Bridge bling.

Minnesota Flats

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Consider my ride PIMPED, homeboys!

PeteyBass appears to have shut down his operation for now (website seems to have gone away), but I snagged what must have been some of his last ones before it did. I like the sound. which seems punchier and more defined than with the stock rosewood saddles, and they look kinda sexy as well. Straight drop in on my NS SF II, with no fudging or filing needed: bing-bang-boom/5 minutes and done.





 

Minnesota Flats

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I really like these on the NS SF-II. My main complaint about this bass (vs. the SF-I) was that, with the neck pup engaged, I found it pretty finicky to balance the EQ in such a way as to keep the E and A strings from becoming a bit muddy on the upper frets without making the D and G too brassy on the lower frets. These saddles seem to really help even out the response by lending more clarity to low strings through the neck pup.

I think they might be "too much" on an NS SF-I, since it already leans towards being more treble-y than the II in general, but I may try them out on mine just for the sake of experimentation.
 

lungimsam

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Congrats on the bridges.
I have these in my NSSFI.
I don't think it makes it too bright at all.
You may need to file a little deeper the gap/slot the little intonation slider paddle goes in each bridge as I can see that the "feet" of the bridges aren't making contact with the face of the bridge plate. They are not standing on their feet, but just sitting/balancing on the paddles in the crotch of the bridge pieces. I had to file mine and sent feedback to the maker about this for NSSF as these were designed for Hag bridges not NS bridges. On the other hand, if you think they are fine the way they are you could just leave them alone.
Interesting that you say they keep the tone crisp on the higher frets.
On classic guitars a mellowing happens like that on the higher frets and I knew a guy who had a boutique classic guitar designed so that each string sat on a nail head as its bridge instead if the usual bone bridge. Kept the strings in the higher frets soubding nice and bright!
Enjoy the bridges. They are very nice and no more worries about breaking wooden bridges , like mine did!
 

lungimsam

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Also, what kinda flats do you use?
I had LaBella on mine but maybe will try Rotosound .100 next.
 

lungimsam

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On second thought, maybe they are supposed to balance like that on the paddles so they don't gouge up the base plate when they are moved during intonation changes.?
 

Minnesota Flats

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"Also, what kinda flats do you use?"

I use 45-100 Chromes (ECB-81M).

"...but maybe will try Rotosound .100 next."

I tried Rotosound RS-77s once and didn't like them. They felt almost "sticky" to me, but maybe that was a reaction to the personal chemistry of my sweat or something.
 

Minnesota Flats

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"You may need to file a little deeper the gap/slot the little intonation slider paddle goes in each bridge as I can see that the "feet" of the bridges aren't making contact with the face of the bridge plate. They are not standing on their feet, but just sitting/balancing on the paddles in the crotch of the bridge pieces."

Interesting. I hadn't noticed that, but you are correct. Doesn't seem to have any adverse effect, so I think I'll leave it alone for now. Since brass is relatively malleable, I suppose it could tend to crimp the saddles onto the paddles.

I have to wonder if insufficient slot depth on the wooden saddles (if it exists) wouldn't contribute to splitting them. Seems likely, since it would focus the downward pressure of the strings on the thinnest/weakest part of the saddle. Might be something to look into for anybody who has had a recurring problem with that.
 

lungimsam

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Iirc my woods sat flush .
But if your brass sounds good and tgey dont rock on the paddles, and everything intonates fine Id leave alone, too.
 

lungimsam

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Now we just need Hipshot to make a whole bridge assembly with enough slot travel on the low E string paddle for better intonation. My low E wont intonate properly because the slot is too short.
 

Minnesota Flats

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"You may need to file a little deeper the gap/slot the little intonation slider paddle goes in each bridge as I can see that the 'feet' of the bridges aren't making contact with the face of the bridge plate."

I would be more inclined to take a couple thousands off the paddles as I would have an easier time doing a clean job of that than I would with deepening the saddle slots. Even if I later decided to put the wooden saddles back on, I shouldn't think that that would cause a problem.
 

lungimsam

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Just be careful with all those metal shavings so they don't get on the pickup.
 

fronobulax

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My low E wont intonate properly because the slot is too short.

I find this interesting. One of the first people to get a NS Starfire and post about it here finally returned it because of the E string intonation. I, on the other hand, have absolutely no issues so I would like to believe desired action and string choice are big factors in whether intonation is possible. While it is possible that my hearing, like my memory, is shot, I do use a tuner when checking intonation so that probably is not it.
 

Minnesota Flats

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"Just be careful with all those metal shavings so they don't get on the pickup."

I would remove the bridge before proceeding: give me a LITTLE credit. ;-)
 
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