Despiau Bass Bridge 3/4 Adjustable

I wanted a new bridge for a venerable but battered Boosey and Hawkes Excelsior bass, about 40 - 50 years old. I also wanted an adjustable bridge to allow for playing variations as although it is set up for orchestra work now, I intend ultimately to restring it and adjust it for slap and rockabilly.

I settled for this bridge as a good balance between cost and quality. I have been very pleased. The bridge arrived simply but safely packaged, with plenty of spare height for cutting down to fit, I imagine, any bass. I fitted the bridge myself and found the wood easy to work accurately, but not too soft so there was little risk of getting carried away and taking too much off anywhere on the bridge. The adjustors are smooth and certain, easy to adjust but staying reliably in position. Tone transmission is full and rich.

All in all this is an excellent choice for a balance between cost, quality, tone and ease of accurate fitting.

As expected it needs to be crafted in order to fit each specific bass, meaning it's not even close to fit your bass as it is.

The bridges wood material is OK. But the adjusters are really poor. The main problem is that the threads are done directly into the wood, a material far too soft for the fine M6 thread being used. So the threads will not last if you try to adjust the bridge under tension, making adjustment more cumbersome.

Furthermore on my bridge one of the wooden threads where not centred at all, which is just bad craftsmanship. I realised it too late when I already started to fit it to my bass.

A solution for the soft wooden threads is to use a thread inset of M6. But that requires more work. You're better off buying a bridge where adjusters already have a thread inset.