Bass bridge recommendations

tfarny

Master Member
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Hey, soon I'll be finishing up my korina PJ bass, and I started looking at Bass bridges. Are there strong opinions and reasoning for / against the: Gotoh 201, Schaller that Warmoth sells, or the LQ Badass series? The Gotoh is nice and cheap but the Schaller looks cool and industrial, while the Quan products have a long (good?) rep, I think.
Also, these will all fit in the standard W rout, right?
 
Hey, I really like the badass II. I won't take the whole sound  discussion, but it's built like a tank, it's easy to set ut and easy to adjust. Has a cool name and looks just right.
I have a Gotoh 206 lying around that gonna go on the PJ bass project i'm ordering, like the look and feel of the gotohs aswell. doesn't feel cheap at all. Good luck deciding, Im going through "hell" right now trying!

J
 
i think that the Badass bridge is probably way better than the gotoh.
i bought the gotoh 201 to upgrade from the cheap bridge that came on my squier.
just a little note:
i thought that that mass at the bottom of the bridge was all solid, but its not solid.
its die casted with some space inside it.

the potential problem with the badass II is that the saddles are unslotted, so you need to have the grooves filed in.

i am NOT a fan of having the word "badass" on my bass...
i think that its a very unprofessional vibe to have such a word on your bass.
for one thing, dont play it in church LOL.
when you have "badass" written across your bridge, it sort of makes a statement about you, and to me that is a negative one.

this is subjective, but i think that the badass II is an UGLY looking bridge.
i like the "regular" looking bridges better.

the Badass III bridge on the other hand is totally awesome!
 
I've used a couple Gotoh 201's, a couple 206's, loads of Leo Quan BAII's, many Hipshot Type A's and Vintage bent plates, and like the Hipshot Type A and Vintage bent plate bridges best closely followed by the BAII's.

The Type A has the most versatility from a set-up stand point when you're looking to utilize a minimum of skills, but W doesn't pre-drill for this one that I'm aware of so you need to keep this in mind

The Vintage bent plate is a beefier version of the original Fender design, with the added benefit of added mass and better manufacturing tolerances

The BAII is super universal, but as noted above - you're going to need to follow the manufacturer's installation directions and slot the saddles for a proper fit, string spacing, and maximum saddle coupling. Sure you may get away with not slotting it, but then you're in opposition to what the manufacturer says is required ... and you really miss out on the comfort of a finely adjusted bass. My guess is that if you're asking about bridges in general, you should take this to a set-up tech well versed in the proper set-up for one of these (even though you could do it yourself, why take the chance on blowing $100 by filing the slots incorrectly)

all the best,

R
 
I've just installed a Gotoh 201 on my mexican jazz and it is a really good upgrade. My 2 cents:

My bass played really well and the drummer in my band always remarks on how fat and clear the tone is. The only thing I hated about it was the bridge. The G string saddle flapped about when playing hard and sometimes this led to the saddle "falling over" ie. the little saddle leg would go all the way through the saddle and lead to the G string going all over the place. Nice Bass and everything but come on Fender, the standard mexican bridges are about as sturdy as christmas tinsel.

So, unlike many who make the upgrade to Gotoh / Badass bridges I actually needed to change my bridge rather than looking for improved tone.

I picked the Gotoh over the Badass for the simple reasons that it was cheaper and it has grooves already on it. I couldn't be bothered paying more for the priveledge of attacking saddles with a file!

Sound has improved even more and this bridge could survive a nuclear attack. It feels so sturdy. For the money I think it is one of the essential purchases you should make on your bass. I've heard any bad feedback regarding the Gotoh and I would install one on any future bass guitars I buy/build.
 
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