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gotoh or badass 2

#21
i agree with the gotoh adding more punch. the strings come through the back of the bridge at a lower point on the gotoh and it has taller saddles. this results in more pressure pushing the saddles into the body. which may result in more punch.
 
#23
Badass II was my first replacement bridge in the early '80s, I liked it very much and noticed a big difference from the stock bridge. Late '90's on, I played basses with the Gotoh 201s and sure liked them. What I just discovered in late 2007 was the Hipshot A that retrofits the standard fender 5 screw holes. The sucker is a *massive* chunk of solid brass, and I've experienced more sustain than ever before in my life...highly recommended if you are looking for that sorta thing,
 
#24
it has to be a bad ass all the way. Yeah the gotoh will improve it. But why not go the whole hog and make it a great bass rather than just a good one. The bad ass has loads of punch. alot of it is down the set up and how well you filled the grooves.
 
#27
i think a badass from a stock bridge you can hear a difference. not a big difference, but a difference. but the gotoh and badass do essentially the same thing. i myself prefer the gotoh. it's cheaper, you don't have to groove the saddles, and you can go lower with the saddles on the gotoh. it's really just a matter of visual preference.
 
#29
()smoke() said:
they aren't bad, imo, the main reason to upgrade for me is that the gotoh and BA both limit the transverse movement of the individual saddles moreso than the stock bridge
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I'm thinking of putting the Gotoh on my SX for the same reason, and because the price is right. Both of my Fenders came stock with BadAsses and I like them, but I don't have the tools to slot one and I don't like how the E string sits in the pre-slotted ones.
 
#34
My MIM Jazz stock bridge saddle height adjusters kept losening up... one even fell out and I had to call fender for them to ship me extra ones. The guy I talked to was really cool, BTW. He sent me a few replacements... I had to use clear nail polish to kind of cement them in place. Then I just got tired of it and switched to a Badass II and was very happy. Much better sustain, and more bright and punchy. Very noticible difference.
 
#36
I have a BA2 on a fretless P-bass. I upgraded it from the stock bridge (it was a MIJ '62 pbass) and I can't comment on a percieved improvement of sustain and tone as I had the bass defretted when I had it installed. I will say that it feels far more solid and reliable than your bog-standard Fender bridge... it's an overused statement, but it's "built like a tank". :P
 
#39
jgroh said:
I was thinking of putting a BAII on my Squier VM Fretless as I noticed a lack of sustain with that bass. My Geddy has one and it has tons of sustain. Does the Gotoh drop right in to a J bass? I think it has 5 screws.
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yes, it's a direct fender replacement...but imo, it isn't a simple cure for lack of sustain, which could be caused by a number of things and isn't necessarily a bad thing to begin with despite all the talk of it, imo...some instruments can sustain forever, but sound lifeless, while some can be very resonant with a musical tone and not sustain long--with infinite steps in between
 

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