BSR 5 string bridge spacing

[Ken Harrison]

Hi everyone, I just got a 5 string BSR, the Japanese license and not the US made one unfortunately.

The string spacing at the bridge is 16mm as opposed to 18m for the real US basses. Does anyone know why its different ?

Secondly, would changing the bridge to 18mm be an option or is it a complete non-starter due to pick up alignment and neck width issues ?


Thanks, K

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by kenito

Hi everyone, I just got a 5 string BSR, the Japanese license and not the US made one unfortunately.

The string spacing at the bridge is 16mm as opposed to 18m for the real US basses. Does anyone know why its different ?

Secondly, would changing the bridge to 18mm be an option or is it a complete non-starter due to pick up alignment and neck width issues ?


Thanks, K

In 1989 when the Burner series were designed there were not that many people playing 5-string Bass. The Burners were made to sell at a fraction of the Handmade USA Smith BT model Basses and mainly for new 5-string players. It was a great success in the beginning. After making them for 10 years, the sales due to many reasons declined on the Burners. We made one last attempt by using the BSR shape and the new Headstock which were produced from 1998-2001. Read the full story here.

The Neck is made for the 16mm spacing. Putting a wider bridge will not help because the strings will fall of the edges of the fingerboard, sorry.