The infamous Badass Bridge

[lug]

In my case, I have a Ricky with that floating bridge/tailpiece combo that makes adjusting the saddles impossible. So the upper register of my otherwise gorgeous instrument is a bit murky in the intonation area.

The tailpiece assembly is flaking, the foam mute is collapsed and the adjusting screws are gone, and the bridge saddles barely work as it is. I change strings 1 at a time on it because as long as I use the same gauge strings pretty consistently, it remains MOSTLY intonated correctly.

I would love to put a tailpiece that is designed to be adjustable on the Ricky. I also can kind of tell that guitars with the badass bridge on them (at least) are a little brighter.

Hipshot makes a direct replacement for the Ric bridge....prepare to rob at least 3 liquor stores to afford it.

 

[mongo2]

Anything beyond this is functional. Look how uneven the string spacing is. :scowl:

Grooving the saddles remedies that. Just like on a Badass II.

 

[becker4567]

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.

+10 Absolutely true!

 

[Hamerguy]

Bridges may be overrated in many cases but I also think it has an aesthetic importance. And this is something in which the BA bridge fails to me. That said I have never put aftermarket parts on my instruments.

 

[Meatrus]

Just in case nobody has posted them heres a couple of links for you.

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=619179&highlight=badass+opinions
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=638241&highlight=badass+tone

Theres a very knowledgeable guy in those threads .

 

[Brado]

in some instances, the cheap All Parts bridge sounds better than any high end/ high mass thing you have to finance. I think a lot of it has to do with the bass you're putting the bass on..all of the woods/ graphite/ nut/ pickups/ strings/ your touch/ electronics/cables/ pedals (or the lack there of and your amplification. The end result of the entire chain is what many of us refer to as "our tone." It's hard to put 100% of the outcome on JUST the bridge of any bass. For some basses, the higher mass the bridge; the better. It can go either way. It's a matter of what works best for the individual & the particular instrument in question.

 

[cap'n crunk]

Anyone have any experience with/opinion on the new Fender hi-mass bridges that are basically beefed-up versions of the usual stock Fender bridge? I'm thinking that I might like to have my H1 jazz routed for through-body stringing and then put some ashtrays on it, and something tells me that the BA that came on it is a wee bit bulky for the rear cover (plus, no thru-body on the BA II). Sorry in advance if this is off-topic for the thread, but since we're talking bridges and BAs ...

 

[Tusec]

Nothing says ROCK like a BadAss II on a Fender, ugly or not. They definitely affect the tone of the bass. I only like them on Jazz Basses, though. For Precisions, I prefer the old bent steel bridge.

Anything beyond this is functional. Look how uneven the string spacing is. :scowl:

No, you're seeing the fish-eye effect from the lens. It also makes the strings look like they angle way to the side when they come out of the holes. But in reality the strings aren't angled and the spacing is correct.

That bridge does everything a bridge needs to do, and it does it with fewer parts and while looking cool as hell. You could quibble that it lacks independent intonation adjustment for each string, but you can get close by splitting the difference, and having scientifically perfect intonation is overrated anyway. Plus Leo fixed that problem on the next go round.

 

[ExaltBass]

I was an early BadAss user (70s) and I did notice a difference in tone and sustain. Recently added a BA II to a Tony Franklin 'wanabee tribute' I built. It needed slotting, but no sweat, and again I noticed a tonal and sustain difference. All positives for me, but YMMV

 

[stonedmotus]

a badass bridge is like a harley, you could buy a gotoh bridge or a suzuki bike but they're just not as cool. hey, it looks good and works fine (and it says "badass"), that's reason enough. only downside would be the weight.

 

[walterw]

Anything much beyond this is overkill and trades off elegance and simplicity for improvements that are pretty marginal.

Anything beyond this is functional. Look how uneven the string spacing is. :scowl:

Grooving the saddles remedies that. Just like on a Badass II.

right.

the only other improvement this one needs is maybe angled saddles like telecaster guitar upgrade bridges use for improved intonation.

oh, wait, wilkinson makes that: