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Kick-Half-Ass Bridge

#61
#63
I cannot understand why anybody would want deliberate corrosion on a functional mechanical piece of any equipment or tool.
If somebody wants to relic the wood/paint on a bass body, I guess that's a style thing but not the rest.
These damn kids today, get off my lawn, etc.
 
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#64
Gilmourisgod said:
Under what circumstances would you ever need 3" of saddle adjustment? I'm trying to understand the logic of making it that big in the first place. The original Badass wasn't that big, and it already has way more travel than needed. Maybe they were trying to make it fit in virtually any bass?
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I needed a pretty large range to properly intonate my fan-fretted Jag. That's one circumstance.
 
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#65
58kites said:
You also could have bought a smaller much lighter simple bent steel base-plate bridge for $17.

Did it occur to you to set the bass up and get your intonation correct before cutting the bridge in half?

This should be hilarious....report back asap.
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58kites said:
Hell yes.
It's lighter, looks like it belongs on a Fender Jazz Bass, mounts in the same holes, will intonate correctly, allows room for a Jazz bass bridge cover if you wanted that look, and will sound exactly how a Jazz bass should.
Too bad you cut the other one, you could have sold it for $60.
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58kites said:
Chopping up a $100 bridge is not a good idea, that's more about brains than guts.
I'm always very willing to say anything in person that I do on here, my mouth has always been difficult to censor. :thumbsup:
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58kites said:
I cannot understand why anybody would want deliberate corrosion on a functional mechanical piece of any equipment or tool.
If somebody wants to relic the wood/paint on a bass body, I guess that's a style thing but not the rest.
These damn kids today, get off my lawn, etc.
Click to expand...


3CD6C2B4-0033-4928-9036-79940DEC67D4.png
 
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#67
studio848 said:
Long story short - I decided to trim this Hipshot Kick-Ass V/5 bridge a bit (Bad-Ass knock off). It looked huge and ugly on the bass IMHO, and I've never really bought into the high mass bridge thingy.
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img_20200701_100415-2-jpg.3908726

An improvement, but I think in your situation it would have been better to get a different bridge without so much body behind the screws. The most visually jarring thing about your situation is that the corner of the bridge gets so close to the edge of the body. I assume this is a combination of it being a bit wider (5 string) bridge and a smaller-than-standard J-bass body.

It's ever so slightly different as it's been positioned for a custom 35" neck but here's how a Badass can look on a standard -in this case Allparts- Jazz bass body.
DSC_6079.jpg

I like chrome, but I also think part of what makes it work visually is that there's a similar amount of wood between the bridge and butt of bass as the bridge and pickup.
 
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#68
58kites said:
I cannot understand why anybody would want deliberate corrosion on a functional mechanical piece of any equipment or tool.
If somebody wants to relic the wood/paint on a bass body, I guess that's a style thing but not the rest.
These damn kids today, get off my lawn, etc.
Click to expand...

It's like when you see Mike and Frank restore a car on American Pickers but they leave the patina - or how the overlook looks in Dr. Sleep. Especially if it naturally happens due to sweat from playing.

I can't imagine a naturally relic'd guitar having pristine hardware on it - I watched a video recently where a vintage fender jag was restored and required a new nut, before the new nut was artificially yellowed/aged to match it looked very out of place.

As long as the functional mechanical piece of equipment remains functional, for me personally it doesn't matter if it looks a little rusted or worn out.
 
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#69
I think many basses with normal player wear (that are less than 40 years old) don't really have lots of corrosion.
Nothing like the chemical aging done on relic jobs.
My basses (all bought used) are 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1990, 1992, 1992 no hardware corrosion on any of those. One from 2003 has dull tuners.
 
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#70
58kites said:
I think most basses with honest player wear that are less than 40+ years don't really have lots of corrosion.
Nothing like the fake chemical aging done on relic jobs.
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My brother's strat is about 23 years old - it is a MIM Fender Deluxe with gold plated hardware that has naturally corroded over time (from the bridge to the tuners), the only thing that it really needs is new bridge saddles and he doesn't want to change them because of how they look (my plan is to age some new ones and then replace them - keeping the old ones marked and in my parts inventory).

The same goes for my MIJ Fender P-Bass Lyte Deluxe, the gold hardware on it has naturally corroded over the last 20 years and it looks great to me.

Not that I don't like shiny parts too - I just prefer when the hardware matches the over all aesthetic of the instrument.
 
#71
58kites said:
I think many basses with normal player wear (that are less than 40 years old) don't really have lots of corrosion.
Nothing like the chemical aging done on relic jobs.
My basses (all bought used) are 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1990, 1992, 1992 no hardware corrosion on any of those. One from 2003 has dull tuners.
Click to expand...
I've got a Japanese bass made in 67 or 68 that's in relatively good shape as far as the chrome parts. Some pitting, some slight staining, but nothing major. And I used to have a Schaller bridge on my 76 P body that was pretty pitted on the saddles but not too bad elsewhere. Pretty good shape for being close to 40 years old at this point. At least that's what I hope the fellow who bought it thinks :D And my 5-string's 30 years old now and the hardware still looks like almost new. Still, if someone wishes to have artificially aged hardware, I say have at it. I don't do it because I'm afraid it'll start working like crap, but I do like the aesthetic on certain basses.
 
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