Double Bass Removing the Bridge

[TroyK]

Okay, people smarter than me, I have a new Yamahiko pickup to install. I don't have a soundpost tool. Can you talk me through removing my bridge, replacing my adjusters (I got this part), and putting the bridge back without dropping the soundpost or do I need professional help with this?

I have vague memories about setting a sack of flour or sugar or something on the table before I remove the tension. I've certainly changed enough strings and I can mark the bridge and get it back in the right spot, just worried about dropping the soundpost.

 

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

Hang a hand towel over the tailpiece to protect the top and lay the bass on the G side.

 

[TroyK]

Really? I wouldn't have guessed that. I would think vertically orienting the sound post would make it less likely to fall.

Glad I asked.

 

[JBarz]

Not smarter than thee, but worst case scenerio: you don't need a soundpost setting tool. I've set many soundposts with me bare-hands, but a pair of long forceps and an old steel endpin (for the knockin'!), and a dental mirror come in handy in a pinch, too. It might be smart to go ahead and mark where it's at with a pencil taped to a ruler...

 

[mooseonbass]

I've wrapped the body with a ratchet strap and tightened it just enough to hold the sound post. I used a towel to put the force to the top and protect the finish from the ratchet.

 

[Carl Hillman]

Okay, people smarter than me, I have a new Yamahiko pickup to install. I don't have a soundpost tool. Can you talk me through removing my bridge, replacing my adjusters (I got this part), and putting the bridge back without dropping the soundpost or do I need professional help with this?

I have vague memories about setting a sack of flour or sugar or something on the table before I remove the tension. I've certainly changed enough strings and I can mark the bridge and get it back in the right spot, just worried about dropping the soundpost.

I usually use a bridge jack. Can't remember where I bought mine. It was years ago.

I've also done the weights-on-top-of-a-towel thing. It works.

 

[Sam Reese]

I learned it to lay the bass face up. My sound posts have always stayed put. YMMV

 

[TroyK]

... YMMV

Unacceptable. I'm looking for a guarantee!

 

[BassFalcon]

Not smarter than thee, but worst case scenerio: you don't need a soundpost setting tool. I've set many soundposts with me bare-hands, but a pair of long forceps and an old steel endpin (for the knockin'!), and a dental mirror come in handy in a pinch, too. It might be smart to go ahead and mark where it's at with a pencil taped to a ruler...

In my college bass studio we had as a last resort an old wire coat hanger, with the end bent into a rounded U shape. It was bent just right to snap around the errant post and set it back in to place. If it was a little too tight it would then pull the post back out, lol.

 

[Jaygetsreal]

Perhaps a bit elaborate but I also don't have soundpost tools and I wanted to avoid a visit to the luthier! I put the wooden bar below the bridge (over the soundpost) and steadily but carefully tighten the wing nuts as I loosen the strings

 

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

I wouldn't have guessed that.

The corpus only gets narrower the further you get to the edge. Where does it have to fall to?

Years ago a friend told me that he was driving his bass to a gig in the back of his truck laying on the E side. When he hit a pothole and heard the post fall he remembered my advice.

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

@TroyK I’m as nervous as you about simple bass repairs, and superstitious about sound post stuff, which I consider a dark art akin to voodoo. But when it came time to install the FC adjusters on my bass, I laid it face up on a king size bed with the scroll hanging off the side, wrapped a 10 lb barbell weight in a hand towel, and laid it down as close to the treble bridge foot as I could until I could remove the bridge. Even I wasn’t too scared to do that!

I was instructed to mark the bridge position with painter’s tape, which made it easy to get it back exactly where it was. Good luck! I am looking forward to hearing your review of the Yamahiko that you recently pooped for.

 

[unbrokenchain]

If you have an extra bridge from another project (or a similarly shaped object) you can place it forward or back from the real bridge to leave a little bit of string tension on it as well.

 

[Reiska]

Just lay the bass on it's side treble side down and loosen the strings. I also have the tailpiece wire and strings at the nut fixed with some sort of tape / kitchen paper system when taking the pressure / bridge off.

 

[AGCurry]

... the Yamahiko that you recently pooped for.

? Eww. Somebody open a window!

 

[TroyK]

The deed is done. Soundpost definitely didn't fall and I don't think it moved, but I'll use my ears and take it in for an adjustment if I start to believe differently.

I used the @KUNGfuSHERIFF method, but also wrapped a soft belt from a bathrobe around it and tied it tight before I dropped the bridge. I labeled everything with painter's tape. Not only the bridge positioning, but also which side of the bridge was toward the fingerboard and which the tailpiece and which foot went on which side. That probably wasn't necessary, but I feared disorientation and tried to make it as foolproof as possible.

The adjusters on the Yamahiko are about 8mm thick (the one with the sensor is actually a little bigger vs 5.2mm for my legacy adjusters, so I lost a bit of range, but I'm not sure that's going to matter yet and if it does, I'll have some bridge removed.

Thanks everyone for talking me through it!

 

[Inky13]

Yay! It pleases me to see people doing their own maintenance. No need to treat it like we’re cutting the blue wire on a nuclear weapon.

 

[Don Kasper]

No need to treat it like we’re cutting the blue wire on a nuclear weapon.

I was told to cut the RED wire?
Ooops....

 

[Sam Reese]

I love that blue painter's tape!

 

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

It’s perfectly fine to mark the belly with a pencil if it doesn’t have clear witness points, and I ALWAYS mark the bridge feet with a pencil. It gets ahead of many dumb problems.