BadAss Bridges

The Leo Quan BadAss Bridge is a complete replacement bridge for Fender-type basses. Other replacement bridges are available (e.g. Hipshot, Schaller, Trevor Wilkinson, Gotoh etc.) but the BadAss seems to have become the accepted standard for Fender-type basses and is actually supplied by Fender on some models.

The BadAss II is the most popular version, as this is a direct “bolt-on” replacement for Fender Jazz and Precision bridges (using the same 5 mounting holes as the original Fender bridge).

The BadAss III is similar to the BadAss II but is designed for Fender American Deluxe basses with through-body stringing and only 3 mounting screws. It features pre-slotted bridge pieces and extra holes in the bridge plate giving the option of either standard stringing or through-body stringing

The BadAss V is a 5-string version of the BadAss II with 6 mounting holes.

The original BadAss (with no numbers after the name) is less common. It is not a direct replacement for Fender bridges as the different height of the bridge may require routing of the body in order to fit.

The BadAss bridge claims to improve tonal quality and sustain. This is achieved by the greater mass of the bridge body/bridge pieces and the through the high engineering quality of the design.

There are many suppliers of BadAss bridges. Do an online search to find a suitable dealer and to get an idea of prices. You can also find them on eBay.

It is a very straightforward job to fit a BadAss II bridge to a Fender-style bass. Remove the strings, unscrew the old bridge, and then screw the BadAss in its place using the same screw holes (note that the BadAss II has 5 screw holes but the BadAss III has only 3 screw holes). Make sure everything is tight and ensure that the bridge earthing wire is correctly trapped between body and bridge plate.

There is a lot of discussion about this. The BadAss II, as supplied, does not have string slots cut in the individual bridge pieces. This is to allow for the installer to adjust the string spacing to suit the player.

The manufacturer recommends that string slots be filed into the bridge pieces during installation to avoid lateral movement of the strings while playing. This is not a difficult job but does require some basic skills, the appropriate tools, and some care.

Many people use the bridge successfully without strings slots. Through time the strings will create their own slots, though not as deep as correctly filed ones.

It seems that, provided your playing style is not overly aggressive, you can use the bridge without slots with no adverse effects.

Due to the different design of the bridge, the amount of vertical travel of the individual bridge pieces is different to the Fender original. In particular, the BadAss bridge pieces cannot be adjusted quite as low as the Fender bridge pieces.

In most cases this will not be a problem. Unless your original bridge pieces are set very low before the BadAss is fitted then you are not likely to be affected by this.

If however, after fitting, it is found that you cannot adjust the action low enough then adjustment of the neck-to-body angle may be required.

For Fender basses with a “micro-tilt” neck adjustment this is very easy and involves screwing IN the micro-tilt adjuster to move the neck headstock backwards.

If the bass does not have a micro-tilt adjuster then the method of adjusting the neck is to add (or remove) “shims” to the neck pocket. This is still a potential DIY job, although it does require a little more skill.

Remove the neck from the body, and then adjust the neck angle using very thin pieces of wood, card or plastic. Inserting a shim at the body end of the neck pocket will push the headstock back and lower the action. Inserting a shim at the neck end of the neck pocket will push the neck forward and raise the action.

Before doing this I would suggest you do a Google search more detailed information about shim fitting.

Remember that the BadAss II is designed as a replacement for Fender basses; it should fit most Fender-style basses without problems, although it is possible that the mounting screw holes may not be in exactly the right position. If necessary you can fill the original holes and drill new ones.

For basses that are not Fender replicas check the dimensions of the bridge to ensure that it will not protrude beyond the back edge of the bass or foul the pickup when fitted.

The BadAss II is a flat-top design so will not fit on bodies with a carved top without routing a flat area first.

The Aerodyne jazz bass with the curved top, both the exported and non-export models have trouble with the bridge, this is due to the standard fender one sitting in a recess, and the badass being larger than it (the badass just sits over it and makes minimal contact)

To get around this, either routing of the recess is required, or using a wooden/metal plate to fill the recess in, so the entirety of the new bridge makes contact.

It's not just an bolt on job like on normal flat topped fenders.

I've just fitted a BadassII to my new Squier 70VM Jazz, and found the following points to be noteworthy when installing a Badass…

• Protect the body of your bass with card or a duster etc. to prevent scratches.

• Slacken your strings gently. I don't favour having all the strings off at once (I change them one at a time). For this job, it's a necessary evil.

• Make sure all the holes line up on the bass / Badass.

• Watch out for the screws supplied with the Badass. I found them rather “soft” and the heads began to burr as I screwed them in. I reverted to the original screws, and they seem fine, in spite of being a little shorter.

• Make sure that you get a good contact with the bridge earthing lead, or hum and buzz may result (NOTE - to help with this splay out the individual wires of the earth wire, and roughen the underside of the bridge plate where the wire will contact with sandpaper/emery cloth)

• IF you elect to file slots in the Badass II saddles (as I did), Please don't try and do it with the unit on the bass. It's a nightmare, as they bounce to and fro on the intonation springs. Bite the bullet and remove the saddles!

To mark the slots, I put the bridge on the bass and put on the strings. I tuned it to the desired pitch (GDAE), positioned the strings as I wanted them, and marked either side of the string. This gives a bare patch on the saddle between two lines, showing where the groove should lie.

Remove each saddle in turn. Clamp in a vice (ideally with wooden cheeks, so as not to damage the saddle)

Start each groove with a hacksaw. It helps centre the file later and gives a nice, straight groove.

Use appropriate files! Mine cost a whole £2.88 from B&Q for a set of six. I cut a V profile with the triangular thread file, and then rounded it out with the tip of a circular rat's tail file to give good string to saddle contact.

I used an old set of 0.040 - 0.100 gauge strings to “offer up” to the grooves and decide when to stop cutting. I filed to a depth equal to half that of the relevant string's diameter in each case, so the strings sit nicely in the saddle.

I put each saddle back and took off the next one, keeping the other 3 strings in tune to help the truss-rod out.

• Keep your old bridge handy. It's useful to compare in order to establish roughly where the saddles should be for the correct action and intonation.

Naturally this'll need further adjustment, but it's a start.

• For those of you who like your intonation spot on, try using the harmonic note against the fretted note at the 19th fret. The pitch is higher so tuners pick it out more quickly and more accurately. This is a good one for anyone who uses chords or plays up at the “dusty end” of the fretboard.

All of the above came from my first attempt at fitting a Badass II and filing slots in the saddles. They describe what I believe to be helpful practices drived from what I learned the hard way.

• Tighten the screws that hold the bridge in place after a week. I got another 1/8 of a turn on all of them. Definitely felt and sounded better for it. Then I had to raise the action, as the whole bridge was now a fraction lower (but I do run the action insanely low in the first place.)

— Originally posted by BOD2 on Basschat May 18 2007, 10:36 AM