Any suggestions for a bridge?

[Snowdog79]

So I bought an old Kent bass in LA a few months ago. After a little tweaking and sanding it's turned out to be quite a fun instrument to play--however, I need some advice about the next upgrade.

 

The bridge is one of the old two saddle designs, and since this bass is a short-scale instrument that wasn't manufactured to terribly precise specifications, finding a "happy medium" when setting the intonation of two strings at once doesn't work for me. I'd like to replace the current brige with a new one that has a saddle for each string. Any suggestions what I should look for? I prefer my action pretty high for this instrument, as it's more a rocker than a shredder

 

Here's a picture of the bridge on a very similar bass:

http://img415.imageshack.us/img415/1749/kentbridge2dt.jpg

 

And here's a picture of mine in action

http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/6058/allgood16db.jpg

 

 

Thanks!

[g.]

Hipshot type B, but bought for a better price on Carvin.com.

[Eric VB]

Try going up a minor third and adding some diminished chords.

 

Oh, sorry, wrong kind of bridge.

 

Guess the Brooklyn is out of the question too.

 

[saxofunk]

Originally posted by greenboy:

Hipshot type B, but bought for a better price on Carvin.com.

Yup.

 

I swapped a the pot metal bridge on my Toby for a Hipshot B. I paid a premium to get it through a friend who owns a music shop... apparently his dealer price arrangement wasn't so hot, Carvin offers the same bridge for a fair price.

 

If you go with a B and would like a plexiglass template for all the drilling, PM me.

[getz out]

I like Hipshot's hardware in general. Their bridges are very nice, as are their rather groovy Ultralight tuners.

[Snowdog79]

Thanks for the advice guys. Looks like this bass is gonna be getting the Hipshot treatment--plus a snazzy Xtender tuner if I've got the dough.

 

Thanks!

[kenfxj]

I grew up in the shadow of this one:

http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/1/10/300px-Bronx_Whitestone_Bridge_2.jpg

So this will always be THE bridge to me.

 

The Hipshot B is also an excellent bridge, however.

[Fred TBP]

Originally posted by Snowdog79:

Thanks for the advice guys. Looks like this bass is gonna be getting the Hipshot treatment--plus a snazzy Xtender tuner if I've got the dough.

dog, I agree with the others on the Hipshot.

Before you do the "Xtender", check out Dan Erlewine's article (click HERE to go there) in this month's BP Mag. He explains how he had to address certain issues in installing one. Really worth reading B4U start the project.

[Snowdog79]

Thanks for the tip, Fred the bass player. I've enjoyed those "workshop" articles in BP recently, but haven't read through that one yet. I'll be sure to take a look at it!

 

Dropped D is a new experience for me--I've been playing 5 and 6 string basses almost exclusively since I was 16 (ten years now....wow...), but this Kent was so groovy I couldn't pass it up, and it wound up sounding even better than it looks. I used it on a demo session a few weeks ago (going direct) and was really pleased with the tone, and last weekend my country band played a festival that gave us a board recording and I was thrilled with how it sat in the mix.

 

I find it interesting that I like the tone of my $250 30+ year old Japanese made Kent as much as I liked the tone of my Modulus Q6. Either my hearing's going or I've stumbled onto something pretty cool.

 

However, that's not going to stop me from getting a Dingwall someday...