Will this cause damage in the long run?

[CEJones]

The bass is set up and intonated to Drop C#. The bridge saddles will not for the E and A string won’t stay straight. The bass seems to play ok and it doesn’t seem to impact the sound but it looks...wrong and I want to make sure it won’t cause any damage in the long run.

I considered buying a Hipshot bridge because they seem to have a groove for the saddles to sit in to prevent this, but will that do anything other than change the aesthetics? This is not my wheelhouse. Any help is appreciated!

 

[wild4oldcars]

This would probably be mitigated a good bit if you strung through the back of the bridge, since the angle of contact would push down for the most part, as opposed to the forward force the string through applies from having to come up and over the saddles. I know that’s not a true solution, but the way the string holes are placed, you’d likely need a bridge that has some kinda symmetrical adjustment, unlike this bridge.

Conversely, the D saddle looks pretty close to being able to hold the A in place, and that would hold the E. It may not be perfect intonation, but it might be worth a go. Just line everything up so that they touch and can’t go one behind the other like in your picture, and tighten the strings to pitch from highest to lowest. Worth a try imo

 

[grimjim]

Just a question, have you tried loosening the strings, moving them closer toward the center in the other slot on the saddle? Hold them in place until there's some tension. I run string through on my basses and have never seen this. It seems like the slots in the bridge should keep them from doing this. The farther away from the adjusting screw you put them, the more torque they're gonna have on the saddles.

 

[Turnaround]

Your saddles are probably further back than they need to be. If you set the witness points on the saddles you would likely find the intonation flat and thus would move the saddles toward the nut. That would probably allow the saddles to shoulder up against each other which would keep them in line. However, I believe that the break angle of the string over the saddle is too severe and that may give you problems when you try to set the witness points. I would highly recommend that you string through the bridge, not the body, set the witness points and re-intonate.

 

[sissy kathy]

I considered buying a Hipshot bridge because they seem to have a groove for the saddles to sit in to prevent this, but will that do anything other than change the aesthetics? This is not my wheelhouse. Any help is appreciated!

If you look at your bridge you will see that the bridge already has slots to hold the saddles straight. They aren't up to the job because you have the strings through body rather than through the bridge. Take @Turnaround's advice and restring the bass through the bridge.

 

[96tbird]

I agree that witness points will likely change intonation enough that the saddles will come forward

But: First try moving the offending strings one notch over on the saddles. You’ve got them in the middle slots which is pushing them over to the treble side.

second, try Slightly tilting the saddles up toward the bass side by setting the bass side saddle height screws just a bit higher than the treble side screws. That should seat the bottom of the screws firmly into the groove.

if that doesn’t help, string it through the tail block.

 

[Warpeg]

Are you sure that your bass is intonated properly? The variance range between your string lengths is huge.

 

[vid1900]

1. Loosen the two problem strings

2 Put the saddles back in their proper grooves on the bridge plate (the saddle height adjustment screws should extend out far enough to "catch" in the groove. )

3 now choose the saddle groove that gives the strings a straight shot from the body hole (for you, that's probably the groove closest to the intonation adjustment screw)

Make sure the saddle bodies are not sitting directly on the bridge plate....

 

[vid1900]

So to illustrate, use these string space notches: