Looking for a black 16mm 5 string bridge

[jurberg]

I've been scouring the interwebs to find a black 5 string bridge with 16mm spacing. I'm hoping to add all black hardware to my black Fender MB-5. Only thing I've found is this one: Vintage style 5-string Bass Bridge/64mm. Bad news is I can only buy it in quantities of 20 and the company is not responding to my emails.

Any tips on where I could find a single one of these?

 

[Lownote38]

Good luck with this. The MB-5 is 16.5 mm spacing. Currently, I haven't seen anything that will drop in without a fight. There used to be a bridge on Bass Parts Resource (which is now guitar parts resource) just called "Economy 5-string Bridge". It was closer to 17mm, but fit perfectly. The holes even lined up!! That one came in black as well. I can't even find a good replacement in chrome these days.
I think Hipshot might be your best option. The MB-5 is worthy of such a bridge.

 

[jurberg]

Good luck with this. The MB-5 is 16.5 mm spacing. Currently, I haven't seen anything that will drop in without a fight. There used to be a bridge on Bass Parts Resource (which is now guitar parts resource) just called "Economy 5-string Bridge". It was closer to 17mm, but fit perfectly. The holes even lined up!! That one came in black as well. I can't even find a good replacement in chrome these days.
I think Hipshot might be your best option. The MB-5 is worthy of such a bridge.

I found something similar a while back. The listing claimed it was 16mm but it turned out to be 17mm. Screw holes were a perfect fit but I was unable to find a way to position it where both B and G string were on the neck all the way to the end

 

[testing1two]

The Kahler 2440 series with narrow saddles will get you there. Definitely a departure from a vintage bent plate though.

2440 Series Professional Fixed Bass Bridge System – Kahler International

 

[Lownote38]

I found something similar a while back. The listing claimed it was 16mm but it turned out to be 17mm. Screw holes were a perfect fit but I was unable to find a way to position it where both B and G string were on the neck all the way to the end

Interesting! The strings are pretty close to the edge of the fret board with the stock bridge. Maybe what I ended up getting was a 16 mm. It worked. That's all I can remember, as it was over a decade ago.

 

[Lownote38]

I found something similar a while back. The listing claimed it was 16mm but it turned out to be 17mm. Screw holes were a perfect fit but I was unable to find a way to position it where both B and G string were on the neck all the way to the end

I've seen people put that on an MB-5, and it defaced it in my opinion. I'd pay for a Hipshot A style before I'd use a Kahler.

 

[Bob_Ross]

The Kahler 2440 series with narrow saddles will get you there. Definitely a departure from a vintage bent plate though.

2440 Series Professional Fixed Bass Bridge System – Kahler International

Came in to post ^^^this.

 

[Tigger#76]

The Hipshot A style bridge with Fender mount can get down to 16.5mm spacing and you can get it direct from Hipshot (or some other sources, sometimes cheaper). A Schaller roller bridge (model 496) can get down to 15.9mm spacing (it can get lower string to string, but for evenly spaced across all five strings, 15.9 is it). The Schaller will probably require some drilling for new screw holes, but I'm not 100% certain on that (I've never tried putting one on a Fender bass). You can get it from Warmoth (and probably some other places, but you have to get the right one, they have a similar model that appears to have slightly wider spacing, but it can still get down to 16.3mm spacing).

 

[jurberg]

I finally found a black 16mm 5 string bridge on eBay. The holes didn't line up perfectly but I got it in. Here's the bass with black knobs and bridge:

 

[Baker69]

Albridge make a 16mm spacing 5 string bass bridge, I think it's called the MB5.

They are available in black and a polished metal finish.

 

[Mikeus]

The Kahler 2440 series with narrow saddles will get you there. Definitely a departure from a vintage bent plate though.

2440 Series Professional Fixed Bass Bridge System – Kahler International

Bump this thread as I'm look for a 16.5mm string spacing bridge..

But I cant see anything about 16.5mm string spacing on their website though

Could fit this bass?

 

[testing1two]

Bump this thread as I'm look for a 16.5mm string spacing bridge..

But I cant see anything about 16.5mm string spacing on their website though

Could fit this bass?

It's on the Kahler site, you just have to do the unit conversion from Decimal Freedom Units to millimeters. The narrowest string spacing is 0.55" which is about 14mm.

That said in order for it, or any non-original bridge to fit your bass, a tech would likely need to fit a block of wood to fill that cavity.

 

[Mikeus]

It's on the Kahler site, you just have to do the unit conversion from Decimal Freedom Units to millimeters. The narrowest string spacing is 0.55" which is about 14mm.

That said in order for it, or any non-original bridge to fit your bass, a tech would likely need to fit a block of wood to fill that cavity.

View attachment 7537702

It's not very deep cavity, looks about 5mm..