Omega (BadAss II Clone) Bridge

[nofi]

'fender bridges, the bridge legends are built under'. a functioning bridge that stays visually out of the way and is simple to adjust. uwe you must be one those fancy guys playing up high and chording. come back to earth, this ain't bass player magazine.

[dadagoboi]

Yep, that's my daughter.

[Dave W]

Congratulations to her. 

[Lightyear]

Yep, that's my daughter.

WHOA!!!!  Really!?  Like I hear constantly when people see my daughter - thank God she takes after her momma!

[dadagoboi]

WHOA!!!!  Really!?  Like I hear constantly when people see my daughter - thank God she takes after her momma!

Amen, brother!

[Psycho Bass Guy]

Back to the bridge, I like the extra mounting holes and hope that the screws it uses are tougher than the ones that come with a real Badass. I can't count the number of broken ones I've had to replace over the years. It's funny that Fender's skinny little screws almost never strip or freeze, but almost every Badass I've installed or repaired had at least one screw with the head broken.

[dadagoboi]

This is the Badass II I bought used in 1982 to use on my first Fenderbird, it's been on a bunch of my  basses since.  The 5 screw mount is the same as all the other IIs I've ever seen.  I drilled the base for string thru in the late 90s.  The holes in the saddle channels are in line with the mounting screws, visible under the G and D.

I really don't like the III saddles and don't understand why Quan dropped the outboard mounting screws.

The original BA is a queer duck, too tall for a Fender IMO and the wrong radius for Gibson.  As far as weak screws I think it's probably the result of too much torque by a Hulk like installer.



Oh, look...super heroes.

[Hörnisse]

Interesting to note that the original Badass I bridges came in two different widths.  I had one mounted on a bass years ago that was routed for the bridge.  Sold that original one and bought another years later to put back on and it was a tad too wide.

[Alanko]

It's an awful design. Nothing you say will convince me otherwise.

I clock it up to 'period charm'. You take off the strings and the bridge falls off, shedding the saddles in the process. However, what other bridge design allows you to control the yaw?

[dadagoboi]

I clock it up to 'period charm'. You take off the strings and the bridge falls off, shedding the saddles in the process. However, what other bridge design allows you to control the yaw?

YAWohl!

[uwe]

"It's an awful design. Nothing you say will convince me otherwise."

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't you the guy who claims that the Evertilt bridge is an inherently good design missing - ooops! - a separate stringholder it never ever came with? 

Alas!, the world would be so much a better place if bridge designs were the only things we ever disagreed about! 

Daughters in their 20ies are of course .... an issue. Whenever you go out with them as a middle-aged man people will think the inevitable and give you that look ... We had a client event this summer and Edith (= soon to be second wife and three months older than me - which is why she always ignored me at school, but let's not get into that again ...) didn't feel like going, so I took Teresa (daughter from first marriage) who first said only jokingly she'd go with me and then - curiosity! - decided to be serious about it. So I took her along and introduced her generally as "Natasha, my current Russian intern ..." to clients, just to see their open-mouthed reaction - Teresa would even play along with it -, before eventually hastening to add "Just joking, she's my daughter." (At which point people would actually notice the similarities between us.)

I admit being image-conscious enough to worry about the perception of being seen as some 54-year-old sugar-daddy with a woman 30 years younger.  That's almost as bad as being a 54-year-old caught in a new Ferrari.

[dadagoboi]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't you the guy who claims that the Evertilt bridge is an inherently good design missing - ooops! - a separate stringholder it never ever came with? 

Alas!, the world would be so much a better place if bridge designs were the only things we ever disagreed about! 

I hope you're not talking to me.  That's the only bridge that I can think of on short notice worse than the 3 point.  The crap Norlin was putting it on was highly deserving of it, I will say that for it.

...I am however perfectly happy with ALL of my original bar bridged EBs, which intonate at least as well as an unmodded 3 point.

[uwe]

Carlo, would I ever insult you thus? I was aiming at the Minnesotan.

The saddles dropping out of the three-point if not under string pressure never bothered me, us Krauts are good at picking up the pieces, practice makes perfect. 

[dadagoboi]

A sincere mea culpa.

[Pilgrim]

...I am however perfectly happy with ALL of my original bar bridged EBs, which intonate at least as well as an unmodded 3 point.

I find no fault with the bar bridge on my '64 EB-0 either.  Intonates well, is stable and allows for low string action. A nicely designed item.  When I got the EB-0 it had a BadAss on it, which I thought looked horrific and which lifted the strings too high.



I was overjoyed to discover the original bar bridge and mounting bolts in the storage pocket of the case.  THE BA came off immediately and sold for silly money on Ebay, and I cheerfully reinstalled the bar bridge.  It even covered up the mounting holes from the BA! Decorum has been restored.