Ibanez SRX705...What's WITH that bridge?

[BeowulfKingsley]

Anybody have any experience with these basses and their bizarre bridge? What were they thinking and why, I wonder? They're lovely basses aside from that, but the one-screw-per-polepiece is just such a goofy idea. I'd love to hear from anyone who's owned one, and get their feedback.

 

[hypercarrots]

What is a thread without pictures?
View attachment 2791932

 

[Killed_by_Death]

Yeah, I've declined buying a H.R. Giger SRX, because of that!

The break angle is too steep with that design & the left side of the saddles get bent down towards the body, because of it.

If you notice the B210 bridge has similar saddles, but they don't get bent down, because the string path is straighter:

View attachment 2791936

 

[Killed_by_Death]

I complained about it on a Ibanez FB group & they went ballistic on me!
None of them ever had that problem, but ironically I've seen it on EVERY B200 bridge that I've encountered.

 

[BeowulfKingsley]

I've only encountered one, but it had the same problem. It's a shame, too. The rest of that instrument is really well crafted. But there's nothing that I could find that would work as a replacement...that darn bridge is too big.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

Maybe you could buy the saddles made for a B210 & they'd work, but it would be a gamble:

There's also the issue of the SRX705 only being a 34" scale, which some say hurts the B-string's resonance.

 

[BeowulfKingsley]

I've had a few 34" 5s and 6s, and really had no problems with the B strings myself. Changing the saddles is an interesting idea.