The infamous Badass Bridge

[cbass1]

so how does a bridge make a bass sound more zingy? I am intrigued because I have a Yamaha BB3000s that has an e string that just sounds real "thuddy", I like the piano like tone of warwicks and was curious if a BA2 might be what I need.

 

[SGD Lutherie]

Actually, it softend the attack by widening the magnetic field using the spaced poles thereby preventing the string from exiting and re-entering the magnetic field during the inital attack as it can on a single narrow pole per string design, thereby alleiviating the attendent spike when the E field collapsed and was re-established as the result of the string moving to the edges or out and back into the mag field when played hard or with a strong attack.

The magnetic field drops with the square of the distance, and the poles are farther away from the center of the string.

I find blade or other continuous field pickups have a softer attack than my OEM SCPB pickups.

Because blade poles have less magnetic pull than rod poles. A typical Fender pickup with alnico 5 magnets reads about 860 Gauss at each magnet. I make dual blade neo humbuckers that only read about 400 G at the blades, even though the neos read over 1500G. The field is evenly distributed over the length of the blade, and not in a small hot spot.

 

[officialjlox]

Random question- I'm probably going to be picking one of these up for an upgrade to my MIM Jazz. I read about the slotted vs unslotted, but my question is where can you buy them pre-slotted?

I've been looking around and can't seem to find any

 

[bassbenj]

One thing to remember about the Badass is you must slot the saddles. It doesn't work well if you don't.

Actually that is exactly the point. My theory is that while the BA bridge is a bit nicer construction, that alone isn't why it makes the bass sound better. It's the hand-fitted saddles. So the point is you could hand-fit the saddles on your factory bridge just a swell and get the same increase in performance. Anyway, so long as the saddles are all sitting on tiny allen-head screws I don't think that what the rest of the bridge is made of will matter in the least.

 

[SGD Lutherie]

Actually that is exactly the point. My theory is that while the BA bridge is a bit nicer construction, that alone isn't why it makes the bass sound better. It's the hand-fitted saddles. So the point is you could hand-fit the saddles on your factory bridge just a swell and get the same increase in performance. Anyway, so long as the saddles are all sitting on tiny allen-head screws I don't think that what the rest of the bridge is made of will matter in the least.

The bridge has more mass. So even though the saddles are sitting on set screws, the saddle already has more mass. You can test this by lowering a string all the way down to the baseplate. It wont sound any different. The set screws are bearing all the load and transferring it to the baseplate.

Plus the typical bent steel Fender bridge flexes.

On one of my personal basses I changed over a heavy zinc Gotoh bridge had had locking saddles to a lighter Hipshot aluminum Type A bridge. The bass sounded much more open and alive with the lighter bridge.

So heavy isn't always as important as solid. But it's all about the tone you want. Stock vintage style bridges often do the trick.

 

[BassBerg]

I think in the end it is more a matter of personal preferance. If you are a tinkerer and always trying to dial in that perfect setting on your bass then give it a try. I bought a Marcus Miller Sig. bass and it comes stock with a BAII. I love the bass and would not think about swapping things on it. My MIM has had a lot of things done to it. One of those things is a BAII bridge, Why?...Why not? As time goes on your tastes will change. I say, if you are interested in trying something new, go for it. It is an exact replacement for the Fender bridge. Good Luck and happy hunting.

 

[m.oreilly]

why is this thread in "pickups & electronics"?

 

[walterw]

The magnetic field drops with the square of the distance, and the poles are farther away from the center of the string.

thank you!

i mean, it's not a big thing, and if you play gentle to moderate fingerstyle with the pickups kinda far away, it won't really matter, because the difference in distance from one magnet vs. the other is not that drastic.

if you play kinda vigorous with a pick like i do, and like your pickups closer, than it will smooth out the "feel" of each note as well as improve the string-to-string balance if the string is right in between the magnets.

(this also makes having things like radiused jazz pickup magnets more important, another pet peeve of mine).

I find blade or other continuous field pickups have a softer attack than my OEM SCPB pickups.

hell, everything has a softer attack than SCPB pickups!

 

[mcm]

bridges are way over rated. Some of the most legendary records have been made using the cheap 2 saddle bridges that do not even intonate properly.

 

[Eric Swaim]

I have been playing for 30 years and have owned well over 220 basses during this time period. I always replace the stock Fender bridge with a Badass II and on my newer Fenders with a Badass III. They are just a better bridge, and sustain is important if you are holding a note out regardless of how long you need to hold it for. A great bridge along with other factors will help slow down the decay sound of a note held out. I have not been a big fan of other brands except the Schaller bridge that has the adjustable saddles. The Ken Smith basses have a bridge designed after the Badass II. Enough has been said, if it's good enough for Ken. Sometimes we get what we pay for, in this case i suggest paying extra and being happy instead of getting stuck with something you might not be happy with. This is just experience talking, you do not have to believe me but I have been down this road a time or two.

Good Luck.

 

[GlennW]

why is this thread in "pickups & electronics"?

