I forgot to mention that when setting your string height you can set it a little low being that you have adjusters this will let have string height that can "jazz" height or with adjusters raised "bluegrass" height.
With all that said, next step.
Take your new bridge off your bass, take the feet and adjusters off.
Use your clamps and secure your bridge to a working surface.
You want the flat side(tailpiece side) on your working surface and the top of the bridge (where the strings sit) facing you, clamps on the leg parts, make sure to use something to pad where your clamps touch the bridge. I used scraps cardboard.
With your bridge secure, grab your sanding block with some 180grit on it , and sand down the beveled side of the bridge ( fingerboard side evenly till you have about 3/8th of an inch of wood, don't touch too much below the legs arch and keep the angle of the bevel kind of steep. This will give you more meat on your new bridge. Take a look at some picture of bridges this will give you an idea of how think you want it, mine is a little thicker than my DB bridge.
Put everything back together again and check it on your bass with mild tension on the strings.
DO YOU LIKE IT,DOES IT LOOK GOOD, IF YOU BOW WILL IT WORK FOR ARCO?
IF SO YOUR ALMOST DONE. THE REST IS EASY.
Take bridge out of bass hold in hand, sanding block with 180 grit, and LIGHTLY take a little of the hard edge of the bridge on the top both TP side and FB side.
All your looking to do is round of the edges a little so the bridge does not damage your strings.
DO YOU STILL HAVE MARKS WHERE YOU WANT YOUR STRINGS?
If not put small ones back on it and check it.
Using your small files put the appropriate size grooves on the top where your strings will sit.
GROOVES FOR STRINGS SHOULD LET YOUR STRINGS SIT IN THE BRIDGE ABOUT 1/3RD OF STRING, LEAVING 2/3RDS 0F THE STRING OUT OF THE BRIDGE. THESE ARE GROOVES.
BUT NOT SLOTS!!THOSE ARE THE THINGS YOU HAVE ON YOUR NUT.
MAKE SURE EACH GROOVE SIZE IS RELATED TO THE STRING THAT WILL SIT IN IT.
So your E will be a little fatter and deeper where as your G will look kind of like it is floating on top. Different kinda string will be different diameters so there is no standard
If you have grooves that are too deep they will be quieter and not respond as well, and if the grooves are too wide they will buzz. If you mess up it's not the end of the world but, you will have to start over again. This means sanding all of the grooves you put in and redoing them.
Once your grooves are proper, use some of your scrap 180grit sandpaper and gently sand away the roughness of the saddles of the bridge, make sure you put a little of an angle in your grooves where the string enteres and leaves.
Kind of the same idea how a saddle works on a Bass Guitar.
While the bridge is out you can do some other stuff like sand the wings so they fit your Realist, or Bassmax, or whatever as well rounding the hard edges of the bridge to make it look pretty.
I THINK THAT EVERYTHING. IF SOME ONE KNOWS SOME THAT I MIGHT HAVE MISSED OR GOT COMPLETELY WRONG,
PLEASE POST CORRECTIONS.
THIS METHOD IS A NON-POWER TOOL METHOD, IF YOU WANT TO USE BELT SANDER OR ORBITAL SANDER OR A RECIPROCATING SAW..... YOU DO AT YOUR OWN RISK.
For me I like doing it by hand. It's a lot harder to mess it up, and you catch your mistakes sooner.
Good luck and have fun.
This sounds way more complicated than it is.
Looking forward to the "How To" part.
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