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Gap under bridge acceptable?

#23
I'd swap the bridge and put a neck shim on it
fakeneckplate'65 said:
I bought a slightly nicer Wilkinson bridge to try & it's better, but there is still the slightest gap under the front of the bridge, like .025". It seems the body is not totally flat. I'm gonna return it. Bummer. I'll try again with another @ some point.
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Dang that sucks! You're probably right though, it would take a lot to bend that bridge. And I doubt a ground wire would cause that. Return it, move on.
 
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#24
I'm with the "replace the bridge" crowd. Many Rickenbacker owners (including me) have had a similar problem. I bought a Hipshot bridge which was much heavier-duty than the stock Ric bridge. The Hipshot looks a lot better and the difference in sound quality since it is tightly anchored to the body and doesn't flex is immediately noticeable.
 
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#26
fakeneckplate'65 said:
I very recently bought a Sire D5 from Chicago Music Exchange & it is beautiful.. except that the bridge has a significant gap. It seems this is somewhat sue to te ground wire, but the body is somewhat to blame. Is this acceptable to anyone?

I'm about 75% sure I'm going to return it. I'd love another but I'm not sure I want to risk it.

View attachment 4682112
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No, that's WWWAAAYYY off the mark, IMHO ... back it goes!
 
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#27
fakeneckplate'65 said:
I very recently bought a Sire D5 from Chicago Music Exchange & it is beautiful.. except that the bridge has a significant gap. It seems this is somewhat sue to te ground wire, but the body is somewhat to blame. Is this acceptable to anyone?

I'm about 75% sure I'm going to return it. I'd love another but I'm not sure I want to risk it.

View attachment 4682112
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Yeah, that's not the one.

If it was used and at a good discount, i'd put a new bridge on it and rock it.

If I paid new money for it, back in the box it goes.
 
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#32
GretschWretch said:
I have a similar gold-plated bridge with the same problem. It isn't the ground wire; it's the lack of screws to anchor down the front of the bridge. With the rear screws tightened down to the max the string tension alone is not sufficient to pull the bridge forward and bring the front part down to full contact with the top.
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Trouble is, Fender has done a bridge like that since they started and I have never seen one lift up in the front like that ever, in my time on the planet. Not saying it hasn't happened obviously this one has, and yours. Maybe it's made from real gold, that's a soft metal.

:)
 
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#33
DJ Bebop said:
Trouble is, Fender has done a bridge like that since they started and I have never seen one lift up in the front like that ever, in my time on the planet. Not saying it hasn't happened (obviously this one has) and yours. Maybe it's made from real gold. That's a soft metal.

:)
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Yep; you're right. I just checked one of my Fenders (a 1976) and sure enough, no front screws. A photo montage of bridges would be instructive, just to display the wide array of bridge screw arrangements across brands.
 
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#34
GretschWretch said:
Yep; you're right. I just checked one of my Fenders (a 1976) and sure enough, no front screws. A photo montage of bridges would be instructive, just to display the wide array of bridge screw arrangements across brands.
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I've got my nasty 62 P and that has never done that. Despite all the trouble I've put that bass through.

I've seen some import bridges like that only with screws in the corners in front as well and had change them out for others bridges that didn't have the corner screws and they were fine.

The only reason I change them BTW, I had a different style bridge, Gotoh 201 in my parts drawer doing nothing

:)
 
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#36
I had a bass with a bridge that was tilted up in the front. It was due to the body being soft and the bridge sinking into it due to overtighteneing of the bridge screws.

I replaced it with a bridge having a baseplate with a larger footprint. It was a Gotoh 201 bridge with the large boss at the bridge anchor that spanned the dented area and used the original bridge mounting holes. Full contact at the front was achieved.
 
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#38
Wow, Iv never seen that. If you like the bass keep it and just take off the bridge to get a better look. From my knowledge its 1 of 3 things. #1 Ground wire is not sitting flush with the body. Take the bridge off and spread out the strands of the wire a bit. also if the sleeve is a little thick strip the wire a bit so the bridge can push down a bit more on the wire. #2 Bridge is bent. In the case, the bridge is kinda trashed. Get a new bridge and slap it on. You could just leave it how it is but it makes the action higher and reduces the transfer of the vibrations to the body. #3 The screws are way to tight. before stringing the bass they might have cranked those screws. And with the strings pulling on the bridge its enough to pull the bridge up a little. Just loosen the screws while the strings are in tension and you should start to see the bridge go down.
 

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