Double Bass Wood vs Metal Bridge Adjusters

[Stewie]

Nope.

That oversized Delrin adjuster snapped while the bass was sitting in a rack of basses, strung up to pitch with nobody playing. Beyond that, they do turn exceptionally smooth.

Were you able to: Get the threaded section out, somehow replace the oversized adjuster?

 

[james condino]

It came out, but nothing else fits those oversized holes correct. You could use a smaller aluminum set with a helicoil, but that's a pretty cowboy approach....

 

[Don Kasper]

Hey!
2023 is the 25th anniversary of my 7/16" x 14 Composite bridge adjusters.
Like all bridge adjuster(s), to avoid binding and/or Catastrophic Structural Failure, (tm), one must be hyper-vigilant & -diligent in maintaining the strict vertical integrity above and below the adjusters.
IMFO, IMFE, of course, as always.

 

[eh_train]

Hey! … to avoid binding and/or Catastrophic Structural Failure, (tm), …

Hold EVERYTHING! Don, are you saying you’ve trademarked ‘Catastrophic Structural Failure’?!? I’m not sure what to think about that, but I might be impressed.

 

[Don Kasper]

Hold EVERYTHING! Don, are you saying you’ve trademarked ‘Catastrophic Structural Failure’?!? I’m not sure what to think about that, but I might be impressed.

You owe me $5.00 (USD, only!!), eh_train.
Thanks!

 

[bassmanbrent]

Nope.

That oversized Delrin adjuster snapped while the bass was sitting in a rack of basses, strung up to pitch with nobody playing.

Not sure if this was meant as an answer to my post... If it was, I wasn't saying that the adjuster broke while being installed. Just that maybe it was already damaged somehow and failed later on due to said damage.

 

[Stewie]

It came out, but nothing else fits those oversized holes correct. You could use a smaller aluminum set with a helicoil, but that's a pretty cowboy approach....

Dang! I've been called a cowboy, but I don't think anybody would call me pretty. I removed 3/16" from the top half of my bridge for lower action, and have the adjusters all the way in.
If I were to snap one, I guess I could just replace them with an appropriate slice of something cool, maybe padauk

 

[Earl]

Hi BB,

I know of at least one other case where a Delrin adjuster broke. It's a shame because they have a nice "lubricated" feel to them, like lignum vitae. Bill Lakefield, luthier, started making Delrin adjusters with an aluminum insert down the length of the shaft. Not sure if he's still doing that...

Although the OP is back to 1/4" aluminum and a Lifeline, you need to be careful when assuming a pickup will fit with wood adjusters. Some wood adjusters are so large that a Lifeline (even an XL) is out of the question.

My Delrin adjuster broke.

 

[bassmanbrent]

My Delrin adjuster broke.

Hmmm, looks like there a problem/pattern here that a didn't know about. Apologies, everyone. I sit corrected.

 

[james condino]

I'd gladly pay extra for aluminum adjusters that had a teflon or similar coating. Delrin has the advantage that it is very "slippery", you can turn them with ease at full tension, but breaking while under tension is a fail for me. Also: take one out and drop it on the counter or the bandsaw and all you get is a dull thud; not very musically exciting....

My favorite commercially available metal adjusters are the oversize aluminum ones for the non- pickup side that come with the Full Cirlce pickup. I believe you can also get a similar one from Shen. I often make my own from titanium- no breakage worries there!

 

[bassically_eli]

My adjusters were installed by Tom Wolfe (aka Thomas Andres) in Virginia, who also carved and installed my bridge. That was about 10 years ago, and I've never found them difficult to turn, although I do loosen the strings a tad (especially if raising the bridge) and hold the bridge foot in place with one hand in case it tries to rotate. Perhaps Tom has some tips.

 

[dperrott]

Yes I do like those. The ones from Saddle Rider Music are good. Just a tad smaller in diameter. Just made a bridge and used them.

 

[james condino]

Did I mention the delrin melts when I set my aluminum bass on fire????

 

[Earl]

I'd gladly pay extra for aluminum adjusters that had a teflon or similar coating. Delrin has the advantage that it is very "slippery", you can turn them with ease at full tension, but breaking while under tension is a fail for me. Also: take one out and drop it on the counter or the bandsaw and all you get is a dull thud; not very musically exciting....

My favorite commercially available metal adjusters are the oversize aluminum ones for the non- pickup side that come with the Full Cirlce pickup. I believe you can also get a similar one from Shen. I often make my own from titanium- no breakage worries there!

The aluminum ones from the Yamahiko (if you only use one side of the pickup) are really nice.

 

[DoubleMIDI]

Did I mention the delrin melts when I set my aluminum bass on fire????

They are meant to be used with cool music only, not with the hot stuff you play …

 

[Stewie]

 

[walterw]

Like all bridge adjuster(s), to avoid binding and/or Catastrophic Structural Failure, (tm), one must be hyper-vigilant & -diligent in maintaining the strict vertical integrity above and below the adjusters.

Hold EVERYTHING! Don, are you saying you’ve trademarked ‘Catastrophic Structural Failure’?!? I’m not sure what to think about that, but I might be impressed.

you of course mean "Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly", right?

 

[walterw]

I'm not particularly enamored of metal male machine screw threads into wood female threads, either.

i dunno, i watched a pretty interesting video comparing the strength of threaded metal inserts vs metal screw threads straight into raw wood, the upshot of which was that if the wood threads were "chased" with thin CA glue to harden them up first then the screw threads straight into the wood was in fact the strongest!

it was even 1/4-20 screw threads, so reasonably relevant