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Double Bass Bridge Question

B

bassmastan

Guest
Jun 25, 2011
939
192
#1
Hi everyone,

I had a bridge issue recently, and I've decided instead of going crazy trying to get the current bridge to work I would go with a new one.

I was wondering, without adding the adjusters how much should it cost to have a bridge fit for the bass?

The reason I need it without adjusters right now is because of time and money... Not the right time, and at the time I don't have the money. It would basically be set at a fixed height until Thanksgiving when I can come down and just have them installed.

Thanks!

-N
 
#2
The good guys take up to half a day to fit a bridge, longer on basses with topography, add the cost of the blank and it adds up quickly. Depending on your requirements, the belt sander fitters may be just fine at a third the price. One gets what they pay for or require. The adjusters are a fraction of the actual cost.
 
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#7
Schoolhouse said:
Your luthier can get the proper bridge (size and quality) for your bass at a better price than you can. By far the largest expense is in the labor. $250 is very inexpensive on the east coast.
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$250.00 would be very inexpensive on the West Coast, too!!
 
#8
Jake deVilliers said:
$250.00 would be very inexpensive on the West Coast, too!!
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My wallet hurts...:crying::crying::crying:

Thankfully I can confirm that the measurements of the new bridge are almost identical to the old one, which will make fitting it really easy, as the old feet can serve as a template. The problem with the current bridge is, the bridge itself was cut funny and the left G side adjuster is way off its axis (we have taken it off and saw that the hole for it was just too big), and it does not allow much to be fixed, What happened recently is the bridge started to shift, causing all kinds of wonky intonation things to happen, I guess due to pressure or luck. Who knows...

All I know is getting a clean bridge on there would eliminate problems, specially with a bass that will be doing some serious traveling into a world where there are no luthiers (dun dun dun!!!)
 
#9
bassmastan said:
Well, I am trying to buy my own blank, it would be a way to simply get everything together and sounding nicely... I can understand though the adjusters taking up time...
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Many luthiers (me, for instance) won't fit customer supplied bridge blanks.

If the bridge warps prematurely, you're going to want me to warranty it. If its my blank, its on me. If it was your blank and I say, "No way, its the lousy blank you supplied!", we're now at a place where I don't want to be, where neither of us are very happy with the other.

I buy my bridge blanks from only one place for a very good reason - and its not because they are the cheapest! :thumbsup:
 
#10
Jake deVilliers said:
Many luthiers (me, for instance) won't fit customer supplied bridge blanks.

If the bridge warps prematurely, you're going to want me to warranty it. If its my blank, its on me. If it was your blank and I say, "No way, its the lousy blank you supplied!", we're now at a place where I don't want to be, where neither of us are very happy with the other.

I buy my bridge blanks from only one place for a very good reason - and its not because they are the cheapest! :thumbsup:
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If I brought my bass to you for a crack repair and the repair failed, or for a new tailpiece and the tailpiece cracked I would ask for your insurance... For right now I am literally looking for a temporary fix, thankfully Teller is a brand that is well known and trusted throughout the industry (I took down my wanted post as someone reached out to me that they had a teller bridge that matched the measurements of my current bridge). Thankfully I was offered a more than fair price and will be getting the bridge soon, as this happened very fast...

I wouldn't be looking for insurance, if something happens while I am up at school I wouldn't fault the luthier, specially if it was weather related...
 
#13
DoubleMIDI said:
What about drilling the hole larger, plug hard wood into the hole and drill the correct hole size and orientation into the plug?
Not the most elegant solution and you should know what you do, but cheap and should work for a temporary solution until you can pay for a luthier for a new bridge setup.
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This has in fact crossed my mind before, however the shape of the bridge needs to be redone also, as it's not matching the fingerboard, and you can clearly see it, if the bridge isn't warped, I'll see maybe my luthier has aN adjuster that would fit
 
#15
Jake deVilliers said:
Many luthiers (me, for instance) won't fit customer supplied bridge blanks.
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While I know next to nothing about acoustic instruments, this seems like an appropriate practice. In order for a craftsman to insure the quality of his or her work, they must have control over the quality of the materials used to perform that work. My advice to the OP is find a luthier and explain your situation. Maybe they can work with you on a payment plan, etc... You don't want to jury rig this thing and then have it fail at a gig. Trying to explain to the BL that you didn't take care of your instrument and messed up his gig will probably not bode well for you.
 
#16
I'm actually down in Westchester this summer, he's only an hour and a half or so away. I am going to him for installing new extension capos and fixing an issue with edge bumpers. I shot him an email about it though
 
#18
KUNGfuSHERIFF said:
Good move. It's a nice drive, and his work is totally worth your time and money. He's an interesting conversationalist to boot.
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He came highly recommended, and his work speaks for itself. I hAve faith he will do a great job, it's trying to be cost effective that's worry some... luckily I do have a decent chunk of change but 3 bills is just over my range.
 
#20
Update:

Heard back from Bill and got a good price point. We did agree to check out the current bridge and see if we can work with it or use the other (affordably)

KUNGfuSHERIFF said:
Good move. It's a nice drive, and his work is totally worth your time and money. He's an interesting conversationalist to boot.
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High Falls is a beautiful area in it's own right, and I am excitedto meet him.

Now nothing beats the views of the northern adarondaks, a big part of the reason I wanted to go to school in potsdam other than having amazing programs is the views are always spectacular. If you're ever on my website you can see a picture on the repetoure page of the sky from my window. Fresh mountain air, quiet nights and good fishing :D (pike, large mouth and trout are great the fall fish not so much)
 

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