Double Bass Bridge help please!

[Caroline Miller]

Hello yall,

I know this question varies with every bass, but I need yalls help...

I really purchased a 2015 Blonde Englehardt bass and of course the action was pretty high. So today, my friend decided to move it down for me so the action would be better.
This where it gets complicated, on this bass there are markings on the bass for the bridge and notches ob the "f" hole as well. However, both seem to be off. So here is a couple of my questions in bullet format:
1.) Is it bad for the bridge to be directly over the sound post? (In my opinion, I would say yes. yet this is where the tension is good.)
2.) Is it bad for the top of the bridge to be lined up with the bottom of the "f" hole? (versus bottom of bridge meeting top of f hole notch.

After reading all of this, I'm sure you'll say go to your luthier. Well, he is an hour away and I have 5 gigs this weekend. I need to make sure my bass is okay for me to play right now.

 

[DoubleMIDI]

It doesn't damage the bass if the bridge foot sits directly over the soundpost, but the bass doesn't sound good if it is the case. So with that you can play your gigs and then let it correct by a luthier.

Do you really mean bottom of the f-hole or bottom of the f-hole notch?
Bottom of f-hole would be totally bad, but I doubt the soundpost sits there.
Usually the bridge sits centered with the f-hole notch, half north and half south of the notch. If it's just a few millimeters and you can make sure the soundpost will not fall by correcting this you can move the bridge yourself. But after your gigs let a luthier inspect the instrument, because beyond the soundpost the bridge feet might need to be corrected for the new position for optimum sound.

It is no problem as long as the soundpost is no more than 0 to 2.5 centimeters south of the bridge foot, otherwise you might get a stability problem.

There are a lot of bass players with a larger distance than a one hour drive to the next luthier. If you can do it before your gigs, go that route.

 

[Jay Corwin]

Gary from Upton does a good tutorial on youtube regrading bridge position.

 

[drurb]

Clearly, your bass has not been set up properly. The setup, on any bass, is of paramount importance. As DoubleMidi implies, you are fortunate to have a luthier only an hour's drive away! My advice: don't mess around. Get the bass to a skilled luthier and pay for a proper setup. Doing so will reap many rewards. Oh, and it's a DB so, "string height," not "action."