper height. If they are cut even a tiny bit too low you will end up with fret buzz at the first fret and backbuzz caused by the string vibrating against the frets behind the fingering poisition. Getting the nut height right is not a matter of guesswork.

That's a tad too tricky for me. Plus, I plan on having the nut replaced also as it is very cheap and plastic looking. I heard that's a great mod for these basses, anyways.

Thanks for the replies, guys.

[JTE]

If the high action is caused by the neck having too much relief (bow) then a simple truss rod adjustment will lower the action. Once a bass is set up properly for the way you play it, you generally don't need to adjust the saddles, only the truss rod. This is because the neck moves due to humidity and temperature changes.

However, if you torque the truss rod to lower action when the truss rod isn't the problem, you can cause a LOT of damage. ABG's are really big acoustic flat-top guitars, with little relationship to electric basses. Pay close attention to 202dY's post!!!

Think of an ABG as an air pump. The strings pull on the top of the instrument and cause the top to move as the strings are plucked. The bridge and saddle have to have enough tension on them to make that top move so it will pump air out of the soundhole. The heavier the strings you can play on it the better the acoustic sound you'll get. You also need a good breakover angle on the string where it crosses the saddle so that it will cause the top to vibrate. If you lower the saddle too much it WILL reduce the acoustic volume you get. And because almost every ABG made these days is already a horrible acoustic instrument, you don't want to make it any worse.

If the instrument has the typical piezo pickup under the saddle, it's vital that you know what you're doing when you sand the saddle. The bottom of the saddle must be perfectly flat and smooth so it will contact the pickup element correctly. In many cases, the saddle can't go down low enough to get a close "electric" style action without compromising the tone. In those cases you need to either have the whole bridge (the large wooden part that's glued to the top and into which the saddle is set) replaced or lowered (which again has problems) or the neck reset. Both are major surgery.

They have non-adjustable saddles because the hardware needed to make the saddles adjustable will severely impede the acoustic sound of the instrument. Gibson and Yamaha both made some flat-top guitars with adjustable saddles, and they sounded terrible. All that metal, plastic, and those connections kept the strings from transferring vibrations to the top of the guitar.

My advice to folks who don't know or understand acoustic instruments is to not buy it if the action is too high for you out of the box. But then I also strongly feel that unless it's a Guild B-50, Guild B-30, Ernie Ball Earthwood, or maybe a Tacoma Thunderchief, it's NOT a real acoustic instrument and it won't work as an acoustic bass for playing with other people.

John

[J. Crawford]

I'm solely using it as a dorm room instrument. Nothing more, nothing less. I have electric basses and a rig if I want to play with other people.

Thanks for the tips guys. Maybe I'll just accept what I have and use it as is, just for practice. No big deal.

[202dy]

Have you attempted to shave the saddle?