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Double Bass How can a bridge be so perfect?

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Bravo! Let us know where and what forum you read anything written about completely flat feet!!! If you can be bothered reading the thread before putting your .02cents worth you'd know that it perfectly fallows the curvature of the bass!!!!! Because both feet pivot they can take up the shape of any top simply because the curvature varies only over 6 inch not 1.5!!!!!!!!! And dont get confused over the "hard maple" as its not harder that other maple like Despiau bridges and most other professional bridge the wood is Treated-Hardened so it doesn't bend and last little longer!!! Its an existing design for Violin, Viola, Cello and Bass thats all! If you not in the bush or a distant farm far from a luthier buy all means go and spend hundreds of dollars on an A grade bridge! You must have read someones personal profile about flat feet :) I also attached another self explanatory picture of a Violin Bridge but it would be just as easy to upload Cello, Viola too!


There's no way such a short piece of wood can conform properly to the curvature of the top. There's always going to be a high spot somewhere if the feet are completely flat.
 
Although it's not a bad idea, one could argue that hey it's definitely not Repair but perhaps Setup! Except for nothing to set up when it comes to this bridge only Install. Real opinion in this case can only come from users like me with 30+years of DB experience and Tornadobass because we both have one! The internet is full of information and I also provided enough info to make my gecko understand that the intention is to put it out for people desperate to get a new bridge but no luthier nearby! Except in my case I am happy enough to use it even if my luthier lived next door! Luthiers don't deal with this kind of bridge they might install it but a REAL opinion can hardly come from them simply because this bridge is money out of their pocket, they don't have to work on it! Erect and use, simple!

Mirecourt adjustable bridges with self-adjusting feet to fit the arching of any instrument. The crown of the bridge may need slight adjustment, but they are fitted and treated. Available in three heights. Specify low, medium, or high.
Brand: Aubert Mirecourt
Model: Adjustable Foot

:eyebrow:



This should be moved to the Setup/Repair forum to get some real opinions.
 
As I take a break from cutting one of those "old fashioned" bridges, I am laughing at this thread. Those feet will not perfectly conform to the top of any and every bass. Only the ones that have the exact same curve on the top. Anybody with experience with cutting these bridges, or any bridges knows they all have to be modified somehow. Some less than others. Sure, there is way less work that goes into these types of bridges. It looks to me that one person got lucky.
 
3! Tornado, Me and a friend who put me onto it!


As I take a break from cutting one of those "old fashioned" bridges, I am laughing at this thread. Those feet will not perfectly conform to the top of any and every bass. Only the ones that have the exact same curve on the top. Anybody with experience with cutting these bridges, or any bridges knows they all have to be modified somehow. Some less than others. Sure, there is way less work that goes into these types of bridges. It looks to me that one person got lucky.
 
And I bet it would! Self adjusting means that these feet would rotate to accommodate the belly! As I said I was in disbelief when tried my beautiful "A" grade luthier bridge on two then another four different basses and of course it fitted none other than MY bass!!! But when I put this bridge through the same test it fit each and every bass ONCE PRESSURE WAS APPLIED BY THE STRINGS AND THE FEET ROTATED INTO PLACE! You guys think that it's my passing time to make wild sweeping statements, I have news for all, I am as finicky as anyone when it comes to sound and never in my wildest dream I would suggest anything to anyone unless I was 100% sure. Unfortunately I have to argue with people laughing with ZERO experience regarding Aubert Mirecourt, merely living inside their own narrow minded assumption! Yes the earth IS flat!

I dont say "hey go and swap your bridges" I am saying if no respectable luthier in your vicinity you can always order one from 1000 well respectable places on the net!! Hard to keep a thread informative and sweet once the thread flies are out! :)


I had a nice bridge that was cut to fit another bass laying around and fit it to my current partner. Due to the high arch of the old bass, it took a lot of work. There's no way one of these would have worked on both basses.
 
Impossible! Look, The curvature of the feet themselves was wrong. Some basses have more curvature right under the feet and some have a more even curve from the center of the top out. That has been my experience. No, I'm not an evil luthier, just a guy who sometimes works on his own bass.

Glad it worked for you but it may not work well for everybody. I would think the chances of having the feet fit perfectly, correct height, correct curvature, correct slot sizing and spacing with little or no work are slim to none with a variety of basses. Don't forget correct width. Small, medium and large are fine for underwear but not a bass bridge.
They might work on factory plywoods but a bridge is too important to cut corners on a nice bass, especially when a quality bridge can last for many, many years.

My $.02 worth which cost nothing so agree or disagree, doesn't really matter but when people go on the internet and emphatically proclaim that they've found the BEST pickup, bridge, amp as if they've just cured AIDS or cancer it bugs me. :help:

Thanks for letting me vent. All better now. :rolleyes:
 
Responding to what clink said, I think the idea is that this bridge will allow at least the CENTER of the foot to touch down firmly, on nearly any bass. Sure, if you want a really perfect fit you'd still have to adjust the curve of the base of the feet. But I suspect that just having the load centered on the foot, rather than on one edge or another, gets you most, if not all, of the desired effect.
I wonder how round feet, with slightly concave bottom surfaces would work. Connect them to the bridge with a ball+socket arrangement and it would fit anything. You could then change the angle of the bridge all you want and not affect the fit to the top. Just an engineer thinking out loud. Maybe I'm full of crap, I haven't owned a db in years.
 
emphatically proclaim that they've found the BEST pickup, bridge, amp as if they've just cured AIDS or cancer it bugs me. :help:

Thanks for letting me vent. All better now. :rolleyes:

As long as you feel better I am happy!! By the way I also found the best pickup, bridge, amp and right now working on AIDS and cancer. But dispense with the jokes, when I get my other bridge I'll send you my bridge to try plus padded bag and postage fee to send it back to me with your honest opinion!!!
 
I wonder how round feet, with slightly concave bottom surfaces would work. Connect them to the bridge with a ball+socket arrangement and it would fit anything. You could then change the angle of the bridge all you want and not affect the fit to the top. Just an engineer thinking out loud. Maybe I'm full of crap, I haven't owned a db in years.

I'm not a luthier or an engineer, but from what little understanding I do have of accoustics and physics I think that design would be far from optimal. The contact surface at the outside of the round feet would become excessively loaded and leave an air gap in the center. The ball & socket would cause instability and allow for strange bridge girations with tuning, bumps, etc.

Just my .02, but it may be overvalued at that price. :D
 
I wonder how round feet, with slightly concave bottom surfaces would work.

In the picture of the violin bridge it seems like those feet are a little concave. The curvature under the feet themselves cant be much more than half a milimeter, that can easily be bridged by a little built in ben in the feet. Together with the pivoting construction I can see no reason why this won't work.
 
Luthiers don't deal with this kind of bridge they might install it but a REAL opinion can hardly come from them simply because this bridge is money out of their pocket, they don't have to work on it!

You know, I was half-tempted to offer my opinion on these bridges but now it's just not worth it. If anyone is curious as to what I have to say, feel free to PM me, I caution using them. I can see now why some of my established colleagues haven't made an appearance in this thread yet. Timobee I will really feel sorry for you on the day when you need a skilled luthier to do some real work beyond your feeble skills. It'll be that day when you start appreciating those who work hard and feed their families doing this for a living.
 
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