What's great about the 'Badass' bridge?

[Scott in Dallas]

The limitations of a fretted instrument have nothing to do with the limitations of a 2 saddle bridge, guys. It's fun to talk about, but let's not confuse the issue.

[cjp3044]

Originally Posted by Scott in Dallas

The limitations of a fretted instrument have nothing to do with the limitations of a 2 saddle bridge, guys. It's fun to talk about, but let's not confuse the issue.

Except for the fact that you can't individually adjust the strings. And your +30 on the calling BS on the bent bridge is BS - happened to me as well. I still have the bent bridge. Just proof that poor quality materials can't hold up to tension. In fact, I could probably bend that bridge with my bare hands it's so weak.

[Scott in Dallas]

Originally Posted by cjp3044

Except for the fact that you can't individually adjust the strings.

I completely agree with the above. I think we're on the same side of this. Not being able to individually adjust the strings is the only issue. That there's an inherent flaw in all fretted instruments is not relevant to this discussion.

Originally Posted by cjp3044

And your +30 on the calling BS on the bent bridge is BS - happened to me as well. I still have the bent bridge. Just proof that poor quality materials can't hold up to tension. In fact, I could probably bend that bridge with my bare hands it's so weak.

Interesting. It's hard to imagine how cheap a bridge would have to be for the metal to bend. It would certainly cause the plating to crack and chip. I'd be interested to see a pic of that.

Who's the manufacturer?

[xaxxat]

A Badass Bridge will give you incredible sustain for the 8th and 16th notes...

Plus, they will help you look badass and will get you more chicks than you can handle...

[cjp3044]

Originally Posted by Scott in Dallas

Interesting. It's hard to imagine how cheap a bridge would have to be for the metal to bend. It would certainly cause the plating to crack and chip. I'd be interested to see a pic of that.

Who's the manufacturer?

Unknown. Fender style, but not Fender. I pulled it from a pile of junk at the shop I sometimes work at when I was building my fretless jazz bass. Very light. It didn't happen right away, but once it started it went fairly quickly (within a month). I know what you mean about the plating, but interestingly enough it didn't. It does kinda look like it has "stretch marks" for lack of a better term. I'm guessing it's some kind of cast or pot metal and probably was originally on some super cheap Fender knockoff (it bolted right up to the MIM body I used). On the hole for the E string, the tension kinda elongated the hole, not quite, but almost enough for the ball to slip through. Never seen anything quite like it, but for sure the bridge is not steel or brass, and I would think if it were pot metal it wouldn't have bent, but just broke. I'll go through my bench and see if I can get a pic to send you.

[cjp3044]

Originally Posted by xaxxat

A Badass Bridge will give you incredible sustain for the 8th and 16th notes...

Plus, they will help you look badass and will get you more chicks than you can handle...

LMAO - sustain for 8th and 16th notes

They actually can improve sustain noticeably IF your current bridge does not have much mass, some people will see a dramatic difference and some people will see none at all.

But since when do us bass players EVER get the chicks? I remember years ago thinking I was gonna get lucky after a gig, this hottie was talkin' me up between sets and after the next set I went to talk to her again, she looked at me with this get the hell away from me stare and said "you're the bass player - I thought you were a roadie", then she turned around and walked away. Closest I ever got.

[Scott in Dallas]

Originally Posted by cjp3044

Unknown. Fender style, but not Fender. I pulled it from a pile of junk at the shop I sometimes work at when I was building my fretless jazz bass. Very light. It didn't happen right away, but once it started it went fairly quickly (within a month). I know what you mean about the plating, but interestingly enough it didn't. It does kinda look like it has "stretch marks" for lack of a better term. I'm guessing it's some kind of cast or pot metal and probably was originally on some super cheap Fender knockoff (it bolted right up to the MIM body I used). On the hole for the E string, the tension kinda elongated the hole, not quite, but almost enough for the ball to slip through. Never seen anything quite like it, but for sure the bridge is not steel or brass, and I would think if it were pot metal it wouldn't have bent, but just broke. I'll go through my bench and see if I can get a pic to send you.

Yeah, I agree that pot metal would have snapped. I'm trying to fix a part of my table saw that did just that.

That'll teach me to underestimate the cheapness of manufacturers.

[Scott in Dallas]

And to answer the OP: I have two of them, one on my P, because of Steve Harris and one on my J, because of Geddy Lee. No other reason on earth. Can't tell the difference from the stock bridges, but it makes me happy to see them there.

[Low Class]

There are some basses that the BadAss can make a huge improvement and some that it does not. That holds true for any aftermarket bridge. Do not judge this bridge based on others individual experiences. If it works on your bass, great. If does not, move on to something else. This bridge has been around too long and too many great players using it today for anyone to have a general negative opinion of it.

