Does this bridge setup look odd

[walterw]

lol thats fender spec saddles are at 34

ha!

right, 34"

now on which saddle is that the case? it should be a little past 34", like by 1/16", on the G, then the rest should stagger back further than that even. ideally that would happen with a bridge located such that the G saddle is fairly far up towards the neck edge of the bridge, that way there would be plenty of room for the other saddles to sit further back without interfering with any of the overwrap on the string ends.

i would not want any string resting on the silk wrapping, that'll dull the vibration transfer.

 

[drewphishesp]

I mean the strings all intonate fine, and it sounds good. If there weren't silks on these particular strings it would probably be a non issue I am def not going to try and mess with the bridge holes or anything and the bass was a 200$ craigslist fine so not gonna spend much on a setup when it intonates fine and plays ok

 

[Chasarms]

I don’t like how the extreme angle of the screws is rolling the saddle pieces over and allowing only the leading edge of the adjustment posts to contact the base plate. I don’t like it for the same reason you don’t want a saddle sitting out of parallel with the base plate.

I believe that bridge was made to work with a much shallower neck pocket (or a neck much thicker at the heel.)

 

[drewphishesp]

It's a stock fender bridge on a stock Mexican fender. I assume fender has a method to their madness and the bridge is designed fine but idk

 

[Coolhandjjl]

Here’s a stock Fender pic.

Your saddles seem awfully low. I have never seen that much of the height adjustment screw sitting above them.

 

[drewphishesp]

Nice low action!

 

[Coolhandjjl]

Did your old bridge look like that too? String silks rarely sit on the saddles too. If it intonates at the 12th fret properly, the saddles are at the right place, but the ball retainer end is too close to the neck. Perhaps the hole pattern on the bridge plate is different When compared to the old one? Measure and compare.

If your new bridge was re-mounted to sit further away from the neck than it is now, you could extend the saddle screws out more, and the silks would no longer sit on the saddles.

 

[drewphishesp]

Exact same bridge just one that's not rusted.

 

[drewphishesp]

This is the view from the top. I think if there were no silks no one would notice anything

 

[Coolhandjjl]

If the neck itself is tilted too far forward, or your truss rod is off and the neck is front bowed, that may be the reason you have to have the saddles that darn low.

No, something is definitely off.

 

[Coolhandjjl]

I’m thinking the neck is off, that’s why the saddles are that far back to intonate.

Gotta go see Butch Vig now. I’ll check back later.

 

[drewphishesp]

What's wrong with low action?

 

[AboutSweetSue]

What's wrong with low action?

Nothing. People are just analyzing your problem. From the top, it doesn’t look odd, at all. And, being flats, I wouldn’t worry about the silk, but some will tell you otherwise.

There is shimming to decrease the neck pocket depth, resulting in you raising the saddles, but unless that screw hits the plate, I’d live with it. I’ve cut a screw short to deal with this exact issue when I was in my teens.

You seem happy with it. Thread can end with that, imo.

 

[drewphishesp]

I honestly regret posting. The neck is fine I'm not sure what exactly could be off about it. It intonates fine and stays in tune and sounds good. This is just making me paranoid that somethings wrong when it is t

 

[Matt Liebenau]

If you’re happy with it, that’s what counts. If the action and relief are where you want them (you did say the neck relief was ok, right?) then it is fine.

 

[drewphishesp]

Action is insanely low. Almost as low as my modulus q5 which is about as low as possible

 

[AboutSweetSue]

Why do saddles need to be parallel? I’ve angled them every which way, I never notice a difference.

 

[Geri O]

Put on a new bridge, everything intimates fine but just seeing this is what it looks like. Is this ok?

Don't remover (remember??) such extreme angles on any other bass

Yeah, it's okay.

My OCD, as stated by another poster, would have me putting a shim in neck pocket, causing the need to raise the saddles a little more to re-establish the original action height. Low, high, or in between, whatever.

Actually, I've found the need to shim the necks of all of the Fender basses I've owned lately. But not my Stingrays nor my current heart-and-soul forever bass, my Mike Lull.

I see nothing wrong with the bridge's position.

Run with it, if you wish.