Hear my USA Geddy Jazz with a (gasp) low mass bridge

Hi everybody,

Listen to how my USA Geddy Jazz sounds with a 70's style Fender low mass bridge. I used it on this song: Atomic Kid by The Reverse Engineers

I admit I agonized over taking off the high mass bridge. I felt like I needed more articulation and a more vintage tone, so I took the plunge and removed the bridge. I have had many high and low mass bridges on jazz basses over the years. This bass is built like a tank, and I felt like was getting almost too much sustain. Anyway, let me know what you think of the sound. I'm liking it! Here's a pic as well...

 

Thanks guys! Yep, playing in a band with my brothers, and I have a solo project.

I was really careful when I took off the bridge, and luckily no paint got removed.

 

Wow, thanks I split the signal, send one side to an Ampeg amp for the lows, and send the other to a distortion pedal. I record both channels, and blend them when mixing. I glue them together in the mix with some light compression and eq, boosting a bit at 1.5k and 100 hz.

 

Also worth mentioning that I mainly play over the neck pickup, or just behind it. The rest of the bass is stock, so no electronics changes. Just my personal opinion, but I think many people decide on high mass bridges when it is not needed. Some basses definitely benefit from a high mass bridge, but I prefer to evaluate each instrument as needed.

 

Thanks for listening, and for the kind words about the song. All this is subjective, but there was a definite difference in sound for me going with the low mass bridge. More articulation (at least for how I play), and more of a beneficial mid range bump. It's subtle, but the bass feels better to my right hand now. Granted, there are many factors that affect the sound and they all matter, so this is just one piece of the puzzle.

 

Just thought I would mention; for anyone thinking of swapping out their bridge or experimenting with different bridges; I usually try to keep using the screws that came the first bridge that was originally installed on the bass. Most bridges will work with the original screws. This way, you keep from wearing out the screw holes too much and you get a good fit in case you want to revert to the original bridge.

 

The USA Geddy is great for hard hitting, grinding rock bass. Not as good for the subtle jazzy type stuff. Getting gas for a jazz bass with a nice unfinished rosewood board with dots. Sigh... can't own too many basses.

 

Thanks for listening, and thanks for the kind words!

I agree, this is all very subjective. For me, on this bass, the low mass bridge allows my hands to be less busy muting strings that are ringing out too much between notes (because of the huge amount of sustain from the thick neck and high bass bridge). There is still plenty of sustain, but I feel like my playing is more articulate. It also makes the bass sound "woodier" to my ears, and more present in the mid range. I don't slap much, so slappers may have totally different requirements. Granted... that custom Geddy bridge certainly looked cool though!

 

Thanks for listening, and thanks for the compliment!

Cool, thanks for listening! I have not tried the Hipshot, but I will have to check it out. The times where a high mass bridge worked for me were when a bass was just sort of dull... and needed a bit of a reboot so to speak; if it had dead spots, or if the tone was lacking. Sometimes going with a high mass bridge can shake things up. But ultimately, I end up moving on to something else.