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10-04-2010, 09:21 AM
| | | | Bridge blew up at gig!
I had a catastrphic failure on my Upton adjustable bridge live, on-stage Saturday night. Fortunately, I had a guitar bass so I could finish the gig. Has anyone else ever had their adjustable bridge "split", "break", "blow up" while playing? I'm gluing it back together and will reinstall it tonight...
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10-04-2010, 09:30 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Upstate NY | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Studiodawg  I had a catastrphic failure on my Upton adjustable bridge live, on-stage Saturday night. Fortunately, I had a guitar bass so I could finish the gig. Has anyone else ever had their adjustable bridge "split", "break", "blow up" while playing? I'm gluing it back together and will reinstall it tonight... | Not if its adjusted, aligned and maintained properly. Do you have a picture?
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10-04-2010, 09:41 AM
| | | | Alignment,adjustment and maintenance aren't the issue. Don't be so condescending Mr. Phil...no picture... |
10-04-2010, 09:53 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Upstate NY | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Studiodawg Alignment,adjustment and maintenance aren't the issue. Don't be so condescending Mr. Phil...no picture... | I'm not condescending, just honest. Please don't take it personally. Don't ask the question if you don't want replies. Those are the options, that or poor craftsmanship/poor material. These things don't just break. Perhaps you could describe how it "blew up."
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10-04-2010, 09:53 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Seattle, WA | | | Where did it fail?
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10-04-2010, 10:06 AM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Tuscaloosa , Alabama | | | They can break if you try to adjust them with too much tension on the strings. I have a Solano bass with an adjustable bridge. It is a thick bridge and is very well made but I tried to adjust it without loosening the strings and the E string foot split down the middle. Fortunately a clamp and some glue took care of it. It is definitely possible. |
10-04-2010, 10:18 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Chicago | | Check out post 32 here james' bass build
If it happens to Condino, it can happen to anyone. |
10-04-2010, 10:56 AM
| | | | My situation sounds almost identical to Big B., though it has been a few weeks minimum since I may have pulled down on the bridge because it was leaning "up neck". My bridge split on the E string foot, but split at ~45 degree angle matching it falling up neck and slapping the bass body. Sudden and without warning...thanks for the replies. |
10-04-2010, 11:10 AM
| | proprietor, Condino's String Shop | | Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: asheville, nc | | I've had both a bridge blow up and break in half on a gig and a number of years ago I had a complete neck joint failure where it blew right off the bass and into the crowd about ten years ago. Needless to say, I may work a little harder to get maximum tone out of a bass than some of the more delicate folks around here.... 
j.
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10-04-2010, 12:08 PM
| | Registered User
Luthier, Dallas Strings | | Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Dallas, Texas | | | Given that a bridge is usually unfinished wood, you never know. I upgraded a customer's strings from helicores to obligatos once and the higher tension obligatos were just enough to snap the bridge in two. It upset me quite a bit, (especially since the customer was standing next to me) but the customer wasn't too worried about it. She said the bridge was at least a couple decades old anyway. The slight warping didn't help much either.. |
10-04-2010, 12:20 PM
| | | | I am using Innovation rockabilly strings, but am getting ready to get some of Upton's "Gary's Blended Double Bass String Set" which I'm guessing will have more tension than the black Innovations(?) |
10-04-2010, 12:33 PM
|  | 'Woodworker - Witch Doctor - Luthier'
Owner/The Bass Spa, String Repairman/L & M Vancouver | | Join Date: May 2006 Location: Crescent Beach, BC | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Studiodawg I am using Innovation rockabilly strings, but am getting ready to get some of Upton's "Gary's Blended Double Bass String Set" which I'm guessing will have more tension than the black Innovations(?) | Are you using the Rockabilly strings or the Ultra Blacks? The Ultra Blacks are similar to Spirocore Mittels and the Rockabilliies are similar to Obligatos so...
Sounds like you need to keep a closer eye on your bridge to make sure that its standing up straight and strong! |
10-04-2010, 12:58 PM
| | | | The rockabilly strings, specifically...yes good posture is (obviously now) a must! I look forward to reseating my bridge this evening... |
10-04-2010, 01:08 PM
|  | Official Forum Flunkee | | Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: San Francisco, CA | | | Uh... if a bridge exploded, I probably wouldn't bother regluing it back together and just get a replacement.
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10-04-2010, 01:35 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Tuscaloosa , Alabama | | | In this case he could probably just get away with having a new foot fit to the bridge. I am assuming that all the damage was below the adjuster and the rest of the bridge is still solid. |
10-04-2010, 03:30 PM
| | | | It split above the adjusters...I'm gonna put it together soon and test it tonight. |
10-04-2010, 06:39 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Tuscaloosa , Alabama | | | thats a little uglier. It may be time to think about a new bridge. All that broke on mine is the foot below the adjuster and that is held down by the bridge itself. The break you are talking about is likely, IMO, to break again. Like a bomb waiting to go off. Again. |
10-04-2010, 11:31 PM
| | proprietor, Condino's String Shop | | Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: asheville, nc | | | When my bridge broke in half, it was gig #2 of a 3 gig new years Eve. Away from the shop and with no tools or clamps to rig it together, a quick search found a bottle of dimestore type el cheapo superglue. I smothered the broken zone in it and just held it in my hands, aka the human clamp, for about ten minutes. Ten more minutes to string it back together and we only lost 25 minutes for a set break. I kept it on for the next six weeks without any more breakage, and it is actually the spare in my gig bag right now.
'Can't say I'd reccommend that to anyone, but it did work exceptionally well in a needed situation....no such luck when the neck flew off....
j.
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10-05-2010, 01:25 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Australia | | Quote:
Originally Posted by james condino 'Can't say I'd reccommend that to anyone, but it did work exceptionally well in a needed situation....no such luck when the neck flew off....
j. | Wheres your MacGuyver streak..."a bit of spit and tissue paper and I was back in business with spare time for a drink a smoke and a shag" |
10-05-2010, 06:38 AM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Sydney, Australia | | Quote:
Originally Posted by JtheJazzMan Wheres your MacGuyver streak..."a bit of spit and tissue paper and I was back in business with spare time for a drink a smoke and a shag" | Don't you mean elastic band & a paper clip? 
Hmmm, come to think of it, if the paper clip were long enough to wrap around the bridge leg & then twist off nice & tight...
Hell, who needs an elastic band...?! 
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