Fender Aerodyne Club!

[jefff100]

My Aerodyne has the recessed bridge as well. I've resorted to locktite on the intonation adjuster screws.

Hipshot responded to my similar inquiry some months ago that they make a "vintage" fender bridge that should fit the Aerodyne with the recessed pocket. I thought about buying a slab of black delrin from McMaster Carr and making a shim plate of it also, but so far have just stuck with the stock bridge.

 

[jeff62]

My Aerodyne has the recessed bridge as well. I've resorted to locktite on the intonation adjuster screws.

Hipshot responded to my similar inquiry some months ago that they make a "vintage" fender bridge that should fit the Aerodyne with the recessed pocket. I thought about buying a slab of black delrin from McMaster Carr and making a shim plate of it also, but so far have just stuck with the stock bridge.

I’m giving then a call tomorrow to get measurements of the base of their vintage bridge. Ya think they would post the specs on their website. I’ll follow up once I’ve connected with someone there.

 

[Shardik]

I bought my black beauty used, and the recessed bridge was already replaced with a non-recessed black high mass Badass bridge. Not what I would've chosen myself, but I got used to it, and after fixing the ground wiring, it sounds great.

 

[jefff100]

I bought my black beauty used, and the recessed bridge was already replaced with a non-recessed black high mass Badass bridge. Not what I would've chosen myself, but I got used to it, and after fixing the ground wiring, it sounds great.

So how did they install it?

- I’m figuring it would need a shim plate under the bridge in the recessed pocket or route the pocket out larger for the new bridge. Curious which way this one went down - photos?

 

[Shardik]

So how did they install it?

- I’m figuring it would need a shim plate under the bridge in the recessed pocket or route the pocket out larger for the new bridge. Curious which way this one went down - photos?

I have no photos of the bridge work, but the bottom line is that it is neither routed nor shimmed. It is larger in all directions than the old recess, and rest on the surrounding surfaces. I think it is using the original holes, though, so I guess it is made to replace the same type of bridge when it is not recessed. I had to sand through the outer layer of color on the underside to make connection for the ground wire. I think it had no contact when I bought it. Probably why I got it rather cheap (paid around 45% of new price for it), even if the neck and general finish was almost like new on it. Now it is my band work horse. I use it 95% of the time with my band.

Here is a post with a picture after I replaced pickups:
Fender Aerodyne Club!

 

[jefff100]

Cool. I had bought a Babciz bridge once for mine - the description online said “fits all jazz basses”. Not exactly but the return was painless.

It would have not sit squarely on the bass. For now I’ve got intonation screws that are funky on the stock bridge.

 

[Flippy]

What if you put a thin piece of wood to fill the recess?

 

[jeff62]

I guess I’m surprised that some have not realized that there is a recess where the bridge is mounted. With the carved top on the jazz, unless this is something that has changed over the years, having a recess is the only way to have a level surface for the bridge to mount to.

In any case, the hipshot Vintage bridge appears to fit in the recess based on the measurements I received from a hipshot rep.

 

[jefff100]

What if you put a thin piece of wood to fill the recess?

That was my intent with a layer of black Delrin.

I guess I’m surprised that some have not realized that there is a recess where the bridge is mounted. With the carved top on the jazz, unless this is something that has changed over the years, having a recess is the only way to have a level surface for the bridge to mount to.

In any case, the hipshot Vintage bridge appears to fit in the recess based on the measurements I received from a hipshot rep.

I think perhaps not all Jazz basses are as contoured on top as what the Aerodynes are. Good to know the Hipshot Vintage bridge fits. Perhaps at my next re-stringing I'll treat my black beauty to some new hardware.

 

[jeff62]

It’s only the Aerodynes that are contoured. Normal Jazz bodies are flat, except for the typical contour at the arm.

 

[JohnnyChatter]

I just got a babicz bridge for my aerodyne p bass not thinking about the recess. I have heard of people laying folded tin foil down in rhe recess to fill the gap almost like I wedge and it working. Is there any reason that would be a bad idea? Also... What advantages would the hipshot vintage bridge have? It seems very similar to what already comes on it?

