What's the worst that could happen replacing a bridge?

[Chinchano]

Now mind you, I haven't done much work on my basses before but I'm thinking about replacing a bridge on my Ibanez sr505 that's bent now. What's the worst that could happen while trying to replace it on my own? It would be the same style bridge just a new one.

 

[Will_White]

Now mind you, I haven't done much work on my basses before but I'm thinking about replacing a bridge on my Ibanez sr505 that's bent now. What's the worst that could happen while trying to replace it on my own? It would be the same style bridge just a new one.

Worst case scenario, you strip the wood out and have plug the holes and re-drill, if your careful you should be fine especially if it's a direct swap.

 

[Chinchano]

Worst case scenario, you strip the wood out and have plug the holes and re-drill, if your careful you should be fine especially if it's a direct swap.

Ok cool. I'm going to look up how to go about doing it. I think after I replace it I have to adjust the action, intonation, etc

 

[Will_White]

Ok cool. I'm going to look up how to go about doing it. I think after I replace it I have to adjust the action, intonation, etc

Yep, you just have to reset the action and intonation if you use the same set of strings, you shouldn't have to touch the truss rod.

 

[Mr. Sound]

may have misunderstood...

 

[Chinchano]

LOL good one

 

[jg42]

may have misunderstood...

too much sustain!

 

[HaMMerHeD]

Well....you could accidentally divide by zero and kill us all.

But really, about the worst thing is mounting the new bridge in the wrong place and having to move it.

 

[petrus61]

 

[BahamasSteve]

Worst case:

Not being able to find the exact one, and end up buying several different bridges, only to learn that they weren't an exact match for the previous mounting holes and spending extra money in the process. But starting a collection of bridges in a box in your parts drawer.

 

[TRyan5289]

I replaced the bridge on my 505.... Worst case scenario: you find out they routed the bridge too far, and used crappy shims to fill the space....

 

[chiggun]

remember to remove strings

 

[PDX Rich]

Use a proper-fitting driver bit. And do it manually. A one for one replacement is a piece of cake as long as you are patient and don't make any finish scratches fumbling around.

Don't over tighten the screws. Tighten them evenly. Once they are all almost in you can proceed to tighten the screws all the way.

 

[SanDiegoHarry]

depends on the replacer...

 

[PDX Rich]

Oh yeah, make sure the ground wire is making contact with the underside of the bridge. That will help. You can even fan out the wire if it isn't already and put a dab of CA glue to make sure it stays in place.

A bridge replacement with the same screw footprint may seem trivial to most here, but it is a nice step towards gaining confidence in instrument repair and maintenance.

A little experience goes a long way!

 

[awilkie84]

I replaced the bridge on my 505.... Worst case scenario: you find out they routed the bridge too far, and used crappy shims to fill the space....

That's a common thing on even the most expensive basses because necks will vary ever so slightly in dimension and being able to shim the bridge leaves you with the flexibility to still adjust the bridge properly.

 

[goodformetal]

Worst case scenario, you strip the wood out and have plug the holes and re-drill

You can also break off one or more toothpicks inside of the stripped hole, then add a dab of wood glue and reinstall the screw

 

[PDX Rich]

You can also break off one or more toothpicks inside of the stripped hole, then add a dab of wood glue and reinstall the screw

Yup! Like so (I had missed a measurement on my build so the bridge was a bit askew):

 

[kenneffdupriest]

Your sustain cud go from forever and a day to like 3 seconds. That wud be the worst, IMO

 

[Chinchano]

Thanks for the replies everybody.