bridge replacement for Starfire

planetguy

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I love the tone of the wooden saddles offer but i'm not a big fan of that primitive harp style brdg. and it's lack of adjustment. has anyone come up w a way to use/craft wooden saddles for replacement brdgs?

i've seen a few Starfires w the original BADASS I as replacement....but what about the BADASS II, does that string spacing work or is it too wide?

i know that Hipshot is doing a new take on the BADASS II called the KICKASS (clever wordplay there) and the saddle spacing width is adjustable down to 17.5 mm. Will that be narrow enough?
 

fronobulax

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I love the tone of the wooden saddles offer but i'm not a big fan of that primitive harp style brdg. and it's lack of adjustment. has anyone come up w a way to use/craft wooden saddles for replacement brdgs?

i've seen a few Starfires w the original BADASS I as replacement....but what about the BADASS II, does that string spacing work or is it too wide?

i know that Hipshot is doing a new take on the BADASS II called the KICKASS (clever wordplay there) and the saddle spacing width is adjustable down to 17.5 mm. Will that be narrow enough?

I haven't replaced mine. I have yet to find an adjustment that I wanted to make, was actually useful to make, and that I could not figure out how to do. But I tend to be a set it and forget it type, and the last time I needed to adjust a harp bridge was when something jarred the bass and all four saddles slid towards the treble side. Fixing that was probably 30 minutes of fiddling. Intonation has been pretty stable for me even after the somewhat rare string changes.

I don't have the measurements memorized but if the string slots are centered then measuring the width of a saddle would get you pretty close to the current spacing.
 

wisconsindead

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You could go the Alembic (expensive) route like some of us have. I don't know of off-the-shelve replacements that have the proper string spacing.

cWoSCDi.jpg
 

Happy Face

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Now and then you see the late 90s all metal versions offered. Not sure if the holes match up, however.

I think I have one if you ever want to pursue that route.
 

lungimsam

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Maybe a Fender Rascal bass bridge assembly?
Looks the same but with fully adjustable metal bridges.
 

fronobulax

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I can't find it and I don't trust my memory but I thought someone reported that the 90's harp bridges (metal saddles traveling on screws) did NOT have mounting holes in the same position as the vintage bridge. They had one and decided not to use it because they would have had to drill holes. Don't trust me but verify before you commit.
 

Happy Face

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I can't find it and I don't trust my memory but I thought someone reported that the 90's harp bridges (metal saddles traveling on screws) did NOT have mounting holes in the same position as the vintage bridge. They had one and decided not to use it because they would have had to drill holes. Don't trust me but verify before you commit.

That was the case with my JS-II when I briefly used it. So I suspect your memory serves you well.
 

mellowgerman

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Relevant to this discussion: https://reverb.com/item/4753932-gui...y-red-2014-cherry-red?utm_source=Criteo-ads-d
Looks like a NS SFB-I with the 90's Fender/style harp bridge. Looks nice, but I will say right off the bat, I know for a fact that the string spacing is wider than the old-school starfire bridges, so your pickup pole pieces will no longer line up. If you center it properly though, it may not affect the tone much.
My Dearmond Starfire that I used to have had this same bridge. When I installed a set of two vintage-string-spaced Dark-Star pickups in it, the bridge pickup poles especially were noticeably narrower than the strings, the neck pickup poles a little bit, but the bass still sounded fantastic and I did not notice any drop-off in output or response on any of the strings. I think this mainly has to do with those big old pole pieces... I think they generate a powerful enough magnetic field that a little bit of spacing discrepancy isn't necessarily a deal breaker. Again though, this was in regard to Hammon Dark Star pickups; I can't speak for the reissue Guild Bisonics
 

mgod

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FWIW I'm perfectly happy with the original bridges. I'd say get another bass.
 

lungimsam

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Maybe if Sarfires get popular enough then Hipshot will make a replacement bridge.
 

oscarwao

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Didn't see a point starting a new thread as I have the same question for the knowledgeable folks here. Anyone replace their JS II, Starfire bridge with something that worked out better?
 

fronobulax

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Didn't see a point starting a new thread as I have the same question for the knowledgeable folks here. Anyone replace their JS II, Starfire bridge with something that worked out better?

The standard in the '70's was a Leo Quan Badass bridge. A quick search suggests something similar is still available. Also note that "something that worked out better" is a judgment call since lots of folks are using the original bridge :)
 

oscarwao

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That's interesting. How did that work for folks since the string spacing is so much wider? Did folks cut out different notches? I have one on my P-Bass (version II) and don't see how that could work. And yes, 'something that worked out better' should be re-branded as 'something you are happy with.'
 

mellowgerman

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Though I think you had to notch your own saddles on the original Badass bridge, it was designed for Gibsons and Guilds and such, as far as I know, so it had narrower string spacing. The one they put on all the Fenders these days are the Badass II (or Badass III?), which is designed for the wider Fender spacing. For what it's worth, I don't put much stock in these bridges or what I consider to be the "high-mass" hype.

