which replacement bridge and setup question.

[G-Rated]

I'm new here and am hoping you guys can help me. I want to replace the bridge on a japanese fender pj. I see it as a precision with more of a jazz neck. I think a more massive bridge will improve the sound, sustain, and maybe playability for me. Will a badass bridge give me enough adjustment to get a low action on the bass? I've heard that the saddles sit to high for some people's liking. I want to counteract some of the tension from flatwounds and plan on getting a professional setup after I install the bridge. Could I file deep grooves in the saddles to make the strings rest lower if there's not enough adjustment? Any good alternatives to the Badass bridge in your experience? Please set me straight and steer me in the right direction.

[Bobster]

G-Rated,

The easiest ways to deal with any extra height on any bridge, are tapered strings, deeper bridge saddle groves, or shimming the neck.

Shimming the neck is a fairly common practice with bolt-on neck basses involving placing part of a business card, or credit card in the neck pocket (bridge end), and is pretty easy. There's a lot of info on it here at TB.

I would first replace the bridge and discuss this when you have the setup done.

Bob

[XylemBassGuitar]

I'd agree with Bob, get the bridge, then worry about how exactly you're going to set up the bass.

Shimming the neck would definitely be the safest bet (and probably the most effective too). If you're worried about sustain, you could even get some thick maple veneer to use as a shim.

You could file the saddle grooves a little on the Badass, but filing too far can cause issues.

At any rate, there are a combination of things that the repair tech/luthier can do to keep the action low with a new Badass bridge. I'd be shocked and amazed if a decent tech couldn't get the action where you wanted it with the Badass.

[G-Rated]

All right. Thanks for the great suggestions. A shim never occured to me, It seems awfully logical -- go figure. So Badass is on order. I'm going to install it first, THEN tinker with it. Am looking forward to doing this by myself and will plan on taking it to a professional tech to tweek if need be. good stuff guys.