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Double Bass Overpriced bridge on a cheap bass?
- Thread starter phangtonpower
- Start date
Not all bridges are the same and fit on all basses. There are different sizes (height and feet distances), so better leg the luthier analyse what the dimensions off the bridge are before ordering a bridge.
And prices seem to be very high in Japan. In Europe it is more similar to the prices mentioned by Eric. I can get a complete setup (new bridge with fitting, moving the soundpost and get the fingerboard planed) for about 400€ to 500€.
And prices seem to be very high in Japan. In Europe it is more similar to the prices mentioned by Eric. I can get a complete setup (new bridge with fitting, moving the soundpost and get the fingerboard planed) for about 400€ to 500€.
yeah I'm a little bummed out on the pricing here, but have no choice in this situation.
And thanks for heads up on the sizing. Actually that is the reason why I'm taking it in. They also want to see the Gollihur's website and see the dimensions.
Didn't see anyone mention doublebass. Does make sense though. There were some words flying around that I didn't recognize. Also never heard of a Suzuki bass. Figured it was a Japan thing.
You could probably do the work yourself it you wanted to. Youtube videos, instructions on the web, books, etc. It wouldn't be that hard. I'd like to see you save some bucks (yen) and get the satisfaction. Just an idea. Good luck.
Dammit. I learn this now after dropping about a grand at David Gage. DRURB was trolling me all along....
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I actually looked into it. I love DIY, but this is something I don't want to mess with.
Just came back. One thing I found weird is that they wanted me to order a bride for a 4/4 when my bass is a 3/4. Well technically it's sized 4/4 on the label inside, but Japanese basses are weird. She knew that they are sized different though. She still took measurements and decided I should order a 4/4 bridge.
Also asking her if I should order a bridge with or without the adjusters already installed, she said they would prefer it to have the adjusters installed.
It is hard to fit a bridge to the top with the adjusters already installed. Usually the bridge is fitted without the adjusters to the top and then the hole is drilled, the feet are cut and the adjusters are installed.
I guess the fitting might get bad with pre-installed adjusters and in this case you might be able to do it yourself in more or less the same quality.
About 35 years ago, when I was at high school, I tried to fit a bridge (no adjusters) to a plywood bass in rather bad condition without knowing how to do that correctly (the bass did not have a bridge, so no reference). Of course the feet fitting was rather bad, but I was able to play the bass and did this for over ten years (but only a few years as my main instrument) before getting my current instrument.
So think about pushing out that much money for a bridge that might be fitted at least non-optimal. Correcting this is difficult once the adjusters are installed.
If you know the sizes, better get a cheap bridge yourself and try it yourself. Get the Traeger book if you are not sure how to do it or look around here how to fit a bridge to a bass. It doesn't matter if the bridge gets ruined if it is cheap. Maybe you get enough experience to order a second better bridge afterwards and fit it well. Then you can think of ordering the installers and try to fit them on the cheap bridge first to find out how to do it and then do it to the better one.
If your luthier wants to fit a bridge with pre-installed adjusters, I'm afraid she has no idea how to install adjusters to a bridge and why installing adjusters after fitting the bridge gets you a better quality fitting than fitting a bridge with wobbly feet. I'm sure she will do the job in some way, but it might not be worth the money, even in Japan.
If you can find a dedicated double bass luthier elsewhere, even if it is a several hours drive, you might get a second opinion and hopefully a better done job.
Well I've already committed with them ><
I think I could trust them since they were pretty honest and had a few basses worth $30,000 that they setup.
Japan is a weird place. Their business is in a nice apartment complex with the doors always double locked filled with crazy expensive instruments!
I have fitted two bridges and the other one is on a 3/4 size Kiso Suzuki laminate, which really is 1/2 size. It`s a normal 3/4 size bridge and it does the job. However, I wouldn`t recommend bridge fitting to anyone, it really is a pain in the ass. Doable, but it takes a lot of time, trial and error and is a tough job to do. My bridges were both fixed types.
I had a despiau** bridge installed on my plywood czech bass and i love it but it was my gigging bass when i did that and it didnt cost me anything. If I had to buy a blank I would go with a Teller blank for 20E. If it has nice grain and fitted well it would be just as good.
I wouldnt try to put a bridge on your bass if youre serious about music. The less you know about how to setup a bass the less time you spend on setup and more on practice. Im very envy of those guys in my college who dont know what strings are on their basses ))
I wouldnt try to put a bridge on your bass if youre serious about music. The less you know about how to setup a bass the less time you spend on setup and more on practice. Im very envy of those guys in my college who dont know what strings are on their basses ))
- Aug 1, 2005
- 3,546
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- Private Inventor - Bass Capos
That's what I thought too, but they are letting me order something else for them to install.