 

[jeff62]

I just got a babicz bridge for my aerodyne p bass not thinking about the recess. I have heard of people laying folded tin foil down in rhe recess to fill the gap almost like I wedge and it working. Is there any reason that would be a bad idea? Also... What advantages would the hipshot vintage bridge have? It seems very similar to what already comes on it?

Couple of thoughts come to mind....

Personally, I think that anyone who is filling the gap with foil is fooling themselves. The foil compresses - and unless you’ve somehow calculated the exact compression to fill that recess, there will simply be foil floating under the bridge vibrating sympathetically.

From a “solid mount” perspective, the screws create the contact with the body and prevent the bridge from moving. But, IMO, you still would want some significant portion of the outer edge of the replacement bridge to be flush with the surface for good mechanical contact with the body, and for visual satisfaction. Will your new bridge work without this? Of course. Will it sound as good? Who knows? I imagine what we ultimately hear is influenced by how much surface area of the bridge is actually in contact with the body. This doesn’t imply “bad” — think about the raised bridges on Gibson guitars. The visual issue is my biggest concern, personally.

The only true issue with installing a new bridge would be ensuring that the ground is still intact (presuming the Aerodyne has a ground wire to the bridge - I haven’t checked yet).

 

[Flippy]

@JohnnyChatter whatever you do to fill the recess, it would make sense to document the process. There are very few, if any, useful Aerodyne bridge replacement stories on the internet.

 

[Catbuster]

@JohnnyChatter whatever you do to fill the recess, it would make sense to document the process. There are very few, if any, useful Aerodyne bridge replacement stories on the internet.

I have an idea. I’ll have to get in the machine shop and grab some sillicon bronze brazing wire. But what I’m thinking about is milling a block of the same material the bridge is made of to the dimensions of the recess (depth, width, length, and radii, etc) then brazing it to the bridge itself.

If it’s not a brass bridge, that’s cool. I can weld anything that doesn’t have zinc in it and that will work better.

What I’ll need will be:

-Vertical milling machine
-Rotary table
-TIG welder
-Helium gas bottle
-Sillicon bronze filler
-Angle grinder w/flap disc to remove bridge finish & oxides

 

[Catbuster]

Another thing I could do would be to make that plate, index holes on both the bridge and the filler plate and then press pins into the bridge, and press the plate onto the bridge pins to connect it. That would save me from having to deal with zinc fumes from brazing the brass pieces together.

I dunno. I might have to try this after the new year. After I put my call into McMaster-Carr.

 

[jefff100]

You use helium for shield gas? Most the TIG guys I work with use argon for TIG - although I've had some issues with contamination - There are some gas suppliers out there that will top fill argon and helium due to the molecule cost.
Unless they have RPV valves in the cylinders. Top fill is generally passable for balloon grade helium but not cool for Ar.

I had thought about having one of my welding buddies graft me a scab onto the underside of the bridge I bought (My replacment attempt was a Babciz as well), but then I figured I would just mill a shim out of something out of a non-compressible stock such as a delrin plate. Ultimately just returned the bridge and use a thread locker on the adjuster screws as that's my issue with the stocker.

On a separate note, I used the Aerodyne last night at the acoustic jam. I've got a painters foam brush wedged up under the strings in front of teh bridge for a damper mute. Had all the volume & tones dialed up so they are out of the circuit, just the bass and those wonderful DiMarzio's going through the GK head. Small room so I rolled off the bass, dialed back on the treble, and gave the low mids a slight boost.

Had a wonderful thumpy double bass-esque tone and we had one of the better sessions than we've had in a while.

 

[Interspace Station]

Awesome to see the interest in a replacement bridge, I've been considering the same but for no reason other than tinkering. I get a real nice solid tone across the board from the stock bridge so personally am in no rush to replace, but always interested in seeing how folks mod their instruments.

On that note, I replaced the chrome knobs on my non-export with black ones for contrast against the control plate. Personal aesthetic preference, posting here for visual reference for anyone else curious how it might look.

