98 LP Bass finished (mostly!)

[ramone57]

that's gonna look great with a cherry burst!

[shadowcastaz]

As always , beautiful! Im assuming its not a carved top.

[Barklessdog]

I missed the cherry burst part?

I would do something special or different than what Gibson did.

[Dave W]

He mentioned cherry burst in the first post.

Looks like a flat top to me. Since the bass was originally a flat top, putting on a thick top and carving it would probably require a taller bridge than the original Schaller roller bridge, and that would require a neck angle that this bass doesn't have.

[uwe]

Which explains why the LP Standards came either with the three point or the Schaller Warwick bridge, not the lower roller bridges used on Specials and DeLuxes.

[Granny Gremlin]

You old-timers are silly sometimes - roller bridges won't work on carved tops not because of the added height requirement, but because they require a large flat mounting surface (parallel to the strings) which just does not exist.

Also, though a break angle is nice on an archtop instrument, it is hardly necessary (just makes setups easier... but also increases the bridge height requirement... see previous point).  He could go with a carved top here if he wanted to (and doesn't have issue with the 3 point, or some other post-mounted bridge).

[Barklessdog]

but because they require a large flat mounting surface which just does not exist.

Actually the Warwick bridge is mounted on a counter sunk flat metal plate.

You can see it here in this picture

[Granny Gremlin]

The counter sunk part is a flat-bottomed route.   Even with the smaller footprint of the Warwick, I don't think theres enough flat area on an LP to mount without the route - maybe just. The roller bridge's footprint is like 2-3 times that of the Warwick.

Routing out a spot for a roller bridge would take away from  bridge height in a bad way... unless you use a riser block (or carve the top with a large flat area built in because you've thought of this ahead of time), which could look stupid.

[drbassman]

Well, simply put, I decided against a carved top as I was already tackling enough new areas in one project.  Besides, I have the Schaller bridge already, so I decided to leave well enough alone. 

I might consider something other than cherry burst (my favorite LP finish).  Anyone have a suggestion?

[uwe]

You old-timers are silly sometimes - roller bridges won't work on carved tops not because of the added height requirement, but because they require a large flat mounting surface (parallel to the strings) which just does not exist.

Also, though a break angle is nice on an archtop instrument, it is hardly necessary (just makes setups easier... but also increases the bridge height requirement... see previous point).  He could go with a carved top here if he wanted to (and doesn't have issue with the 3 point, or some other post-mounted bridge).

Duh, that is an obvious point, Jake!  But even if you pinned down the roller bridge with one screw in the middle to the carved top, ignoring stability and looks, it's height adjustment range would still not be nearly enough.

These youngsters, pah .... (walks off mumbling ...) 

[drbassman]

Uwe's right.  Height adjustment and neck angle are crucial and  carved top, adding 1/4 to 3/8" in the center would definitely make the Schaller bridge non-functional.  Also, you could use a Shcaller if you kept the center high enough and flat for an area equal to the width of the bridge.  However, it would probably look goofey.

[Dave W]

Even with an elevated flat the Schaller roller bridge might not work properly because you wouldn't be changing the neck angle or elevating the fretboard to account for the increased top thickness. You probably wouldn't have enough break angle.

[Barklessdog]

Still working on a cool finish- Maybe a dye color and transparent coat cherry burst?

The Satin finished dyed PRS's look pretty cool

I still think about how cool Basskilists one turneed out with the chrome hardware and LP pups

[drbassman]

Got a picture of it?

[drbassman]

OK, I've been thinking about how much I liked the outcome of my NR repro in Fender Butterscotch and think maybe this LP would look good in a Fender trans blonde with the tort binding I just got in.  How about a treatment something like this...........