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Double Bass Bridge Adjusters Question

J

Jeff Reed

May 8, 2007
16
0
#1
Hi all

i've just taken my full circle off with the intention of putting my realist pickup back on. after removing the full circle, i've reinstalled my wooden adjusters. the adjusters aren't flush with the legs of the bridge.

is this wrong somehow? are the supposed to be flush?

any advice is welcome! thanks!

jeff reed
 
#2
ImageUploadedByTalkBass1393879605.935874.jpg
 
#3
It just looks like you've got the screwed almost all the way out, which (to me, as a complete moron) looks like it's WAY too far out.

But as far as "supposed to be flush", they're adjustable for a reason, right? They should only be flush if having them raised makes the string height too high for you to play/ too get a good sound. If they were flush all the time, why would you need an adjustable bridge?
 
#5
i'm not asking if they should be flush with the FEET. i'm asking if they should be flush with the legs. obviously, there needs to be some distance from the feet, but the legs could technicals be flush with the adjusters...there is just a very small amount of space between them....does that make more sense?

jr
 
#6
Oh, I see. Adjusters screw UP from the feet, the disc sits flush to the underside of the bridge leg, so yes, they should be flush. Are your adjuster shafts the same dimension/radius/circumference as the Full Circle?
 
#8
ok, thanks ed. sorry if my first post was unclear. yeah, these were the original adjusters and the full circle was added later. just decided to switch back...so they should fit appropriately.

so anyway, thanks for validating my gut feeling about that. it seemed wrong. maybe i just did something wrong....i'll try again!

thanks

jr
 
#9
Jake deVilliers said:
The legs should sit firmly on the top of the adjusters - the holes in the legs of your bridge are obviously incorrectly sized.
Click to expand...
Not necessarily! Some luthiers choose to leave a little space between the legs and the wheel. This makes adjusting the bridge much easier under tension. The disc doesn't really transfer sound so much as the rod it's attached to, so its fit is mainly aesthetic.
 
#10
PaulCannon said:
Not necessarily! Some luthiers choose to leave a little space between the legs and the wheel. This makes adjusting the bridge much easier under tension. The disc doesn't really transfer sound so much as the rod it's attached to, so its fit is mainly aesthetic.
Click to expand...
Well then, there you go.
 
#11
PaulCannon said:
Not necessarily! Some luthiers choose to leave a little space between the legs and the wheel. This makes adjusting the bridge much easier under tension. The disc doesn't really transfer sound so much as the rod it's attached to, so its fit is mainly aesthetic.
Click to expand...

+1. Also, I think some do it with the idea that the leg and stud vibrate more freely with that gap there, giving more brightness.
 
#12
PaulCannon said:
Some luthiers choose to leave a little space between the legs and the wheel.
Click to expand...

Care to name 'some' of those guys, Paul?

This luthier wants the wide leg to sit on the top of the adjuster for a number of reasons. Using the narrow pin to support the pressure of the strings multiplied by the break angle and the height of the bridge in a small hole doesn't work for me on any level.
 
#14
Jake deVilliers said:
This luthier wants the wide leg to sit on the top of the adjuster for a number of reasons. Using the narrow pin to support the pressure of the strings multiplied by the break angle and the height of the bridge in a small hole doesn't work for me on any level.
Click to expand...

It appears to me that the threaded portion has more surface area contacting wood than just the pin without the wheel contact. I've never made a bridge (yet) but that seems reasonable. Another reason to have a bridge properly made so the screw is never out too much.
 
#15
Jake,
I agree that this is probably a bad idea with aluminum adjusters. The unthreaded side on mine are only 0.2". But, with those thick ebony studs Jeff has it seems less unreasonable. The standoff doesn't look like a mistake, although the threads going into the feet are worrisome. I hope anyone doing this would be boring a flat bottomed hole on the unthreaded side. Pressing the stud against a normal conical hole bottom would be a recipe for splitting the leg:hmm:
 
#16
robobass said:
The standoff doesn't look like a mistake, although the threads going into the feet are worrisome. I hope anyone doing this would be boring a flat bottomed hole on the unthreaded side. Pressing the stud against a normal conical hole bottom would be a recipe for splitting the leg:hmm:
Click to expand...
Two things:

1. Most of the luthiers I respect put the adjuster threads into the bridge feet. That includes Dan Hachez, Don Robertson, and Elisabeth Steves. It's easier to install everything on center this way. It also makes the adjusters easier to use when every turn isn't also turning the feet around.

2. Those luthiers are also using a composite adjuster with a conical stud. They look like this:
A1342.jpg
 
#18
I've owned 3 basses with aluminum adjusters, all threads up. The feet don't turn when I turn the wheels. Adjuster wheels with notches can be painful to turn, especially if the adjusters are not installed well and do not turn easily. None of my adjuster installs, by three different and excellent luthiers, have the clearance shown above. Different strokes.
 
#19
Eric Hochberg said:
Adjuster wheels with notches can be painful to turn, especially if the adjusters are not installed well and do not turn easily.
Click to expand...
I've probably installed 40 or 50 adjuster sets. The composites were my favorite. We would usually run the wheel through a buffer to smooth out the sharp edges. I'd tap the feet twice over and add plenty of paraffin and/or graphite.
 

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