Anyway, I'm a big fan of the original bridge so I would never swap it out if there was a functional one already on the bass.
That said, my friend and I found a ravaged '67 Starfire bass some years back and took it on as a restoration challenge, to at least get some Bisonic pickups back in there and make it play well again. We had the right electronics for the project, but we did need to replace that god-awful Badass bridge (which was mounted painfully crookedly) and had all those clumsy sharp corners to cut up your hands on. We didn't have an original Guild bridge for it though in the parts container and this was before the reissue parts were available. So we ended up going with Hipshot "vintage style" bridge with the .669 spacing and it worked beautifully. Perfect set-ups, wonderful resonance, etc.

nHUFSIvP.jpeg
 
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oscarwao

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Very nice. Did that end up covering the previous bridge's holes? I reached out to hipshot to see if they could offer an option that would work. I'll have a look on their site for their 'vintage style' model. If you happen to know which model it is, pass it on.
 

mellowgerman

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Very nice. Did that end up covering the previous bridge's holes? I reached out to hipshot to see if they could offer an option that would work. I'll have a look on their site for their 'vintage style' model. If you happen to know which model it is, pass it on.

Just checked their site and it looks like they discontinued the model we got. The one below looks like the closest thing to it, with the right spacing, it just doesn't have the convenient openings in the top so that you can slip the string end right down and in, rather than having to thread the entire string through the little hole.


Regarding the original holes, now that you mention it, those may have been doweled and still visible. I really can't recall. It's definitely not as long as the original Guild bridges. I can tell you for sure in about 3 months, when this bass is scheduled to come back into my possession, but you probably don't want to wait that long!
If the holes will bother you, you may have to hold out for one of the 90's Guild/Dearmond Reissue style bridges. They have a similar footprint to the originals but have oversized Fender style bridge saddles with the intonation screws and springs. As mentioned above though, the spacing is a bit wider. Will work with the neck, but the bridge pickup's poles will be spaced a bit narrower than your string spread there. I think the saddles are actually the same ones used on Mustang bass bridges, so hypothetically a mustang bass bridge should work just as well (though I'm not sure one of those would cover up the original holes either).
Another thing to note is that the mounting screws on the 90's reissue bridges don't line up perfectly.

I also came across another Guildslinger (I think on the talkbass forum) who had designed his own replacement. He machined the base plate himself and mounted 4 of the Hipshot single bridges to it... which might be a pricey way to go if you don't personally have access to the necessary machinery, but an idea worth mentioning none the less:

3BridgePlateFirstAssembly.jpg
 

Happy Face

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Our Mellowist friend is right about the steel reissue/D'A bridge. I once put one on a JS-II. The spacing between the saddles was too wide over the bridge pickup poles. So I put the original back on.
 

oscarwao

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Just checked their site and it looks like they discontinued the model we got. The one below looks like the closest thing to it, with the right spacing, it just doesn't have the convenient openings in the top so that you can slip the string end right down and in, rather than having to thread the entire string through the little hole.


Regarding the original holes, now that you mention it, those may have been doweled and still visible. I really can't recall. It's definitely not as long as the original Guild bridges. I can tell you for sure in about 3 months, when this bass is scheduled to come back into my possession, but you probably don't want to wait that long!
If the holes will bother you, you may have to hold out for one of the 90's Guild/Dearmond Reissue style bridges. They have a similar footprint to the originals but have oversized Fender style bridge saddles with the intonation screws and springs. As mentioned above though, the spacing is a bit wider. Will work with the neck, but the bridge pickup's poles will be spaced a bit narrower than your string spread there. I think the saddles are actually the same ones used on Mustang bass bridges, so hypothetically a mustang bass bridge should work just as well (though I'm not sure one of those would cover up the original holes either).
Another thing to note is that the mounting screws on the 90's reissue bridges don't line up perfectly.

I also came across another Guildslinger (I think on the talkbass forum) who had designed his own replacement. He machined the base plate himself and mounted 4 of the Hipshot single bridges to it... which might be a pricey way to go if you don't personally have access to the necessary machinery, but an idea worth mentioning none the less:

Thanks for the info and help. I think hipshot is the way to go here. I see I can get the string spacing to match my bass using the larger kickass bridge and it should cover the default holes too.
 
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