High mass bridges do not always “improve” sustain. They will change the resonant frequency of your bass to whatever you determine to be good or bad. Some plunky notes may move to another fret and you may get some wolf notes where you didn’t have them before. Or maybe you already have some wolf notes. I’m in the save your money camp.
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Recommendations on a replacement Jazz bass bridge
- Thread starter davidjbass
- Start date
There are no slots to keep the bridge saddle's in place. I play mostly on the bridge pick up and I can feel them move when I play hard. Also the bridge is real cheap.
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Haven`t personally noticed a difference between my stock brass bridge on my P (see yellow bass in my avatar) and a Leo Quan BAII, so I switched back. As mentioned here earlier, the Fender replacement bridge has all the aesthetics of the LQ and matches up perfectly with screw holes.
Gotcha. Quick-fix: thread a zip-tie around the intonation screws and cinch-up. This "bunches" the saddles and should prevent any lateral shifting.
Riis
IMHO and IME the best bridge is a Fender bent plate with threaded saddles. As already mentioned, bridges make very little difference in sound and etc. They can add up to 5 to 6 oz of extra weight to the bass.
I personally think that 90% of the tone is in your fingers, bridges are more of a tool to help you play, not to improve your playing.
This is my experience with bridges retrofit.
1. I've installed a hipshot kickass in a Jaguar, it is great because you can adjust the string spacing.
2. I retroffited a 2TEK bridge in a CS Jazz bass and it has sustain for days. Sustain for days, but an expensive mod that most likely requires to replace the tuners to compensate for the added weight.
3. The Sadowsky bridge is my favorite -I didn't replace it-, you can replace strings in a matter of minutes.
4. The badass brige is very cool looking. didn't notice a significant tone or sustain improvement on my Urge. Probably is because the bass is already string thru.
I'd recommend a replacement bridge that combines 1 and 3.
Attachments
Since you’ve already decided to replace the bridge I won’t try to convince you otherwise despite there being several things I could say.
So for 3rd party replacements I’d suggest looking at bridges made by: Leo Quan, Hipshot, Grover, and Schaller. They’re all good. And IMO they’re also interchangeable since a good bridge is a good bridge and gets its very simple job done. I’ve used all of the above on different basses over the years as well as the Babicz Full Contact Bridge which I consider over engineered and overpriced and therefore won’t recommend it. If I did need to replace a bridge right now I’d probably opt for a Hipshot since they’re easy to get a hold of where I am and you can occasionally find them on sale.
Just for the record, I don’t think any of these 3rd party replacements are going to get you what you hope they will unless the bridge you presently have is broken. But that’s something you’ll probably have to discover for yourself just like I did. Either way, happy bridge hunting!
So for 3rd party replacements I’d suggest looking at bridges made by: Leo Quan, Hipshot, Grover, and Schaller. They’re all good. And IMO they’re also interchangeable since a good bridge is a good bridge and gets its very simple job done. I’ve used all of the above on different basses over the years as well as the Babicz Full Contact Bridge which I consider over engineered and overpriced and therefore won’t recommend it. If I did need to replace a bridge right now I’d probably opt for a Hipshot since they’re easy to get a hold of where I am and you can occasionally find them on sale.
Just for the record, I don’t think any of these 3rd party replacements are going to get you what you hope they will unless the bridge you presently have is broken. But that’s something you’ll probably have to discover for yourself just like I did. Either way, happy bridge hunting!
Like pickups & strings; you won't really know until you try one (or three)...
Keep in mind, you may have to shim the neck to achieve desired string height with a hi-mass bridge.
(Action really isn't part of the formula here - unless you're referring to adjustable string spacing)
Not sure whether or not aftermarket bridges sound better, but some of them can offer added utility. A nice choice is the Hipshot B style. Mechanically it’s pretty much the same as a standard Fender bridge but it adds a little more mass along the sides that keeps your hands from rubbing against the rough parts. And it offers quick release, which I like a lot changing strings. It is available with a Fender hole pattern and would be my first choice.
I have a Babicz bridge on my P-bass. Those are sort of a whole different approach to the adjustment mechanics. Personally I think it’s a little too clever and doesn’t do anything any better than a simpler saddle adjustment model. Cool engineering though.