Ground wire?

Copper bridge grounds sound better than aluminum.

 

[Ric5]

The bad ass bridge is over-priced and over-rated. They are nice bridges. In their day when they first came out they were about the only aftermarket bridge for fender type instruments. But noe there are a lot of really good bridges made by Schaller, Hipshot, Kahler, Gotoh, etc some of them are better and cheaper than the badass. The bad ass is an upgrade from the stock fender bridge.

 

[Tusec]

The set screws are bearing all the load and transferring it to the baseplate.

But of course the story doesn't end there. The baseplate then couples the load to the body, whose mass is much greater than the baseplate. And if we assume rigid coupling between the baseplate and the body, then the baseplate's mass becomes negligible. That's why I think BA bridges don't change the tone appreciably versus a stock bridge. Neither has a significant impact on the overall mass equation.

Plus the typical bent steel Fender bridge flexes.

How so? The baseplate deals mainly with compressive force since it's sandwiched between the setscrews and the body. And being made of steel it has tremendous compressive strength. I doubt the Fender baseplate would act squishy.

 

[Tusec]

The magnetic field drops with the square of the distance, and the poles are farther away from the center of the string.

The magnetic field drops with the square of distance, but our ears don't hear it that way since our perception of volume is logarithmic. You wind up with a log working against a square which I'm guessing gives you something quite a bit flatter. In other words the change in volume due to distance from the magnet might not be as pronounced as expected.

Also, the square-law relationship holds in the idealized case where you have a single magnet with field lines looping gracefully out into space like they show in a textbook. But when you have two magnets near each other the field lines get jammed up and kind of fight for space. The result is that the region between the magnets has a fairly uniform field density that doesn't follow the square-law falloff.

IMO that's exactly the reason they used the paired magnets -- to make the pickups less sensitive to where the string is -- i.e. to make the response more uniform. And I think they succeeded. I've tried plucking the low E string while pulling the saddle to the side so the string moves off center and I can't hear an iota of difference in the attack or any other quality of the note.

 

[dannster]

in·fa·mous
   /ˈɪnfəməs/ Show Spelled[in-fuh-muhs] Show IPA
–adjective
1.
having an extremely bad reputation: an infamous city.
2.
deserving of or causing an evil reputation; shamefully malign; detestable: an infamous deed.

I wouldn't apply this to the Badass bridge at all.

 

[magnur1002]

in·fa·mous
   /ˈɪnfəməs/ Show Spelled[in-fuh-muhs] Show IPA
–adjective
1.
having an extremely bad reputation: an infamous city.
2.
deserving of or causing an evil reputation; shamefully malign; detestable: an infamous deed.

I wouldn't apply this to the Badass bridge at all.

That's embarrassing. Sorry. I thought it meant VERY famous. But of course it doesn't.

why is this thread in "pickups & electronics"?

Again I'm sorry. My English skills are limited

 

[Orpheus55]

I like the Hipshot A Vintage on jazz basses; the Gotoh barrels were a bit too thick to allow for very low action on my fretless. Also like the quick change feature of the Hipshot A. And, if you want to keep the vintage look, you can install a bridge cover over the Hipshot (and the Gotoh 201). The BAII is easier to intonate and looks great, but I find it gives me a better performance on a P-bass versus a J.

 

[Eric Perry]

...I much prefer the Hipshot and Schaller fully-adjustable bridges...

I'm with Riis. I have never been a fan of the BA, and think it's grossly overpriced for what it is. The Schaller roller bridge and the Hipshot A (my personal fav) are far more adjustable and look way cooler. I do not buy into the tonal arguments with bridges. I choose 'em based on adjustability and cool-factor.

Consider this, NO well respected and well known luthier uses a freakin' Badass bridge. They mostly all use Hipshot. My Conklins had the Hipshot A (except my old one, which had a Wilkinson), Nordstrand, Roscoe, Benavente, etc also use mainly the hipshot A. Tobias uses the Hipshot B, etc.

 

[bassman10096]

I

don't recall there being a lot offerings available. Still a nice product but I much prefer the Hipshot and Schaller fully-adjustable bridges.

I prefer Hipshot Type A's personally. You can get them in all brass or aluminum. I prefer the brass for the highest possible mass, which, apart from adjustability, is the best a bridge can deliver. More mass in the string-bearing parts (bridge and nut) is the most direct way to keep vibration from escaping from the string. But --- Lots of different factors apart from bridge mass impact sustain, harmonic reproduction, etc. So it's still a matter of trial and error.

 

[Zooberwerx]

I'm with Riis. I have never been a fan of the BA....

Don't even get me started on ABM bridges. Work well and of the highest quality but adjustment can be a royal PIA. Grub screws to lock the saddle in alignment, saddle height, and saddle travel for intonation. I have ABM's on my Zon and Peavey Cirrus; adjustments are overly-complicated and time-consuming. I had an easier time getting the bra off my first serious girlfriend.

Sorry...almost 52 y.o. and I have the occasional flashback.

Riis