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Double Bass Adjuster Removal

#42
Greg Clinkingbeard said:
John,
Looking at the second picture in post #34 it looks like the top of your bridge is pulling toward the fingerboard. The back of the bridge should be perpendicular to the top of the bass. If you pull the top of the bridge toward the tailpiece (probably 1/2" or so) until it is at a right angle to the top I think that will solve your problem. That should lower the string heights by the right amount.
IF that doesn't do it, there is plenty of leg above the adjusters to cut.
Click to expand...

Ever since I got the bass back, I have seen this 'illusion' where my bridge looks crooked, but the feet are flush to the top, in line with the f-hole notches, etc.. I will make an appointment with another luthier to have this checked out. The guy who did the work originally, works for a general music chain that works on the school instruments. I appreciate the responses from everyone. The instrument is playable for now & my family is getting ready to move from the southeast (Atlanta) to the northwest (Portland, OR) in the next couple of months, so I may wait and take it to MDP & let Maureen tweak it for me.
 
#43
Bridges tend to pull forward due to the pull of the strings as we tune up so it's fairly common. The feet may still fit pretty well but the thing to look for is that right angle from the back of the bridge to the top of the bass. Don't neglect it for long or the bridge may permanently warp. It's normal maintenance that every bassist should be comfortable doing.

My son lives in Portland. You'll enjoy the climate there.
 
#44
Greg Clinkingbeard said:
Bridges tend to pull forward due to the pull of the strings as we tune up so it's fairly common. The feet may still fit pretty well but the thing to look for is that right angle from the back of the bridge to the top of the bass. Don't neglect it for long or the bridge may permanently warp. It's normal maintenance that every bassist should be comfortable doing.

My son lives in Portland. You'll enjoy the climate there.
Click to expand...

What's this about bridge tilt? I thought the thread was about table saws. Seriously though, it looks like your bridge is about to fall over. Also, the angle between the feet and the upper section looks seriously unhealthy. I hope the threads are still viable. I imagine what happened is that the music store setup guy wasn't knowledgeable about bass bridges. Yes, you set the right angle from the back of the bridge. Could be your guy did it from the front. Get thee to a real bass shop!
 
#45
Hi.

#34/2, to my somewhat untrained eyes it looks like the bridge feet might have swapped places.
That would explain the crazy angle between the feet and the rest of the bridge.

It's not entirely impossible that the hole(s) were drilled after sawing the bridge to pieces either.
If that's the unfortunate case, You'll need a new bridge.

That tilt forward would also most likely move the bridge top towards the FB, possibly raising the strings.

In any case, I still recommend You to take the bass to whomever did the job, and ask 'em to finish what they started.
UNLESS You discover that the holes don't line up that is, in that case take it to someone else.

Regards
Sam
 
#46
Since we last talked : A few days later I was setting up to practice, adjusting the endpin & heard a horrific pop. My tail wire had snapped. This has been replaced by one of Bob G's kevlar tail guts. This, a soundpost tweak & moving the bridge center from the top notches to the bottom notches (dont know why I never noticed this before) & the tension on the instrument has dropped. Not significantly, but enough. The string height went from the original 9 - 10 mm to 6-7 mm. This was significant. It feels more like the height when I first took possession of the bass. I still need to have one of the bridge legs tilted to be flush with the top, so I will have to get this fixed eventually, but it is working for me now & feels a lot more comfortable.
 

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