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bridge tonal characteristic
- Thread starter damos
- Start date
I'm too deaf to hear any difference. But the badasses I have look shiny. So that's a plus for me. some people think they look a bit garrish. maybe they do. It's all opinion. But i can't hear any difference. the two basses that I own that have badasses on them were like that when i bought them (08 Geddy Lee and 09 Highway 1 p). I wouldn't spend money to upgrade a bass to a badass, but I'm not planning on removing the ones i have. ymmv.
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I did a thread quite some time ago on threaded inserts & also in the same thread got into doing some testing with high mass bridges vs standard Fender-style bent bridges & did some A/B audio comparisons as well as A/B frequency analysis of the waveforms ran through a spectrum analyzer.
My conclusion from the testing I did is that the mass & material of a bridge does have slight tonal effects, but don't expect the sky to open & the seas to part. It will still sound like your bass with very subtle tone differences if you are able to audibly perceive it. At best (depending on your ear) you may hear slight differences in overall punch & maybe some extra top end (depending on bridge material, brass, aluminum, etc), but again subtle is the operative word. I've seen some YouTube videos of A/B audio on bridge changes & on a couple, I could hear very slight differences. They say bridge material will sound different from each other (brass, aluminum, steel) & I'm sure they do - each in their own subtle way.
But in all honesty, I would recommend a bridge upgrade based on performance & functionality upgrade purposes rather than looking for huge tonal changes or even fairly noticeable changes. Because IME, the tonal changes brought by most bridge changes are so slight that they'd surely be lost in a mix anyway or negated by the tiniest of EQ twiddling. To be honest, I've heard way greater tonal changes come in the form of trying new brands of strings rather than any bridge change I've done in the past. Personally, I'd only change bridges for design/functionality preferences like quick-release string changes, elimination of side-to-side saddle movement, adjustable string spacing in some cases, etc. YMMV.
My conclusion from the testing I did is that the mass & material of a bridge does have slight tonal effects, but don't expect the sky to open & the seas to part. It will still sound like your bass with very subtle tone differences if you are able to audibly perceive it. At best (depending on your ear) you may hear slight differences in overall punch & maybe some extra top end (depending on bridge material, brass, aluminum, etc), but again subtle is the operative word. I've seen some YouTube videos of A/B audio on bridge changes & on a couple, I could hear very slight differences. They say bridge material will sound different from each other (brass, aluminum, steel) & I'm sure they do - each in their own subtle way.
But in all honesty, I would recommend a bridge upgrade based on performance & functionality upgrade purposes rather than looking for huge tonal changes or even fairly noticeable changes. Because IME, the tonal changes brought by most bridge changes are so slight that they'd surely be lost in a mix anyway or negated by the tiniest of EQ twiddling. To be honest, I've heard way greater tonal changes come in the form of trying new brands of strings rather than any bridge change I've done in the past. Personally, I'd only change bridges for design/functionality preferences like quick-release string changes, elimination of side-to-side saddle movement, adjustable string spacing in some cases, etc. YMMV.
You'll get more tonal characteristics out of string selection than bridge selection,IMHO.
I do prefer the stability of a HMB tho..
I do prefer the stability of a HMB tho..
Stock thin bent metal fender bridge: Thin, treble oriented.
BaddassII: Better bass and sustain then std fender bent metal thing, but also adds treble zingyness to the sound.
Most every other high mass bridge: Fuller tone then stock bent metal fender bridge.
Bridge tone change is very minor and to me normally only noticedable when comparring the three bridges listed with the majority of high mass bridges sounding the same. Not as big a tone diff between the 3 as you get from changing strings. And also less effect then woods, and pups.
BaddassII: Better bass and sustain then std fender bent metal thing, but also adds treble zingyness to the sound.
Most every other high mass bridge: Fuller tone then stock bent metal fender bridge.
Bridge tone change is very minor and to me normally only noticedable when comparring the three bridges listed with the majority of high mass bridges sounding the same. Not as big a tone diff between the 3 as you get from changing strings. And also less effect then woods, and pups.
I disagree with the comments above about the Fender bridges, but that's just my ears and my opinion.
Any bridge that holds the strings and can be intonated reasonably well works.
Most people can't hear ANY difference based on the type of bridge, but many others have convinced themselves that they can (whether they can or not.)
Any bridge that holds the strings and can be intonated reasonably well works.
Most people can't hear ANY difference based on the type of bridge, but many others have convinced themselves that they can (whether they can or not.)
Turnaround
Commercial User
Here you have two experienced guys that say either they can't hear the difference or that it is really subtle.
Now consider if ANYONE could hear the difference when the instrument is in the mix with others. NBL.
Unless it's for sparkle or bling, I cannot see nor hear any reason why one would want to change a bridge.
But a Fender bridge sparkles of it's own anyway. And it just works well.
But a Fender bridge sparkles of it's own anyway. And it just works well.
I could never hear a difference in an electric Bass bridges. Personally, I like those original bent steel bridges. When I've bought an instrument I bought the sound I heard; I don't even see the point in replacing something that isn't broken.
