I've pondered on maybe changing the stock Ibanez B10 bridge on my Ibanez GSRM20 Mikro Bass with a GSRM20B body and bridge for mono rail type bridge/saddle pieces, primarily because I would like to decrease the string spacing from the current standard 19mm to a slightly tighter spacing, perhaps something like around 17,5mm, which the mono rail bridge/saddle pieces would easily allow for, plus I think it could look cool, but would it be realistic to expect any advances to it tone wise, like improved string definition and/or sustain, or shouldn't I expect much of a difference? Also any brands/models better than others, or would it be perfectly fine just to use the cheap standard Göldo mono rails? Also would the material they are made of matter, like zink, brass or steel, and what to expect from those different materials?
They look cool, slightly reduce crosstalk between strings and make multiscale instruments a lot easier to build and adjust. They also allow as many or few strings as you want. They make grounding more complicated and can be difficult to install in the right spot. That's about it for all I know. If you want to experiment with string spacing there are more convenient ways, like the Schaller roller bridge.
Thats On the nose advice .....you've got to earth the bridge via a wire to one monorail bridge piece ...and install a brass nut for continuity to the other monorail bridges through the bass strings ...
I kind of planed to use a strip of shielding copper tape with conductive adhesive and apply it over the regular bridge ground wire and across under the mono rail bridge/saddle pieces, would be a simpler and more obvious solution, as far as I am concerned.
I even applied a rectangular piece of shielding copper tape under my current stock bridge (where I also scraped off the black finish of the bridge down to the metal), over the bridge ground wire for a larger contact area to the bridge, aka better ground contact. At least it seems to have reduced background noise slightly, though that might just be me imagining things.
@NoiseNinja You could try the tape under the bridge wire. It then doesn't matter if the adhesive is conductive but should otherwise work just as well. You might need to line all the cavities to eliminate the noise. Remember to run wires to the shielding in the cavities and connect those to earth also.
I probably ought to, but honestly I am too lazy to shield all the cavities properly, but I did replace the thin unsheilded stock wires from my currently installed DiMarzio Model P with shielded wires, with the ground wires running all along around the insulated lead hot wires as a braided shield, and that did reduce noise substantially. Back when I had the EMG Geezer Butler P pickup installed it was dead quiet, even without the bridge being grounded, cause those pickups are internally shielded and use shielded wires as well, with the ground running all along around the insulated lead hot wire as a braided shield.