Schaller roller 5 bass bridge? opinions?

[jinithith2]

I've spent most of today looking at 5 string bridges and I keep on coming back to the Schaller. How are they? I'm glad they have an adjustable string spacing, because my bass is going through some radical upgrades right now. I don't want to go the badass v bridge because of its high cost... I need to save as much as I can for the pickups and preamp not to mention the guitar tech fee

so how is the schaller? and how do the string space adjusting rollers work?

[GeoffByrne]

I have the Schaller 4 on my Jazz and it works well for me.

It has quite a low profile, which I like - means the heel of my hand isn't always catching on the back of a bridge (depends on how you play, I suppose).

The roller saddles work well. They are on a horizontal screw and you just release the tension of the string a bit, and roll the saddle to where you want it and re-tune the string.

One of the probs I constantly read about Badass bridges is that they sit too high.

I believe that if you buy a new Schaller, it comes with a base-plate shim in the case that it sits too low! Mine's fine

[ack]

I also have the Schaller Roller 4 and I echo everything Geoff said.
I used it on a '54 P-Bass copy to add some mass to the body (big neck dive problem). The shim plate helps add some more weight, but just like Geoff stated above, it sits a bit too high is some applications. It's also a great looking bridge.

Hopefully, someone with a 5'er can chime in and help you out.

Cheers

[DanoesqBass]

I had an older warwick 4 with this Schaller bridge, and then the next generation 4 which went with the 2 piece bridge, you could feel the difference playing the strings, you can actually feel the rollers on the Schaller it seems. This has been mentioned in comments where "rollers" are dissed by bass players.

Now I have 2 - 5 strings with the Schallers, they worked great for me getting my 16.5 string spacing on basses where they weren't. For one of the 5 string basses of mine, I own its 4 string brother which I installed the BAII, and after having to file saddles deeper for lower string action, I would agree with the above comments about the lower profile of the Schallers and easy of adjust in the 3 ways/direction. But I can feel a noticable less firmness without the BA bridge.

So, as the rollers are basically loose and sitting on the horizontal adjustable screw who's housing is then sitting on the 2 Allen Height Screws, plus the rounder roller saddle groove, you should notice the "soft" feel of the difference in the total anchor of the string as you play, maybe only slightly, like I say I have read a few comments on this to prove I was not the only one who thought this.

Is there tone problems with the setup? With taperwounds or when hard hitting strings, maybe with a pick close to the bridge? Not sure, that would be interesting to ask the folks here about, I should do a search...

Will that make that big a difference to you? Not sure, I just know my 2 with the Schallers now have their own feel which makes them have a different and unique "personality" over my other basses that have the BAs.

[DanoesqBass]

you just loosen tuning on string and roll the roller with your finger as you hold string up or to the side of it, easy

that with the allen screws height adjust and the big screw for forward and backward intonation adjust makes it a 3 way bridge

Schaller also has another one where the whole housing is loosened and the block moves side to side then can be tightened down, almost got those over these, just they dont look as nice

[Philbiker]

My old Peavey Dyna-Bass came with the Schaller roller 5 string bridge. I love it. One of the best bridges I have ever experienced.

[Eric Perry]

Originally Posted by ack

I also have the Schaller Roller 4 and I echo everything Geoff said.

As do I... Except mine is a 5-string version.