The Leaning Bridge of Bristol

[owen_liam]

Hello all. I'm back for more sage wisdom; the longer I live with my bass the more I realise that this is a high maintainance relationship!

I have a reasonably new set of strings on her and all has been well. However, over the last couple of days I've noticed that the bridge seems to be leaning slightly forwards towards the fingerboard. This leaves a small gap at the rear of the bridge between its feet and the top of the bass. I have a Realist pickup installed underneath the bass foot of the bridge, but as far as I can tell this isn't the cause of the bridge's lean.

Is this a normal occurance or is it due to a hitherto unnoticed knock? I'm guessing that the remedy is to slacken the strings a bit and tilt it back, but I wanted to check it out with you guys first! Are there any set conventions to where the bridge should be from the fingerboard, i.e. a set distance from the end of the board to the top of the bridge?

Cheers!

[Eric Hochberg]

The lean is probably from tuning strings over a period of time, they tend to pull the bridge up. Just loosen the strings and push it back down so the underside of the bridge is about 90º to the top and the feet are firmly on the top.

[owen_liam]

I was guessing/hoping that would be the case. Thanks for the reassurance! I shall go and persuade it back immediately...

[Chris Fitzgerald]

I usually just insert a paperback between the D and A strings and gently knock it back without even loosening the tension. Works fine for me. More than once, I've spied GOLDSBY WAN KENOBI just grabbing the bridge under full tension and pulling it back into place.

[Jack Clark]

I solved this same problem by screwing the bridge to the tailpiece. 'Course, that would only work on my odd instrument.

[Mark Perna]

Originally Posted by Chris Fitzgerald

More than once, I've spied GOLDSBY WAN KENOBI just grabbing the bridge under full tension and pulling it back into place.

I do this ALL of the time (grab the bridge and GENTLY and CAREFULLY pull or push it into position). I've never had a problem. With gut, I'm constantly tuning up and down and I find the bridge comes out of true fairly frequently. I can even tell by the sound and feel when it is even a little bit off. It gets slightly stiffer to play with the sound is a little muffled and the bass doesn't project as well.

mark

[Paul Warburton]

Originally Posted by calivox

I do this ALL of the time (grab the bridge and GENTLY and CAREFULLY pull or push it into position). I've never had a problem.

Me, 3.

[salcott]

4

[uprightben]

You can use a ruler to see if the bridge is straight up. just put the end of the ruler against the top, and the back of the bridge should be flat against the edge of the ruler. Just be carefule not to scratch anything.

[Heifetzbass]

I do this all day long with violins, violas, cellos, and basses. Correct be if I am wrong, but I believe it's called "burping" the bridge?

Also, make sure you have a copius amount of graphite (pencil lead) in your string grooves. It lubricates the grooves and helps the strings from pulling the bridge north.

BG

[Paul Warburton]

Originally Posted by Heifetzbass

Correct be if I am wrong, but I believe it's called "burping" the bridge?
BG

It is now.

[George700DL]

Sometimes I use my bow to hammer the bridge back toward the tail piece if it starts leaning (This being my bow: Pics of my folk bow . I don't do that with my german bow ). But it seems to have learned its lesson and does not tend to sneak toward the fingerboard anymore. I think the pencil led in the bridge grooves helps.

George

[Cody Sisk]

Originally Posted by uprightben

You can use a ruler to see if the bridge is straight up. just put the end of the ruler against the top, and the back of the bridge should be flat against the edge of the ruler. Just be carefule not to scratch anything.

A plastic drafting triangle works great!

[bejoyous]

Every once and a while (and especially when tuning up a new string or after a repair) I'll equalize the tension of the string on each side of the bridge.

I place the bass flat on its back, kneel beside the instrument and I'll grab the string on either side of the bridge and with my thumbs on the bridge. (Careful not to fall on your instrument!)

Then push down with the thumbs and pull up with the fingers so it lifts out of the notch a mm or so, then carefully place it back down. Careful to not have the string fall off the bridge.

Equalizing the tension helps to prevent bridge warping and the string vibrates a bit better as well.

[Phil Rowan]

Originally Posted by Chris Fitzgerald

I've spied GOLDSBY WAN KENOBI just grabbing the bridge under full tension and pulling it back into place.

That's exactly what I do, laying the bass on its side and "pinning" it w/ a leg while sliding the bridge back in place. Never had a problem.

[Don Higdon]

Originally Posted by Chris Fitzgerald

More than once, I've spied GOLDSBY WAN KENOBI just grabbing the bridge under full tension and pulling it back into place.

I watched Arnold do that on my basses. It always gave me the willies to imagine doing that, until he showed me how. Piece of cake.

[owen_liam]

I tried the paperback method and it seemed to work OK! I kind of experimented with grabbing the bridge under full tension and pulling it, but I got scared with the amount of pressure I was going to have to use and opted for tapping it back with the book! Either way, it's back in situ. Big difference in the volume and tone!

[Eric Hochberg]

Originally Posted by Chris Fitzgerald

I usually just insert a paperback between the D and A strings and gently knock it back without even loosening the tension. Works fine for me. More than once, I've spied GOLDSBY WAN KENOBI just grabbing the bridge under full tension and pulling it back into place.

Just tried it and now I have a 15" soundpost crack....








Just kidding, it worked great!

[owen_liam]

No! What the hell happened?!

[Eric Hochberg]

Originally Posted by owen_liam

No! What the hell happened?!

Kidding, Owen!