Double Bass Adjustable Bridge - How High?

[Nate74]

When I first got my Shen, it had an adjustable bridge on it and I had the action as low as it would go. About 5 months ago, I changed to a Full Circle pickup and replaced the wood know adjusters. The wood knob adjusters were almost twice the thickness of the Full Circle so there's about .125 more thread showing.

Fast forward a few months and I played a friend's M-1 and it had significantly higher action than what I thought I preferred. I tweeked my Shen to feel more like his M-1 and while I like the way it feels, there's now almost 3/8"-1/2" of thread showing on the adjusters.

So I'm wondering, besides looking odd to my eye, is there anything wrong with this? Is there less string vibration finding it's way into the top? Is it structurally sound? Should I consider a new bridge now that my setup tastes are apparently changing?

Thanks for any thoughts or advice!

Nate

 

[Greg Clinkingbeard]

I think it's fine. The threads are usually about an inch long and over half of that length is still in your bridge feet so I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Nate74]

Yeah, I looked at the threads on another non-mounted Full Circle and they are indeed 1". Thanks!

 

[PaulCannon]

It shouldn't affect the sound much, but the risk of the bridge warping gets worse as you raise the strings. Keep an eye on the bridge to make certain it's not tilting up or down.

 

[arnoldschnitzer]

Full Circle threads are only about 3/4" long, and you should not have more than 1/4" showing. Otherwise you run the risk of stripping the female wood threads.

 

[Jake deVilliers]

You can strengthen the maple threads by carefully running very thin CA glue into them until saturated. I do this with Full Circle installs because of the very short threaded length on the active adjuster.

 

[Greg Clinkingbeard]

You can strengthen the maple threads by carefully running very thin CA glue into them until saturated. I do this with Full Circle installs because of the very short threaded length on the active adjuster.

Good idea. Be sure you use the thin stuff or you'll need to retap the threads.

 

[Nate74]

Good idea on the glue. I have a lull in my schedule so will get some glue and try it. I have a 1/4-20 tap so I can retap as needed as well. Thanks.