My experience with notorious Gibson 3-point bridge

[4andnomore]

Just picked up a Gibson Les Paul DC Jr. Great little bass. I've previously owned a few Gibsons, all with the 3 point bridge, all purchased used and nicely set up by the previous owner.

The DC played really well right out of the box. The action was a little high for my liking so I decided to do a basic set up. In doing so, I couldn't quite wrap my head around the 3-point bridge, particularly with how to adjust the middle screw in relation to the others (turns out this is super-important). Anyway, I did an exhaustive search and found absolutely nothing published by Gibson - no instructions, no specs, nothing. Lucky enough I found a very well-written post here on TB, and following the instructions I was easily able to set the action and intonation perfectly to my liking. Total time spent, maybe 10 minutes, and the bass plays and sounds amazing. Now that I understand the mechanics, I quite like the simple design and monolithic appearance of the Gibson bridge. I'm glad it worked out and have absolutely no desire to replace it.

This all got me thinking, does the 3-point bridge get a bad rap? Would Gibson do themselves a big favor by publishing an instructional video or two? Has anyone had a similar experience?

 

[ajkula66]

This all got me thinking, does the 3-point bridge get a bad rap?

Most people start on Fender-esque basses and to them, The Oil Rig offers a very counter-intuitive experience. The lack of ability to adjust the height of the individual string is a big deal to many, along with the silk portion of the string often extending over the saddle. There have been reports of the posts pulling out of the body as well, although I've never experienced that myself.

Now, imagine that you were a bass player in the pre-Internet era and had no one to guide you on how to adjust the 3-pointer. You probably wouldn't have been a happy camper. Additionally, imagine thousands of people having that experience and voicing their grief to anyone willing to listen, which inevitably got all the imperfect aspects of the bridge in question magnified to intergalactic proportions over the next 40 years so nowadays most people believe that it's just a crap design.

I learned to live with The Oil Rig back in the late '80s on my RD Standard long before replacements became available, and was able to set it up to play beautifully after some initial head scratching. Having said that, any bass with with a 3-pointer that would enter my house nowadays would get a Hipshot swapped in within a week, no questions asked.

Would Gibson do themselves a big favor by publishing an instructional video or two? Has anyone had a similar experience?

Gibson never cared much about the bass players, and the folks that run the show nowadays care even less than usual. IMO, that is.

My $0.02 only...

 

[Bass V]

I'd like to see a simple compensated wraparound stud bridge

 

[rockinrayduke]

Hipshot Supertone. Direct fit.

 

[godofthunder59]

I've been a Gibson player for my entire career. The three point is a complete P.O.S. I honestly can't think of one useful design feature.

 

[rtslinger]

my 0.2 I have had my Gibson Ripper for 45 years bought it brand new got it set up then and never EVER have I had to adjust it.
and the action is still amazing

 

[4andnomore]

I've been a Gibson player for my entire career. The three point is a complete P.O.S. I honestly can't think of one useful design feature.

I'm just curious, why exactly do you say it's junk? What don't you like about it and why might I shell out over a hundred bucks to replace it?

 

[M.R. Ogle]

My favorite "feature" of the three-point bridge is when you take the strings off, and turn the bass over to string it and all the saddles fall out. That and the ones that the mounting studs migrate out of the body. Yes, both Gibsons and Epiphones. You can't individually raise/lower string height. No thanks.

 

[godofthunder59]

I'm just curious, why exactly do you say it's junk? What don't you like about it and why might I shell out over a hundred bucks to replace it?

It looks like it was cast in a 7th grade shop class of cheap pot metal. There is not enough space between the saddles and the string anchor so the strings wraps at the bridge end ride over the saddles . There is nowhere near enough string break abgle over the saddles, the small tensioning anchor at the front is supposed to compensate for this but it's a poor substitute for correct string break angle. Gibson used this bridge on so many basses often with out considering if it it a good match for what they are developing. Many basses equipped with this bridge you can't get the action low enough. The saddles are notched making for a wide contact point with the sting, not optimal. The saddles fall out if you break at string. I could go on, I've dealt with it enough, nothing anyone can say will ever change my mind about the thing.
Saying that the three point bridge isn't such a bad bridge is like saying Charlie Brown had good taste in Christmas trees.

