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How much does your bridge affect your tone?

carlitoswhey

carlitoswhey

Apr 3, 2009
98
3
Phoenix
#1
I've heard that micro tuning bridges such as though seen on a 90s fender p bass plus can rob tone. Any truth to that? And what about bridges in general? Will a bad ass II have more mids and punch then a hip shot? In other words what does a bridge do other than hold your strings?
 
#3
ImageUploadedByTalkBass1385527131.457241.jpgImageUploadedByTalkBass1385527144.124887.jpg
 
#5
My genius engineer that works on instruments and amps explained that a high-mass bridge can block the resonance of the body, if you have a good-sounding piece of wood. In this case, a lighter stamped bridge will give you better sound than the heavy cast one.

From a manufacturing point of view - High mass bridges are now used more often to maintain consistency from one instrument to another now that the old growth woods are mostly gone.

Of course the nicer bridges that have better and finer adjustments can help you to be better in tune.
 
#8
I own a few basses including a '96 PBass. To answer your question yes the bridge or even the saddles have a huge influence on tone. Now keep in mind that it is all a matter of taste. I used to replace all my Fender bridges by Badass hardware but over the years, my tastes have changed. I now prefer the good old bent bridges for their vintage tone. Less bright with less sustain but a more woody tone. Especially if you play with a pick or use Flatwounds. So it is not necessarily going to sound "better" if you replace the bridge. Just different.
 
#9
I believe it can contribute to the tone some, more so than the type of the wood. But its better to have a good functioning bridge to start though. I put a Babicz on my P bass so I could lock down the height and intonation and so far it has worked perfectly.
 
#11
Your question is.....................How much does your bridge affect your tone?

The answer is, not very much. As to whether it's worth it to replace a bent plate bridge for something that costs close to $100. Not much bang for the buck! Also to consider, in this day and age of the desire for light weight bass guitars, a high mass bridge is gonna add around 1/4 to 1/2 a pound of weight (125 to 250 grams)! And for what? Disputable improvement!
 
#12
I can't hear any difference in tone at all when comparing the bridge with either the verse or the chorus.

:)

Anyway, I'd say my Jazz basses get a lot if not most of their sound character from the strings and from the J-Retro preamps and I doubt changing the bridge will make any significant difference. Add to that all the other tone processing from the pedal board and amp and I doubt if any difference the bridge makes would survive in the overall tone shaping. Just my gut feeling of course.
 
#14
Bassamatic said:
My genius engineer that works on instruments and amps explained that a high-mass bridge can block the resonance of the body, if you have a good-sounding piece of wood. In this case, a lighter stamped bridge will give you better sound than the heavy cast one.

From a manufacturing point of view - High mass bridges are now used more often to maintain consistency from one instrument to another now that the old growth woods are mostly gone.

Of course the nicer bridges that have better and finer adjustments can help you to be better in tune.
Click to expand...

Good to know. So would a bad ass be considered high mass and hipshot light or what? And what other brands of bridges out there? I love the look on fodera bridges.
 
#15
Frenchy-Lefty said:
I own a few basses including a '96 PBass. To answer your question yes the bridge or even the saddles have a huge influence on tone. Now keep in mind that it is all a matter of taste. I used to replace all my Fender bridges by Badass hardware but over the years, my tastes have changed. I now prefer the good old bent bridges for their vintage tone. Less bright with less sustain but a more woody tone. Especially if you play with a pick or use Flatwounds. So it is not necessarily going to sound "better" if you replace the bridge. Just different.
Click to expand...

Interesting. So the modern bridges produce a modern sound. That should be a no brainer but I never put it together :D I'm definitely going for a modern sound. How would you say the sound of a badass compares to a hipshot or any other bridge you've tried?
 
#16
JellinWellen said:
I believe it can contribute to the tone some, more so than the type of the wood. But its better to have a good functioning bridge to start though. I put a Babicz on my P bass so I could lock down the height and intonation and so far it has worked perfectly.
Click to expand...

Is babicz high mass? How does the sound compare to your old Bridge on your phone? Have you noticed any change in little details like string tension or a new type of low action you couldn't get before or is the only change in sound?
 
#17
bassdude51 said:
Your question is.....................How much does your bridge affect your tone?

The answer is, not very much. As to whether it's worth it to replace a bent plate bridge for something that costs close to $100. Not much bang for the buck! Also to consider, in this day and age of the desire for light weight bass guitars, a high mass bridge is gonna add around 1/4 to 1/2 a pound of weight (125 to 250 grams)! And for what? Disputable improvement!
Click to expand...

Hmm. Very true
 
#18
carlitoswhey said:
Is babicz high mass? How does the sound compare to your old Bridge on your phone? Have you noticed any change in little details like string tension or a new type of low action you couldn't get before or is the only change in sound?
Click to expand...

It is NOT high mass, I replaced my old fender bridge with it because my screws were slipping and didn't want to bother putting nail polish on it. I want to say there is a difference in tone but I really couldn't say. I replaced the pickups at the same time.
 
#20
Frenchy-Lefty said:
... To answer your question yes the bridge or even the saddles have a huge influence on tone. Now keep in mind that it is all a matter of taste. I used to replace all my Fender bridges by Badass hardware but over the years, my tastes have changed. I now prefer the good old bent bridges for their vintage tone. Less bright with less sustain but a more woody tone. Especially if you play with a pick or use Flatwounds. So it is not necessarily going to sound "better" if you replace the bridge. Just different.
Click to expand...

+1.
 

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