Hopkins
Commercial User
The Babicz bridge is extremely light weight, and every adjustment locks down. I think its the best bridge on the market.
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High Mass Bridges vs. Vintage Bridges
- Thread starter grobe
- Start date
The Babicz bridge is extremely light weight, and every adjustment locks down. I think its the best bridge on the market.
Some say it has roughly the same mass as the standard Fender bridge. True?
Hopkins
Commercial User
I haven't weighed them, but if I had to guess, I would say it would possibly be slightly lighter.
Well, I guess I'm thinking of the bent bridge that is used on, say, the current MIM Standard P or J Bass.
I just got an american special jazz with a paper thin bent plate bridge. My other fender vintage bridge with threaded saddles is twice as thick. Never knew there were variations to the thickness of the baseplate.
To my surprise, the saddles don't move around at all. Going to leave it alone.
To my surprise, the saddles don't move around at all. Going to leave it alone.
The zinc bridges sound scooped to me and more compressed. Very clean. The aluminum ones sound louder and middier with stronger attack. Tin bridges are too squirmy for me, and adjustments drift. I like the aluminum Hipshot B best. It sounds close to tin, and the slots allow string changes without dragging the strings through holes. Second best, Gotoh 201. Totally different, both good. Yeah there are way more massive aluminum and zinc and brass bridges, but too much is too much.
Hopkins
Commercial User
I've owned hundreds of Fenders and never had one single problem from a bent plate bridge. Ever! They are great sounding and easy to adjust. However, My favorite P-Bass of all time(Steve Harris Signature) Has a BadA$$ II and It's incredible. BAII's will be my Bridge of choice from here on out.
The Fender bridge is not made of tin
It's made of steel is it not? Hardly a flimsy (as I often hear the bridge described) material. I get a little tired of the "bent tin" nomenclature. It's obviously a dig at Fender.
I've been playing around with original, a Hipshot bent plTe, gotoh 201, and badassII. I tend to like the high mass bridges better on my Mexican/allparts basses. American special jazz sounded the same with gotoh and original and Hipshot bp. The sound stayed essentially even with pickup swaps. I think, like anything, it's the right mix-match rather than one item (like the bridge). My mim parts jazz us keeping the BAII. Sounds amazing! Crap shoot project, but it worked out!
Hopkins
Commercial User
Yes it's press bent steel, it is stronger than a lot of the sand cast pot metal high mass bridges on the market.
Indeed. Which is why I find it amusing when people say they got a HM bridge because they didn't want a "flimsy" Fender vintage bridge. LOL.
Hopkins
Commercial User
I've found that HM bridges do affect the tone offering a slightly more compressed version. Sustain is not an issue.
I pulled an old DiMarzio HM bridge off a bass it's been on for 30 years. I was completely intimate with the sound of it on this instrument. I replaced it with a Babicz which, while looking massive, isn't really and weighs about the same as a bent plate. I felt the tone definitely "opened up" with a fuller response.
I do have HM bridges on some basses that I would never replace. This particular bass is now better with a low mass bridge. The lesson learned: try both and see what suits you best. Going to HM is not necessarily a positive upgrade and vice versa. It depends on the bass and your preference regarding the results.
I pulled an old DiMarzio HM bridge off a bass it's been on for 30 years. I was completely intimate with the sound of it on this instrument. I replaced it with a Babicz which, while looking massive, isn't really and weighs about the same as a bent plate. I felt the tone definitely "opened up" with a fuller response.
I do have HM bridges on some basses that I would never replace. This particular bass is now better with a low mass bridge. The lesson learned: try both and see what suits you best. Going to HM is not necessarily a positive upgrade and vice versa. It depends on the bass and your preference regarding the results.
The Fender bridge is not made of tin
Tin cans aren't, either. I've called Fender bridges bent tin since I started playing them in the 60s. Your point, besides finding fault with common terminology more important than sound?
Hopkins
Commercial User
Because your common terminology makes them sound cheap, and substandard which isn't the case.
I was there too and it was used as a derogatory term meant to degrade Fenders usually when comparing them to Gibsons.
I think the Fender bridge represents some pretty solid engineering. It's an inexpensive design that functions quite well. Sure, there are some potential issues with side-to-side motion of saddles, and adjusting string height with two screws per saddle is a bit of a pain, but really it seldom affects anything with regard to actually playing bass.
This doesn't mean aftermarket bridges aren't worthwhile, though. There are good reasons to use them, too. For my upgrade dollar, however, I tend to be more inclined to change pickups, tuners, and nuts than I am the bridge, IME IMO YMMV.
This doesn't mean aftermarket bridges aren't worthwhile, though. There are good reasons to use them, too. For my upgrade dollar, however, I tend to be more inclined to change pickups, tuners, and nuts than I am the bridge, IME IMO YMMV.
