Double Bass The Upton Bridge Jig

Jay Corwin

Jay Corwin

Jan 29, 2008
4,399
5,035
5,621
Sanborn, NY
www.facebook.com
#1
After years of gigging, the inevitable finally happened. Last Saturday (technically Sunday morning....grandpa always said nothing good happens after midnight son) some dude kicked my bass over. Fortunately for me it was knocked over from it's side, and was not standing straight up. It did however land on the top. It does not appear that I sustained any damage, other than some character marks.

While the bridge did not fly off, it was moved about as far out of place as it could be under tension. Not having witnessed the event, I still have no idea how the bridge stayed on. Lucky for me, I always keep the bridge jig, paint stirrer, thing-a-ma-bob in my bag featured on the video. With a flashlight hanging out of my mouth, and a crowd watching, I reset the bridge in about 2 minutes. Tuned her up and got on with the gig.

@Eric Rene Roy I've also put a tick mark on mine that measures from the center of the bridge foot to the notch in the F-hole. I place the butt end of stick perpendicular to the outside center of the bridge foot, then lay it down flat. Gives me a ballpark view on if the bridge is centered after I've used it as it was originally intended. While it's not a spot on measurement, it paid dividends in the bar saturday. Hint, hint.

Of course I gave the bridge a proper once over in daylight Sunday and made some fine adjustments. For the most part though, it was where it needed to be.

I'm thinking about getting a spare made as a just-in-case.

 
  • Like
Reactions: neddyrow, vanselus, nbsipics and 3 others
#5
So I saw the video and the bridge stick looks like a good idea to quickly get out of a jam. I made a bridge stick for my new Thompson RM-200 hybrid bass. Took about 10 minutes. Supplies: small hand jig saw, mitre box, ruler, pencil, sandpaper, and a used Home Depot paint mixing stick.

Bridge stick mixing stick - small.JPG


Bridge stick annotated - small.JPG


Following instructions, the bridge stick is placed against the A string. Both ends fit snug. On this bass, placement of the bridge feet is between the pair of notches in both F holes. The video showed a good trick of sliding a piece of paper around and under the bridge feet; "flat" against the top is easy to detect because the paper is blocked on all four sides of each bridge foot. Good to check on position of the soundpost too.

Bridge stick in action - small.JPG
 
  • Like
Reactions: neddyrow, sevenyearsdown, Michael Drost and 1 other person
#11
The F hole notches line up the feet then square up the bridge from the bass body. I look at the space between the bridge foot, the adjuster and the upper bridge portion, the gap between these parts should be parallel/square. It's not rocket science
 
#14
Well seeing this thread was super timely. Was fighting my Upton bass on a gig last night so decided to muster up the courage to try adjusting my bridge today. Took out the tape measure to see that my bridge was far from center, about a quarter inch knocked toward the E side of the bass...yikes! So i loosened the strings and brought it back to center, at the same time pushing the bridge back a smidgen to bring it in line with my Upton jig.

I think the bridge has been off center for a couple of years now as i had been struggling to get the E string height and G string height at a comfy balance(G would be too low, E would be too high) when the adjusters of the bridge are at equilibrium. That is now fixed. What is really disappointing though is I just took the bass in a few months ago for the bridge to have a bit shaved off the top and the luthier told me the bridge was centered but i am pretty sure he just put it right back where it was previously which was not centered.
 
#15
Well, I just ran a pencil around the feet of the bridge and made a little mark with a Sharpie on each string where it crosses the bridge. (I always take a sideways squint at the bridge for perpendicularity to the top, just in case the strings have crept.)
 
  • Like
Reactions: unbrokenchain
#16
No guff to anyone here, to each their own, but I just push mine around.... Lol. Bridge feet go on the marks on the holes, eyeball it straight. Never had a problem. I've put a tape on it before too, and didn't notice any difference between just eyeballing it.

Do you guys really notice if it's off a cm or two?
 
  • Like
Reactions: unbrokenchain
#17
210superair said:
No guff to anyone here, to each their own, but I just push mine around.... Lol. Bridge feet go on the marks on the holes, eyeball it straight. Never had a problem. I've put a tape on it before too, and didn't notice any difference between just eyeballing it.

Do you guys really notice if it's off a cm or two?
Click to expand...

centimeters for sure! a few mm probably not.. seasonal changes probably account for as much variation
 
  • Like
Reactions: james condino and 210superair
#18
When I picked up the new bass from Andrew Hassel, he handed me a notched , marked dowel along these lines , and a couple minutes of explanation.
While one certainly can use a tape measure , this is especially convenient and useful when e.g. you wiggle
The top of the bridge down to keep it from bending , or wonder if it just got bumped ...
Can do it in poor light and quickly ; I keep it in my bag.
How come every bass doesn’t come with one ?
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back