 

[Catbuster]

You use helium for shield gas? Most the TIG guys I work with use argon for TIG - although I've had some issues with contamination - There are some gas suppliers out there that will top fill argon and helium due to the molecule cost.
Unless they have RPV valves in the cylinders. Top fill is generally passable for balloon grade helium but not cool for Ar.

I had thought about having one of my welding buddies graft me a scab onto the underside of the bridge I bought (My replacment attempt was a Babciz as well), but then I figured I would just mill a shim out of something out of a non-compressible stock such as a delrin plate. Ultimately just returned the bridge and use a thread locker on the adjuster screws as that's my issue with the stocker.

Argon works well for steel on DC and aluminum if you have enough amperage and AC. Helium lets you weld aluminum/magnesium on DC, and it can make up some ground if you don’t have enough amperage. It also cleans up your puddle some with aluminum and wets it out a lot more. Generally, contamination is from not cleaning well enough before welding. DC EN does not clean at at all. AC will some, which is why it’s used on aluminum to break up the oxide layer that melts about 1000 degrees F higher than aluminum itself. DC EP is a no-no for TIG at anything above 20-25 amps, although it cleans really well.

*I re-read your post. You were talking about contamination of gas. For welding, if you have a little helium in a bottle of argon that’s okay. And I mean a little. It’s generally research labs that have issues with gas not being 100% straight. But your gas supplier won’t separate that so you get no contamination with your argon. I wye argon and helium together if I’m on aluminum and I need a little more heat.

My TIG machine only runs 230 amps and has a very low duty cycle above 100 amps (Lincoln Precision TIG 225), and brass, primarily made of copper, will be a really bad heatsink to weld/braze two pretty thick pieces together.

 

[JohnnyChatter]

After looking at it and taking a nap I decided I am going to order another bridge original to the one I have on mine. Than I am going to shave the top off it off with a metal grinder so I just have the bottom plate to act as a wedge.

Above the bridge the wood is pretty flat and I don’t think is curved enough to not leave me a flat enough surface the extra half an inch.

 

[jefff100]

Argon works well for steel on DC and aluminum if you have enough amperage and AC. Helium lets you weld aluminum/magnesium on DC, and it can make up some ground if you don’t have enough amperage. It also cleans up your puddle some with aluminum and wets it out a lot more. Generally, contamination is from not cleaning well enough before welding. DC EN does not clean at at all. AC will some, which is why it’s used on aluminum to break up the oxide layer that melts about 1000 degrees F higher than aluminum itself. DC EP is a no-no for TIG at anything above 20-25 amps, although it cleans really well.

*I re-read your post. You were talking about contamination of gas. For welding, if you have a little helium in a bottle of argon that’s okay. And I mean a little. It’s generally research labs that have issues with gas not being 100% straight. But your gas supplier won’t separate that so you get no contamination with your argon. I wye argon and helium together if I’m on aluminum and I need a little more heat.

My TIG machine only runs 230 amps and has a very low duty cycle above 100 amps (Lincoln Precision TIG 225), and brass, primarily made of copper, will be a really bad heatsink to weld/braze two pretty thick pieces together.

Yeah, I don’t weld myself but I’m 30 years in the gas business and have several fabricators & welders that I have close ties with. With my current employer we have welding and fab in house. I used to contract out allot of orbital TIG work installing new process lines. I’ve had situations where we had bad welds, the impurities in the shield gas affected the pressure demand flow regulator for the purge and we would end up with welds that failed inspection from the irregular purge. Usually we would supply the contractor with a cylinder of Ar from our stock and the issue would be resolved. The most common impurity in industrial grade Ar is N2; but if you had a filler that was taking shortcuts and was top filling, or didnt purge and evacuate his fill manifold, then you can end up with O2 and moisture. He is a trace element, but its level in bulk argon is so low to be insignificant; as the argon is an atmospheric sourced gas and the helium is a byproduct of the process of extracting refining natural gas.

Oppps , I really sidelined this thread.

back to your regularly scheduled bass discussion.