Well I had a slight accident while re-stringing this bass last week. the bridge snapped on one side where the adjuster is. I've never come across a problem like this before, I am always careful to put slight pressure down on the bridge with my right hand while tuning up to prevent the strings, moreso the round wounds, pulling the top of the bridge forward. So I believe it was nice and straight but just was weak enough to give way. BANG!! part of it flew across the room hitting the window, and I found one of the feet behind a chair in the corner of the room. And yes, the sound post fell over too
.... was not impressed. and all of this was at about 11pm, when I had a gig the next morning.
(yeh I know, 'why was I changing strings the day before a gig??!' - because it was a short gig, no amp, then I had 4 days for the strings to settle before the next gig, plus I was super keen to try these new guts)
Anyhow, BEFORE the bridge broke, the bass sounded incredible. I havent heard anything like it, especially on my bass. The strings in question, are a full set of NOS Artone guts. Just awesome, this is the tone I have been searching for and come very close to with other strings, but of course each brand of gut string have slightly different tension and gauge, all affecting the sound.
I was running back and forward to the stereo and cranking some old LP's of Paul Chambers, particularly his solo on 'Good Bait' on Soultrane, and his solo walking line at the beginning of the blues on Louis Smith's 'Smithville'. Man this was so incredibly close to that sound I couldn't stop smiling!....until BANG when the bridge broke.
So anyway, I dug out the soundpost adjusting tools and the mirror, and managed to set the soundpost up again in the correct position. And then I spent a good while until the wee hours, sanding the feet on a spare adjustable bridge (off a different bass) to fit the belly of this bass. Took a while but I managed to get it playable for the gig the following morning. But the spare bridge was too high, even when wound right down low, the strings were still far too high about 18mm off the fingerboard and the bass sounded choked. I got through the gig, and took it straight to a local luthier who fitted a new Aubert bridge WITHOUT adjusters. I haven't adjusted the height for a long time, I know where I like the action, about 10-12mm off the end of the fingerboard, so went with the one piece bridge. Best thing I've ever done. Also got him to dish the fingerboard properly so now I have no string rattles.
Picked it up yesterday and very happy. The solid bridge makes a big difference, it has a warmer 'woodier' tone and seems a bit louder. Also I have taken off the big heavy tailpiece and switched to a lightweight plastic one which really frees the bass up, and has made probably the biggest difference to the increase in volume, I was really surprised. Also a couple of weeks ago I made a timber endpin which again I think has helped increase the volume and bottom end especially when playing on floor boards or a hollow timber stage. The metal endpin is now purely for transporting the bass, as it can slide inside the button, whereas the timber one is not adjustable and wedges in there for my height.
This morning the Artones sound amazing. They haven't had nearly the time I initially wanted for them to stretch and settle in before tonight but they are getting there. I am so happy with this setup. Did I mention the Artones sound incredible??
I'll take some pics once I'm finished toying with the string height (I got him to set it up so the action is slightly too high, then I will make the final adjustments and sand the top of the bridge myself)
Just so glad that my bridge didn't break on a gig, but in a way its a blessing in disguise because my bass now sounds better than ever, without the string rattles
im not trying to be paul chambers at all. i love listening to his recordings and quoting some of his melodies etc but my playing style is influenced also by sam jones, israel crosby, ray brown, doug watkins, wilbur ware, larry gales, jymie merrit, jimmy garrison, dennis irwin, john webber etc and the list goes on.
