Exploded bridge

[moped10]

Well, I was loading the bass into the back of my truck last night- It bumped the side of the amp, and BOOM, the bridge breaks in two! I never upgraded the stock one Engelhardt put on, and have ordered one of Bob's adjustable ones, but what the h***? Is this common?

[Wil Davis]

Originally Posted by moped10

…snip
Is this common?

Well, if you whack the bridge - yes, it will often fall or break - therefore the lesson here is:

Don't whack the bridge… Be extra careful when moving the bass

So, did the soundpost fall? It usually does when there's little pressure on the top - but it's fairly easy to reset (see other threads in the DB forum)

Good luck with the new bridge…

- Wil

[moped10]

So, did the soundpost fall?
Well, it was a little skewed, and if I would've yelled it would've plopped over, but I managed to get it back in place without getting out my shoestring and needlenose pliers-
As far as the bridge, it bumped into my little amp when I shut the door- I guess you could call that a "whack", a wack whack
Oh well, it's one of those upgrades I've been putting off anyway- I'm just glad this is my only gigless weekend for the next 10 weeks! Good timing for an unintentional whack-

[nicklloyd]

This bridge break is more common on low-grade, slab cut bridges, which is exactly what Engelhardt uses. It would take a very heavy wack to break a quarter sawn professional bridge. The wings of the bridge sometimes get broken off; usually loading/unloading the bass and going through doorways are the two danger zones. Don't force it.

By the way, the bridge you ordered from Bob G. is quarter sawn. No worries there...

[moped10]

Yes, the bridge I got from Bob (thanks for the quick shipping ) is a whole different animal- What I didn't expect though from this replacement was the huge improvement in my tone, which I thought was just fine anyway- It's not so much volume as depth- I'll be careful not to whack this one!