Double Bass American Standard bridge position

[tornadobass]

Of those of you playing an American Standard URB, do you position your bridge centered on the inner notches of the f-holes or closer to the fingerboard?

On mine, centering the bridge on the notches would produce a scale length of nearly 43.5". Mine is set up with the bridge a bit closer to the fingerboard, for about a 42.5" length.

That location also produces a D neck. At the notches, would that make it an Eb neck?

Any gain in tone or resonance with the longer scale?

 

[Chasarms]

changing the string length from 42.5" to 43.5" would move the stop position of the D on the G down the neck less than 3/8" of an inch.

The real issue with shortening strings by moving the bridge is structural. If the bridge is too far from the post, it can cause the top to sink.

Do you not have issues with the bowing and the bow hitting the upper bout?

 

[tornadobass]

At this point, the post has been set in relation to the bridge, so it's structurally supported. I don't know how this relates to the bass bar though.

I don't seem to be hitting the upper bout with the bow. And it's good to know that note positions wouldn't change all that much if the bridge was positioned by the notches.

Is 43.5" an unreasonable length? My BugBass is at about 41".