Double Bass Which Side of the Bridge Faces Down

[Ned Smith]

I have read instructions that say the label on the bridge faces in a certain direction. My raw bridge does not have a label and both sides have some anguarity. I assume the side with the smallest angle is the "perpendicular" side.

 

[Don Hergert]

The more flat side (the right-angled side in relation to the feet) should be toward the tailpiece, allowing more "angular leverage" to help avoid having the bridge flip toward the fingerboard.

But, lots of people have them the other way, even after being properly setup by highly regarded luthiers.

Maybe the point is that however it is done, a bridge still needs to be constantly maintained to be perpendicular to the table top despite string pressure to lean toward the fingerboard.

 

[Ed S]

What he said. And tho I haven't crawled around and checked out the bottom sides of a bunch of bridges, sure seems like the majority of them have imprints facing up.

 

[BPM Strings]

The manufacturer stamp on bridge blanks is meant to face the player.

 

[Nick Lloyd]

The owners of Despiau bridges said "Our label should face the fingerboard, and feel free to plane it off."

 

[Greg Clinkingbeard]

The owners of Despiau bridges said "Our label should face the fingerboard, and feel free to plane it off."

I fit several cello bridges for a local violin shop and put the brand to the fingerboard side. The shop owner was very disappointed and told me they should always face down. Apparently, it’s not a universal truth.

 

[Nick Lloyd]

There's only one truth. Go with the manufacturer and kindly educate the shop owner. It happens often and it's not the end of the world.

 

[Cmmcm12345]

I have always heard, generally the flat side faces the floor. I have a plastic right angel triangle from a kid's geometry set, to check...

 

[JBarz]

The owners of Despiau bridges said "Our label should face the fingerboard, and feel free to plane it off."

I’m not arguing because I truly don’t know and am a novice luthier at best, but it seems to me that the bridge blanks are pretty dang symmetrical, rendering this discussion one of semantics and personal preference.

Are we implying or suggesting that they may cut these in such a way that the grain encourages an inclination to warp away from the label side? That would almost make sense to me to counteract the tensions force to bend the bridge towards the fingerboard, but also absolutely doesn’t make sense from a production standpoint….

 

[JBarz]

I’m not arguing because I truly don’t know and am a novice luthier at best, but it seems to me that the bridge blanks are pretty dang symmetrical, rendering this discussion one of semantics and personal preference.

Are we implying or suggesting that they may cut these in such a way that the grain encourages an inclination to warp away from the label side? That would almost make sense to me to counteract the tensions force to bend the bridge towards the fingerboard, but also absolutely doesn’t make sense from a production standpoint….

I recently cut three Dispeau bridges and wanted to recant this post. They’re obviously cut to be label side up with how they’re angled, my mistake. I much prefer them to others’ symmetrical bridges, for sure, and don’t think I’ll be using anything else if I can avoid ‘em.

 

[garrett2]

I recently cut three Dispeau bridges and wanted to recant this post. They’re obviously cut to be label side up with how they’re angled, my mistake. I much prefer them to others’ symmetrical bridges, for sure, and don’t think I’ll be using anything else if I can avoid ‘em.

Talk Bass should have a "Retractions and Recantations" section.

 

[fdeck]

I'm not a luthier, though I've fitted a cello bridge, and have another cello bridge blank right here. The blank is symmetrical, and there's not a curved side.

The instructions I followed led to the feet and curvature being determined by what you cut away during fitting.

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Lluthiers are like witch doctors to me. There’s some ancient Wiccan ritualistic animal sacrifice voodoo mojo going on when they get it right. I half wonder if the really good ones wave a bag of sacramental chicken bones over the bass when I’m not looking. All I know about the bridges issue is that I have yet to see a well set up bass with the flat side up or the stamp side down.

 

[james condino]

"Lluthiers...."

Pplayerzzz....

Ccello....


Most folks who shell out big bucks for a fancy bridge want to see that Despiau 9 tree stamp looking up at them; it is comforting to their wallet trauma.

 

[Jason Sypher]

I wouldn’t know what to do if I didn’t have that label stamp to look at while playing. It’s always been there.