I have a Babicz bridge on my P-bass. Those are sort of a whole different approach to the adjustment mechanics. Personally I think it’s a little too clever and doesn’t do anything any better than a simpler saddle adjustment model. Cool engineering though.
Babicz FCP bridge made a noticeable improvement on the tone and sustain of my '86 Fender Jazz Bass Special vs. the stock bent steel bridge. One of my basses has a Hipshot A bridge – I have no comment on tone and sustain, but it's a breeze to restring because of the slotted tailpiece.
It is my experience that jazz basses sound the most like the typical j sound with a good old fashioned stamped and bent Fender bridge.
I’ve had the high mass versions, including your BA2 and find that the high mass bridges are good for going “modern” and active j sound, kind of like Marcus Miller with a lot of booty, tame mids and super sharp highs. No idea why this might be the case but it is what I’ve noticed.
So it all depends on what your goals are for this bass!
Lots of great thoughts and suggestions from all. Except maybe the beer one LOL! And thanks to all. I really did not want to get into a major tech discussion about it I I just wanted to get ideas of what everyone used. I guess I am old school so I am going to go with the Leo Quad bridge. From my research it seems like it's the best and easiest replacement bridge for a Fender that I can install and set up myself. Peace to all.
I among the group that believes the bridge affects tone. Others may disagree.
But... there are aspects of bridge design that do not affect tone and yet are not subjective. For example: the original (and still used) standard Fender bass bridge has saddles that move side-to-side - even under tension. The saddle height screws are also the primary connection to the base of the bridge and offer very little contact space to transfer the vibrations to the body.
There are more modern bridges designed to compensate for this. A short (but not complete) list: Babicz Full Contact, Hipshot (several models), Leo Quan Badass (several models), Omega (which is a remake of the Badass II), KSM Foundation, ...
But... there are aspects of bridge design that do not affect tone and yet are not subjective. For example: the original (and still used) standard Fender bass bridge has saddles that move side-to-side - even under tension. The saddle height screws are also the primary connection to the base of the bridge and offer very little contact space to transfer the vibrations to the body.
There are more modern bridges designed to compensate for this. A short (but not complete) list: Babicz Full Contact, Hipshot (several models), Leo Quan Badass (several models), Omega (which is a remake of the Badass II), KSM Foundation, ...
I really like high mass bridges. Had fender high mass, BA's, gotohs, etc. Really like the babicz, and have a gotoh on my fretless jazz. However, I found no difference in tone (and I wanted to believe...just found no difference other than ease of use). If you do, great. I didnt.
The Babitz saved my bacon on a build where the original intent was to use a Gotoh201. I could not get the action low enough using the Gotoh, not without grinding the G string barrel. The Babitz, which I have already purchased for another build, needed no mods or extra routing and provided easy set up and intonation.
I hope this helps.
I hope this helps.
It always bothered me that so much thought could go into the development of every other part of the bass, but that stupid little bent-metal bridge looks like an engineering afterthought. If players don't care about that, I'm not going to try to make them care, and the bent metal bridge serves the purpose for those who don't care.
But there are too many good options these days to settle for something that's sub-optimum.
The only thing I've considered upgrading a bridge for is slotted top-loading bridges that allow for quick string changes without pulling them through a hole. I would consider a better looking one to replace one that's ugly, but I would not expect any change in tone.
I have a Leo quann badass bridge on my PJ that I like.
I replaced the bridge on my CIJ Fender Jaguar with a Hipshot Kickass bridge. I decided to do it (along with lighter tuning machines) to try to fix the neckdive I was experiencing.
Not only did it fix the neckdive completely but it also made a noticable difference in sustain. It sustains MUCH longer that it did before.
I replaced the bridge on my CIJ Fender Jaguar with a Hipshot Kickass bridge. I decided to do it (along with lighter tuning machines) to try to fix the neckdive I was experiencing.
Not only did it fix the neckdive completely but it also made a noticable difference in sustain. It sustains MUCH longer that it did before.
Just keep in mind that due to the BA2's thicker base plate, the minimum action possible will be higher than that of the default bridge. This is something I recently encountered while trying larger string gauges, as the increased tension makes me prefer having a lower action than usual.
That's a different requirement to what you initially posted. Lots of solutions for that.