[chump stain]

Originally Posted by ugly_bassplayer

I call BS on this.

Why would I make that up?

I've got a swell idea! I'm going to go on talkbass, and just make stuff up out of thin air, yeah!

It happened on my fretless Dean bass. I put flat wounds on it, to keep the fretboard from wearing out (plus I kind of like the tone), and it didn't get played much, and sat in our engineer's studio for like a year. When I picked it up to play it, the bridge was lifting off of the body, and bending. I can only assume it was from the higher tension of the flat wounds. You know how if you let an instrument sit for a while, and when you pick it up, it's sharp? I think it was like that, except the cheap bridge failed.

[lowphatbass]

Originally Posted by chump stain

Why would I make that up?

I've got a swell idea! I'm going to go on talkbass, and just make stuff up out of thin air, yeah!

It happened on my fretless Dean bass. I put flat wounds on it, to keep the fretboard from wearing out (plus I kind of like the tone), and it didn't get played much, and sat in our engineer's studio for like a year. When I picked it up to play it, the bridge was lifting off of the body, and bending. I can only assume it was from the higher tension of the flat wounds. You know how if you let an instrument sit for a while, and when you pick it up, it's sharp? I think it was like that, except the cheap bridge failed.

My assumption was that this happened to a Fender, that's what caused me to question it. I would think that any Fender, or even Squier the amount of pressure needed to bend the bridge would either cause string(s) to break, bow the neck or even cause tuner(s) to fail. The week point wouldn't be the bridge.

[esa372]

Originally Posted by lowphatbass

The weak point wouldn't be the bridge.

Certainly not if it was a BadAss.

[tekdiver500ft]

There is nothing special about the badass bridge. The Hipshot bridges are better in that they hold the strings more securely and intonate better, but even that is no big deal unless your stock bridge is bad.

[chadds]

Originally Posted by xaxxat

A Badass Bridge will give you incredible sustain for the 8th and 16th notes...

By the time the night is over I stopped counting how many notes I've played. 9th, 17th.... who knows?

Actually the addition of a BAII to my Telebass did nothing though it seemed like it would.

I've been known to tell whether other contentious items like Superbowl T-shirts, affect tone. But this one didn't do squat. Seems like a Fender's unique thing is the balance of all it's parts.

[Scott in Dallas]

Originally Posted by lowphatbass

My assumption was that this happened to a Fender, that's what caused me to question it. I would think that any Fender, or even Squier the amount of pressure needed to bend the bridge would either cause string(s) to break, bow the neck or even cause tuner(s) to fail. The week point wouldn't be the bridge.

Yeah, I made that same assumption. I could have sworn somewhere I saw that someone said a MIM Fender bridge bent. I must have dreamed it.

[jzangari]

Originally Posted by bobm2112

A lot of people claim they can hear a difference in tone when they switch to a high mass bridge such as the Bad Ass. I call BS on that claim. The only reason why I switched to a BA2 on 75 RI is because it looked cooler.

There will be people running around telling you that everything from paint to a bridge to pick guard material can and will effect tone. Hello McFly?? Im sorry to say this is not the truth.

I am no expert and what I say can be taken with a grain of salt. I just comment on what I personally witnessed :-)

+1

[Stone Soup]

Originally Posted by tekdiver500ft

There is nothing special about the badass bridge. The Hipshot bridges are better in that they hold the strings more securely and intonate better, but even that is no big deal unless your stock bridge is bad.

How exactly do the Hipshot bridges intonate better than the BadAssII?

[bassbombs84]

I had the original bridge on my 77 P-bass break down on me, so I sprung for the BAII. It holds strong with aggressive playing, has better sustain (on WHOLE notes), and slightly changed the tone of the instrument (more highs). This was obvious when I made the switch.

No additional holes were required, so the mod is completely reversible.

It looks awesome as well.

Sorry you guys cant hear the difference.

[tekdiver500ft]

Originally Posted by Stone Soup

How exactly do the Hipshot bridges intonate better than the BadAssII?

They have a greater range of adjustability and (at least on the samples I've had) seem to be more stable. They also hold the strings more stably laterally, so the string is more precisely located over the pups. Frankly, with three different Badass II bridges (on two different basses), neither I nor the luthiers I use were able to completely intonate my bass. With the Hipshot, I had it fully intonated in less than five minutes.

[Stone Soup]

Originally Posted by tekdiver500ft

Frankly, with three different Badass II bridges (on two different basses), neither I nor the luthiers I use were able to completely intonate my bass.

Been playing for more than 30 years. I've never seen what you're claiming.