High Mass "Frankenstein" Bridge for 20 Bucks - How To and Sound Tests

Подписаться 27 тыс.

Просмотров 9 тыс.

50% 1

High mass bridges are designed to provide a better tone with more sustain and harmonic content than a regular one. They also look cooler but can be quite expensive. In this video I’ll show you how I made my own “frankenstein” high mass and budget friendly bridge to replace the stock one and perform some detailed audio tests to see if there’s any improvement on the tone.
Product links:
Disclaimer: Prices on this things are all over the place and apparently have changed significantly since the making of this video. I've put together a list with the closest things I could find ATM (nov. 2021) in case you want to try something similar yourself.
-The exact brand and model of the bridge used here is Sambong Bb031c but I can't find it right now. Availability of these generic parts change all the time - please let me know if you find one!
-This is the cheapest "high mass" bridge I can currently find. It's cheaper but also looks weaker: amzn.to/3GB68Ze
-Generic donor bridge with brass saddles: amzn.to/3pP7RUz
-Wilkinson donor bridge with brass saddles (this chrome version is cheaper ATM): amzn.to/31gnuua
-Generic brass saddles (these are now the cheapest option): amzn.to/3EzVpwh
-If you just want a drop in replacement this is the cheapest "high mass" bridge I found with brass saddles: amzn.to/3w18DPi
-This one is selled as "Fender" branded but is literally identical to the one I used in this video so I have my doubts: amzn.to/3EwN6Bm
-The real deal: amzn.to/3EszZRC
------------------------------------------
Follow me on Instagram: / inspiringtracks
Follow me on Twitter: / inspiringtracks
Follow me on Facebook: / inspiringtrackspage
Chapters
00:00 Intro
00:52 The bass
01:38 Goodbye old bridge
02:39 The new "Frankenbridge"
05:47 Installation
07:32 Test results - Part 1: Sustain
10:10 Part 2: Playing samples
Greetings from Argentina!
Juan Pablo - Inspiring Tracks

Видеоклипы

Опубликовано:

16 июл 2024

Ссылка:

Скачать:

Готовим ссылку...

Добавить в:

Мой плейлист

Посмотреть позже

Комментарии : 38

@chrisosti Месяц назад

One little "trick" I've been doing for all my basses since the 80's...the little Allen screws to adjust the bridge block height...most times they have a small point on the bottom, and usually stick out on the top...waiting to snag clothing or worse, some skin on your hand or fingers. First thing is I'll cut them off so they're flush or a bit below the top of the bridge block, and second, I'll file or grind down the little point so that the screw contacts the bridge plate for the full width of the screw diameter. I do this for all of them so that I wind up with a perfectly smooth bridge surface when you slide your hand across the top, and I feel that I'm getting more contact between the string and the body of the bass due to the little extra metal to metal contact. Whether it's measurable or not, who knows...at the very least, I'm not going to cut my hand on anything in the middle a windmill bass solo!!! 😁

@user-vu8lc1ov6o 5 месяцев назад

Excellent demo! I think the hi-mass bridge improved the tone, and it looks great!

@Abassman1967 2 года назад

Great stuff man and those are some cool bass tracks for the demo!

@InspiringTracks 2 года назад

Thanks, glad you liked them! They are also available as standalone bassless backing tracks for free here in the channel

@robertshay9951 3 месяца назад

This project was $20 .00 not $200, I do hear some difference. If anything, it does look nicer for sure. You had fun, and you were able to prove or disprove your upgrade. Kudos to your curiosity. Keep it up.

@InspiringTracks 3 месяца назад

That was exactly the spirit of the project. Glad you liked it!

@davewilliams2405 2 года назад

Great video as always! Even if the sound is almost the same the new bridge looks way cooler, worth the trouble IMO

@InspiringTracks 2 года назад

Thanks!!

@elpedrodlpmo4051 3 месяца назад

Damn, so great! But why dont cleaning a bit the swamp you get under? 😂

@ka-bar5060 Год назад

I definetly like the tone from the Hi-Mass bridge. It is an upgrade I plan to do to my bass.

@dm4728 2 года назад

Nice I wanted to do this a few months ago but didn't have the time. I wrote a MATLAB script to do this but look at the harmonic content by doing an FFT to view the signal in the frequency domain.

@m.norhishamm.radthi9395 2 года назад

yeah.. it does sound difference.. thanks for this tips and video

@InspiringTracks 2 года назад

Glad you liked it!

@oleksandrnovakov4295 2 года назад

Thank you for the video, interesting and thorough! I was surprised by the difference from the first note. It looks like the new bridge has more response to the lows, so the bass sound more rounder and in a sense “boomier”, which could be a good thing in lots of applications. Still, with the old one it has more definition and “bite”, probably due to response on mids. So both of them have their cons pros, but the difference is noticeable anyway. (P.S. I’ve just checked on the internet and yes, brass is not known for transmitting mid frequencies)

@InspiringTracks 2 года назад

I heard the same, thanks for checking that about the brass, that should explain the increased brightness and bottom end

@ryv2582 3 месяца назад

Damn… the sustain improved so much on hi-mass bridge 😮😮😮

@oldasrocks9121 Год назад

I like this one for the price. I've added Allparts threaded steel saddles, the intonation screw holes need to be drilled out to the next biggest drill bit size.

@Caperetiree Год назад

The "Fender" bridge is indeed a Fender bridge. It is a bridge that was sold with some Fender MIM basses. It's a very solid bridge for the money.

@InspiringTracks Год назад

Great info, thanks for sharing!

@analogman9697 5 месяцев назад

I put a Gotoh 201B on a Squire Affinity. It now sounds like a high end bass. I had to dowel/redreill, so I'm hoping the Fender hi-mass I ordered for my other pbass is a direct replacement.

@sergiogarcialopez7356 2 года назад

Muy bueno e interesante, es una buena idea para hacerle a mi jazz bass

@InspiringTracks 2 года назад

Muchas gracias Sergio! Es una buena mod, no es cara, es facil y aunque sea por la facha ya suma un montón. Saludos!

@marctramonte 2 года назад

I like the sound of the new bridge better. Thicker, rounder low end....more "hi fi" ....to my ear. Listened on SSL Interface to Presonus Eris 8 studio monitors.

@WiLL-bz3kj 9 месяцев назад

Stock sounds more profound in different registers from hi mass

@Rickkyb64 3 месяца назад

where do you buy this bridge ?

@rowlandstraylight 2 года назад

I'm not sure a cheap cast zinc bridge is any better than pressed steel. More mass at the cost of less rigidity isn't a win. I'd take the plate the brass saddles came with or the original bridge plate with brass saddles.

@dandaris2153 2 года назад

Thanks for the video :) Even if the bigger bridge sounds fat, I prefer the stock one.

@InspiringTracks 2 года назад

Glad you liked the video!

@popogejo7245 Год назад

Dan was using a good set of bonefones, with Bluetoothand can definitely feel a better sustain on the better speakers

@humanbass Год назад

The grooves under the saddle screws are more important than the mass imo.

@ha-jd7wl Год назад

High mass bridge never really sold me. Are they different? Yes. Are they better? That's subjective. I wouldn't feel the need to switch out to a high mass bridge if I had a bass without one, and vice versa. Great demo.

@vodekz1534 Год назад

Old bridge has more woody sound,

@richardsears4985 2 года назад

Somebody spilled beer or french fry grease on the bridge somewhere along the way there

@InspiringTracks 2 года назад

Yeah, I bet something like that happened. I must be the third or fourth owner of this bass and judging by some of its scars it had a hard life, still plays fantastic