Best Season For New Bridge

[BassKatrina]

I'm a noob, so feel free to direct me where this may have already been posted, but I did browse the forums looking for this info.

I need a new bridge because the luthier who did mine several years ago didn't get the proper size bridge for my bass, so he had to shave A LOT off the top. Btw, the bridge I have now is an adjustable one and I would like to get another adjustable one.

With hot and humid summers and cold and dry winters, what is the best season to get a new bridge?

[reedo35]

Wood Shrinks in the cold, and expands in the heat and humidity.
It is easier to take off a mm or two than add it on to the bridge. Given those facts, I think you know the answer...

[Ken McKay]

Originally Posted by BassKatrina

I'm a noob, so feel free to direct me where this may have already been posted, but I did browse the forums looking for this info.

I need a new bridge because the luthier who did mine several years ago didn't get the proper size bridge for my bass, so he had to shave A LOT off the top. Btw, the bridge I have now is an adjustable one and I would like to get another adjustable one.

With hot and humid summers and cold and dry winters, what is the best season to get a new bridge?

0

There is no best season to fit an adjustable bridge if you need a new one. The beauty of an adjustable bridge is that it allows fitting at any season. Leave it to a competent bass luthier to know if the bridge will likely need to be lowered or raised in the next season.

The luthier will take into account the relative dryness that the bass has experienced recently and eithier cut the bridge legs with the wheel gap closed so it can be raised without overextending or at it's max so it can be rolled to close the gap. Or somewhere in the middle if the RH is 45%. Some like a winter post and a summer one also and I think that is a good idea in the east coast and midwest.

[bonaventura]

Originally Posted by BassKatrina

With hot and humid summers and cold and dry winters, what is the best season to get a new bridge?

Katrina

I have a German flatback, and the back shrinks in winter and expands in summer. As a result of that movement, the neck moves too. It leans back in winter (pulled back would be better), and leans or is pushed forward in summer. That's why it seems the strings are a bit closer to the fingerboard in late winter and higher in the late summer. It's not the calendar winter and summer, its "bass season".

I chose to fit my summer and winter bridges right about this time of year, January to March. I didn't fit adjustable bridges, and I wanted to fit the bridges when the strings are "lowest". I can handle the extra height in summer, I just didn't want the setup too low. Also, the soundpost tends to fit really tight at this time of year because the instrument overall is contracted, i.e., the top. There's less danger that the soundpost will fall while I'm working on the bridge.

But if you want an adjustable bridge, it doesn't really matter that much. The only thing you might consider is if you want the lowest position of the adjusters to be your perfect summer playing height, you could have the bridge done at the height of bass season, maybe in August. That way, if the height comes down in winter, you adjust a bit higher.

Hope that helps.