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Revolutionary bass guitar bridge - what do you think?

Metal_Maniac

Metal_Maniac

Apr 30, 2017
23
15
www.rmlinnovations.com
#1
Hey guys!

I am a product designer and passionate bass player. Some years ago I designed a bass guitar bridge. I think the bridge is a highly overlooked part of the bass which traditionally little care has been given in terms of aesthetical design; screws and bolts are clearly visible. It is mainly a functional part of the instrument.

I am really curious as to what you think of this design. You can see it here:
Torpedo bass guitar bridge

These are single string units. Holes are to be drilled into the body and parts are to be mounted into the body. The action is then to be set from the back of the instrument. This is to be done by a luthier I guess. The intonation (string length) can also be set by turning a set screw inside the torpedo.
The string spacing cannot be set.
The design should be a true eye catcher on stage ;-)

What do you think of this design and how much would you be willing to pay for it in case you would like to have your bass equipped with it?


I am currently thinking of bringing this product and a number of other bass guitar bridge designs onto the market, so this is the reason I ask ;-)

Thanks in advance!
 
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#2
I don't know that that's terribly different from the Ibanez Monorail bridge.

IBA_SR1205_MonoRail_Large.jpg
 
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#7
Really? You have that nice sleek looking bridge and then ruin the looks with the ball end exposed. Make it string through, or recess the ball, or both.. I really think having to flip the bass over and over again to intone it will get very old very fast. I want to know how string height and intonation are done before offering anything else. Can you load the tech drawing of it?
 
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#8
I think it looks cool. I see a lot of metal very close to strings without seeing a defined witness point and that troubles me. Cutaway diagrams would help us decide if we think it would work or not. I agree with @sissy-kathy about hiding ball-ends or have a string through option. the height of the mass from the body makes me think about instability and wood stress. At this point I would choose the monorail system, but I think your idea is worth exploring.
Thanks for sharing your design!
 
#9
Metal_Maniac said:
I think the bridge is a highly overlooked part of the bass which traditionally little care has been given in terms of aesthetical design; screws and bolts are clearly visible. It is mainly a functional part of the instrument.
Click to expand...

The bridge is 100% a functional piece that is not overlooked at all. After strings and pickups it is the most replaced and experimented with part of the instrument. The fact that you don't know that is a major problem.

Metal_Maniac said:
The design should be a true eye catcher on stage ;-)
Click to expand...

Nobody in the audience cares what a bass bridge looks like. Ever.

Metal_Maniac said:
What do you think of this design and how much would you be willing to pay for it in case you would like to have your bass equipped with it?
Click to expand...

That bridge would devalue an instrument to the point of being a deal breaker for me. Sacrificing ease of use for aesthetics is bad design. I would literally walk away from the purchase of an instrument with it installed.
 
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#10
I think it would look out of place on most instruments other than one of Jens Ritter's basses. But it's a matter of taste when it comes to how it looks. My immediate concern was the break angle over the witness point, which looks too shallow for my liking. Functionally who knows? Saying that it's adjustable from the back of the instrument and from within the torpedo doesn't give me enough information to comment.
 
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#14
sissy kathy said:
Really? You have that nice sleek looking bridge and then ruin the looks with the ball end exposed. Make it string through, or recess the ball, or both.. I really think having to flip the bass over and over again to intone it will get very old very fast. I want to know how string height and intonation are done before offering anything else. Can you load the tech drawing of it?
Click to expand...
I like the ball ends sticking out the back - gives it a retro-futuristic Flash Gordon kinda vibe (to me). Whether the design is functionally adequate though, no clue.
 
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#17
untitled-1-jpg.jpg

Interesting. I still think the witness point area is pretty large and undefined as well as differently sized for each string gauge because there is no defined edge. That witness point will get larger with wear over time also. A big hurdle you'll have is that it can't be easily retrofitted or swapped. Surface mount bridges are pretty easy to upgrade or change out. This requires extensive modifications.
Thanks for sharing your ideas.
Good luck!
 
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#18
One of the oldest criticisms of the Fender design is that it's trying to tear itself away from the body, which moves energy in the wrong direction. This is why string-through designs tend to both sound better and give better sustain. Your design appears to push that Fender fault even more in the wrong direction. You've raised the string contact even further away from the body, which will undoubtedly lessen sustain and remove any tangible support the body could offer regarding mechanical connection of the head/saddle/whatever that thing is called.

That's my two cents, anyway.
 
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#19
You have some terms confused in your OP, action is set from the back. It can be intonated from the front. Much better. Still it doesn't appear very practical to me. String tension MAY hold the bridge down, but if you want high action what keeps the bridge elevated? Further several of the builders here state that one of the most important functions of a bridge is a solid connection between the body and the bridge. Your design offers very little of that.
 
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#20
Metal_Maniac said:
The picture attached shows the construction. I have a made a prototype and it works well actually.
Click to expand...

From your web site:
"For the Dutch guitar brand Aristides Instruments I designed a revolutionary bass guitar bridge.
.....
Extensive studies on the preferred bass guitar sound of players, the usage of the bass guitar bridge and the desired visual aesthetics were performed. "

The details of the bridge bring up more questions than they answer.

Was the prototype you made used on an Aristides bass? Do you have pictures or recordings of the bridge in use? Was this at their request or did you do it on spec? Are there any licensing issues with Aristides?

What extensive studies did you do exactly? Did you do original research or did you use secondary sources?

In what way is this bridge "revolutionary" as you say in the title of this thread, other than how it looks? What does it do, functionally, better than other designs?

The drawing you provided makes it look like it would be difficult to set a functional witness point on strings passing through the bridge, with the metal protruding beyond the contact point of the string underneath. Has this been an issue in your testing of the prototype?
 

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