Steinberger Bridge on Ibanez Fixer Upper

[Glassonion9]

I just acquired an Ibanez SR800LE that needs some help. First off, it is missing all 4 tuners, and the pickup screws are missing.
Ok, no big deal. (Any suggestions on good sources for either?)

But I just got to looking more carefully and the bridge is a Steinberger Drop D. Awesome! Except that it is missing parts. Crap.





So it looks like two of the tuning knobs are missing and the Drop D lever is gone.

I don't especially NEED a drop-d lever on the bass, I am OK with downtuning from the head tuner if necessary. Would this work without a lever there or is it going to have problems?

As far as the two tuning knobs, I'm actually a bit unclear as to what they are for. Since I'm going to be using normal tuning knobs on the bass, why would I want/need them at the bridge also?

As far as I can tell, the intonation is set on this thing using the little screws on the saddles (right?). I can't find a 'users guide' to this bridge, so I'm still a bit unclear as to what the purpose/use of all this is.

Anyway, if you guys have any suggestions/hints/opinions/etc I would greatly appreciate it!

[Slowgypsy]

The tuner knobs... well... they tune. This is a bridge for a Steinberger. It's a headless instrument.

You might want to reference pictures of a complete unit... might shed some light for you. Check out this site: http://steinbergerworld.com There's a wealth of info on all things Steinberger there.

[Glassonion9]

Indeed, but I've seen this particular bridge used on quite a number of non-headless basses.

[Slowgypsy]

Have a shot of the back end of the bridge?

[Glassonion9]

By back end, do you mean the bottom (towards the tail of the guitar)?

If so, here it is:

[Slowgypsy]

I'm stumped. Steinberger bridges were obviously designed for headless instruments... which is to say it combined the bridge and tuning mechanisms. The Steinberger bridge in your photos seems to be just a standard design high mass bridge for single bass strings... with no tuning mechanisms built in.

Looks like really rough condition... or that could just be the photos. And shots of the whole instrument? I looked up that model and it doesn't appear that this was the stock bridge.

Fascinating

[yodedude2]

perhaps the knobs on the bridge are for intonation/fine tuning like on some of the 80s fenders?

and for clarity, this is not a headless instrument, correct?

[TheEmptyCell]

You have one of these, sans the aforementioned parts.

http://www.lionseek.com/images/guita...ge-awesome.jpg

Google is great.

[Glassonion9]

From what I've gleaned from google and the excellent Steinberger world forum/group, these bridges were used on Hohner 'B' basses. It appears that someone swapped it onto this bass at some point.
Parts seem to be pretty rare, so I may just swap it for an inexpensive replacement 19mm one (from what I've read the original omni adjust was 19mm). I'll probably go with a cheap chinese one for now since the bass was free and I don't know if the electronics work at all.

Yodedude, correct, this is not headless but the tuners are missing. Maybe whoever put it on was planning on converting it to headless. I believe you're correct that the knobs are for fine tuning.

Slowgypsy, the bridge isn't in great shape, but it isn't awful either. The bass itself is in ok shape. It has some scratches between the pickups and I need to replace the pickup screws and the control cavity cover.
The neck appears straight, though, so I think I'm going to replace the missing parts and see how it works.

[Slowgypsy]

Originally Posted by Glassonion9

From what I've gleaned from google and the excellent Steinberger world forum/group, these bridges were used on Hohner 'B' basses. It appears that someone swapped it onto this bass at some point.
Parts seem to be pretty rare, so I may just swap it for an inexpensive replacement 19mm one (from what I've read the original omni adjust was 19mm). I'll probably go with a cheap chinese one for now since the bass was free and I don't know if the electronics work at all.

Yodedude, correct, this is not headless but the tuners are missing. Maybe whoever put it on was planning on converting it to headless. I believe you're correct that the knobs are for fine tuning.

Slowgypsy, the bridge isn't in great shape, but it isn't awful either. The bass itself is in ok shape. It has some scratches between the pickups and I need to replace the pickup screws and the control cavity cover.
The neck appears straight, though, so I think I'm going to replace the missing parts and see how it works.

Give Don a shout at www.headlessusa.com He's a major Steinberger guy and one of my dealers... I make string adapters for the headless Steinbergers. Feel free to mention my name, Peter Weiss... not sure what it'll get you. He might have more info... parts even!

[Jazz Ad]

This is a bridge that was made by Hohner under Steinberger licence for their Bbass IV model.
It isn't meant to be used on headless instruments. 3 of the screws are fine tuners, the screw on the E string lets you adjust the detuner.
It is a rare and excellent bridge. Unfortunately, this one is missing a lot of parts and they will be impossible to find.
There is a small hex screw on the side blocking the saddles. You need to unscrew it prior to any attempt at setting it up.

[markanini]

You can get the Hohner bridge as a spare part here: http://www.hohner-cshop.de/en/Guitar...ge-BBass4.html