 

[msb]

I've learned to live with them , can't say I love them . I've got three basses with them and sold a fourth . Now I happen to love the wooden popsicle stick bridge Dano make so my opinions are somewhat suspect ...

 

[EatS1stBassist]

Just picked up a Gibson Les Paul DC Jr. Great little bass. I've previously owned a few Gibsons, all with the 3 point bridge, all purchased used and nicely set up by the previous owner.

The DC played really well right out of the box. The action was a little high for my liking so I decided to do a basic set up. In doing so, I couldn't quite wrap my head around the 3-point bridge, particularly with how to adjust the middle screw in relation to the others (turns out this is super-important). Anyway, I did an exhaustive search and found absolutely nothing published by Gibson - no instructions, no specs, nothing. Lucky enough I found a very well-written post here on TB, and following the instructions I was easily able to set the action and intonation perfectly to my liking. Total time spent, maybe 10 minutes, and the bass plays and sounds amazing. Now that I understand the mechanics, I quite like the simple design and monolithic appearance of the Gibson bridge. I'm glad it worked out and have absolutely no desire to replace it.

This all got me thinking, does the 3-point bridge get a bad rap? Would Gibson do themselves a big favor by publishing an instructional video or two? Has anyone had a similar experience?

Make a video and put on YouTube!

 

[EdwardofHuncote]

I've had several basses with them. Not my favorite feature, but I never saw what was so difficult about them either. I guess my biggest gripe is that the silks on the strings I prefer lay over the saddles.

 

[elgranluis]

I'd like to see a simple compensated wraparound stud bridge

You mean like the original ones in the eb0, and eb1?

 

[_One//Man//Mutiny_]

Hipshot Supertone. Direct fit.

I put one of those on my RumbleKat and it made all the difference!

 

[ajkula66]

I'd like to see a simple compensated wraparound stud bridge

To see it, sure. To hear it in action...not so much.

You mean like the original ones in the eb0, and eb1?

These were neither wrap-around nor compensated.

 

[Deleted member 271037]

I honestly don't see the problem with the 3-point bridge? It's FAR less complicated to adjust than most bridges. Come on, it's THREE SCREWS! Anyone who struggles with the Gibson 3-point would probably end up in a padded cell if they were forced to adjust a Sandberg without the manual!

As for not being able to adjust individual saddles... If the bass is properly made the saddles on the 3-point should follow the radius of the fingerboard nicely. Of course I've seen SHOCKINGLY many Epiphones with the wrong saddles installed in the 3-point bridge. The individual saddles are numbered 1-4 and if some moron at the Epiphone (Cort?) factory installed three number ones... well, you're pretty much screwed. But that's poor QC, not a problem with the 3-point design itself. A properly installed 3-point on a properly made bass works perfectly fine and is also one of the EASIER brigdes to adjust IMO.

The ONLY thing I don't like about the Gibson 3-point is when I remove the strings, forget about the loose saddles and have to crawl around the floor to find them. Other than that: No problems whatsoever!

I might also add that I own a Gibson SG bass from the year when they used the Babicz bridge and it's a LOT more hassle to adjust than the 3-point. Plus the 3-point looks WAY cooler.

 

[Bass V]

To see it, sure. To hear it in action...not so much.



These were neither wrap-around nor compensated.

if it works on guitar, why not bass? even the slant bar wasn't that bad, plenty pros kept them.

 

[TBird1958]

Never been a problem for me, just be at least half as smart as the thing you're trying to do!

 

[ajkula66]

if it works on guitar, why not bass?

Wrapping around bass strings...not a good concept IMO. Too thick

even the slant bar wasn't that bad, plenty pros kept them.

As long as you play flats. They suck with rounds.

 

[godofthunder59]

I used to replace them with the Badass I bridge almost immediately. I've mellowed over the years and leave them be even though I think they are a very poor design.