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American Special Bridge Upgrade

awilkie84

awilkie84

Jul 16, 2011
7,429
1,868
Edmonton, AB, Canada
#1
So, I fell in love with an American Special P-Bass the other day & bought it. It's super-light, maple fretboard & tuxedo black & white. HAD to have it.

I'm wanting to upgrade the bent piece of tin they call a bridge though. Should I go the way I did with my MIM & Gotoh201 it? Or, should I drill it out for string-through & put something else on?

What's everyone's thoughts on what to put on? Makes/models?
 
#2
What is it you don't like about the bent plat bridge? I personally don't think there is anything wrong with them. I have an American Standard with the high-mass bridge and I am not convinced any high mass bridge is any better than the bent-plate. I guess some people do and that's fine. You seem to have switched out the bent-plate before, if you are happy with the Gotoh go that route, but I say since you only got the bass the other day see if you can live with the bridge for awhile. If it gives you any problems or you just can't live with it then change it.
 
#3
The saddles on my MIM bridge (which I think are very similar to the Am specials) had a wobbly G saddle and a rattling A saddle that caused a weird buzz when playing an open A. That's the only reason I swapped it out for a Gotoh 201. It hasn't caused me trouble since. I'm thinking if the stock bridge is giving you any sort of trouble (rattling, intonation issues, etc.), then you can switch it for something more solid like a Gotoh 201, Badass II, or a Hipshot. Otherwise, I'd leave it alone just so save the money, effort, and vintage appeal.
 
#4
this is all it needs:

55U-4015_bridge.jpg


a set of threaded-rod saddles is like $20 and will fit right on the stock bridge, fixing the string spacing issue and allowing the saddles to press against each other, eliminating rattling and sliding around.

leo fender knew what he was doing, it was CBS who screwed it up in the '70s with those single-groove bass saddles.
 
#6
I get a little upset when I see players wanting to go to a different bridge and they call it an "Upgrade", personally, I think it is a "Downgrade". Fender has used Hi-Mass bridges many times over the years and they always come back to the Bent Plate bridge. I really think Fender does all it can to produce the best sound/tone they can and if they thought the Hi-Mass bridge was an audible improvement, they would use it. Now, most of us want to improve our sound, that's human nature. Often, after we have spent our hard earned money on the new part, our mind convinces us that we can hear a great improvement, just to comfort us. I call the strange occurrence "Wallet Sonics"
Rocky
 
#7
Ohh! Another idea for a sticky! Right next to "No drop in nuts" let's put "A change is NOT the same as an upgrade"!"

Before swapping out any hardware, have a precise and definite shortcoming and how you expect the the new hardware to specifically resolve that issue.

We can't suggest improvements if we don't know what problems you're trying to resolve. Based on the original post, the only problem is that you don't like the appearance. So, ANY bridge that looks cool to you will fix that problem.

John
 
#9
hmm...I should elaborate. The saddles like to walk sideways when played heavily. And, as I'm not much of a light touch player, this happens a lot.
On my MIM, I like how the hi-mass Gotoh makes up for a lack of low end resonance that I had noticed.
My Am Spec sounds great, plays great, and has been properly set up, but the saddle walk is enough to drive me batty.
Can anyone recommend a bridge that would be similar to the stock with maybe some saddle grooves in it? I'm not a machinist, or I'd go ahead & fix this myself.

Also, SirRolfe, I solved the open-A buzz issue on my MIM by overwinding the string at the tuning peg. Increasing the angle the string comes across the nut at will reduce the buzz.
 
#10
JTE said:
Ohh! Another idea for a sticky! Right next to "No drop in nuts" let's put "A change is NOT the same as an upgrade"!"

Before swapping out any hardware, have a precise and definite shortcoming and how you expect the the new hardware to specifically resolve that issue.

We can't suggest improvements if we don't know what problems you're trying to resolve. Based on the original post, the only problem is that you don't like the appearance. So, ANY bridge that looks cool to you will fix that problem.

John
Click to expand...

... Mr Evans you made my day ... I get sick and tired of replying to things for sale and hearing, "but with the UPGRADES, etc, etc!"... a MODIFICATION is not synonymous with an UPGRADE, period ... the change made suits the users taste and perhaps those with similar interests, but just list it as a "modification" or simply say what changes have been made and if they are reversible and/or if you still have the original component(s), and let us decide if its an upgrade ...

ok, this old guys time for bed now, rant is over ... thanks for the space and to the OP: change to whatever bridge hits your switch, if you decide it will improve whatever it is you need improved, it will ... :)
 
#12
awilkie84 said:
hmm...I should elaborate. The saddles like to walk sideways when played heavily. And, as I'm not much of a light touch player, this happens a lot.
Click to expand...
which is my complaint about the single-groove vintage saddles, too. the spacing is such that the G gets pulled away from the rest of the saddles, leaving them all free to slide around.

with the threaded ones, you can set the string spacing a little wider, which pushes the outer saddles in against the inner ones, holding everything together.

allparts and basspartsresource both have the threaded saddles.
 
#13
awilkie84 said:
hmm...I should elaborate. The saddles like to walk sideways when played heavily. And, as I'm not much of a light touch player, this happens a lot.
On my MIM, I like how the hi-mass Gotoh makes up for a lack of low end resonance that I had noticed.
My Am Spec sounds great, plays great, and has been properly set up, but the saddle walk is enough to drive me batty.
Can anyone recommend a bridge that would be similar to the stock with maybe some saddle grooves in it? I'm not a machinist, or I'd go ahead & fix this myself.

Also, SirRolfe, I solved the open-A buzz issue on my MIM by overwinding the string at the tuning peg. Increasing the angle the string comes across the nut at will reduce the buzz.
Click to expand...


Some folks dont realize that the specials dont come with the high mass bridge. The bridge on the specials is crap!! I had the same issue of saddles moving around. I went with the gotoh 201. Big improvement!! Next do the tuners and the pups and you got a nice bass!!
 

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