Badbird II replacement for Gibson 3-point bridge

[BTL]

I'm friends with Scott Dasson on Facebook, and he's active here on TalkBass (username: godofthunder59).

His Badbird I is a replacement bridge that addresses intonation issues for vintage Thunderbirds.

It has been around for quite a while and has been installed by a few familiar players, like Tom Petersson of Cheap Trick, and this guy here:

He's had the Badbird II retrofit for the 3-point bridge in development, and he's just posted photos of the production version installed and ready to go.

The BB-II offers a vintage look, a better match to the fretboard radius, and a stronger anchor point to the body.

No affiliation here, I'm just a fan of the concept and execution and thought I'd share:

Badbird Bridge

 

[BTL]

Yes, that's the Badbird I.

Note how the G extends all the way to the edge of the baseplate and that it's offset on the posts.

The OEM 2-point doesn't have that range of adjustment, so it could never intonate properly.

Very clever.

 

[BTL]

Yes, the photo below is a replica of the flawed vintage/OEM version...note that the range of adjustment is just a bit greater than the width of the posts, but not nearly as much as the Badbird I:

 

[godofthunder59]

Not my Badbird pictured here. Not enough travel to to the sharp side to intonate

 

[BTL]

Not my Badbird pictured here. Not enough travel to to the sharp side to intonate

That's not a Badbird I in post #2?

If not, my apologies for misidentifying it...I wasn't aware there was another in that style.

Post #5 is intended to show the shortcoming of the vintage/OEM model.

This is most certainly a Badbird I:

 

[godofthunder59]

That's not a Badbird I in post #2?

If not, my apologies for misidentifying it...I wasn't aware there was another in that style.

Post #5 is intended to show the shortcoming of the vintage/OEM model.

This is most certainly a Badbird I:

Definitely mine in post two I was talking about the other bridge not installed on a bird.

 

[godofthunder59]

Cool!

Is this one of his, too?

View attachment 830429

Beautiful! Definitely my Badbird Bridge.

 

[BTL]

Thanks for jumping in!

To clarify, I bolded the text differentiating the two so it won't be missed.

 

[godofthunder59]

That's not a Badbird I in post #2?

If not, my apologies for misidentifying it...I wasn't aware there was another in that style.

Post #5 is intended to show the shortcoming of the vintage/OEM model.

This is most certainly a Badbird I:

My '69!

 

[BTL]

My '69!

I figured that was a safe bet!!!

 

[TBird1958]

Dedicated genius at work here!
Things are in the works

 

[JIO]

Yeah, the intonation range needs to be longer, and/or the bridge moved towards the neck some. This is not my bass, but I did have a hand in the restoration of it. I had a set of '60s NOS tuning keys for a Thunderbird that are now on this bass.

View attachment 830437

A brass nut on a vintage T-bird - that has to sound killer! (looks great too!)

 

[ctmullins]

I recently found out about the existence of the BB II, and ordered one for my Epi EB project. It's a really nice piece of hardware, well done Scott!

I'll be making a 32" scale neck for it, and the tailpiece will give me that extra little bit of length to accommodate long-scale strings. It comes unslotted, which works for me, and I also like how it doesn't fall off when not strung up!

 

[Snakeman1066]

While I think it's a cool idea...

I just bought one of these ($130.00)...drops right in

 

[bholder]

There's also the Hipshot, which does quite well, and also can be had loaded with Ghost piezo saddles. More good choices the better though!

 

[TBird1958]

Here's Scott's handiwork on a Greco Thunderbird II - Much better now!

I can't get enough shiny bits, this is a bridge cover that Scott has too, vintage Thunderbird coolness!

 

[godofthunder59]

Yes, that's the Badbird I.

Note how the G extends all the way to the edge of the baseplate and that it's offset on the posts.

The OEM 2-point doesn't have that range of adjustment, so it could never intonate properly.

Very clever.

Lol Thanks!

 

[godofthunder59]

Cool!

Is this one of his, too?

View attachment 830429

Yes that's one of mine !

 

[godofthunder59]

I recently found out about the existence of the BB II, and ordered one for my Epi EB project. It's a really nice piece of hardware, well done Scott!

I'll be making a 32" scale neck for it, and the tailpiece will give me that extra little bit of length to accommodate long-scale strings. It comes unslotted, which works for me, and I also like how it doesn't fall off when not strung up!

That looks great! Honestly a application for the BB II I never considered!

 

[godofthunder59]

Here's Scott's handiwork on a Greco Thunderbird II - Much better now!

I can't get enough shiny bits, this is a bridge cover that Scott has too, vintage Thunderbird coolness!

Love that one pup Greco Mark!