Disturbing Starfire issue

[teleharmonium]

So I goes to get my bass out of it's case, and I sits down to play, and the string is floppy. I figure one of them broke, although they are low tension flats and didn't look heavily used. Then I play the other strings, and they're messed up too. I look a little closer, realize the bridge is at a weird angle, and see this. Shock ! Dismay ! Lack of bass !

Anybody encountered this issue before ? I'm going to take it to be worked on asap, but if there's any tribal wisdom about a fix, please let me know.
This is a '70 SF1.

 

[mushroom]

Yikes !!

I’ve not seen anything like that outside having had a physical trauma.

I hope it repairs ok.

 

[lungimsam]

Bridge lift. I am sure a luthier could fix it for you. Replacing with a modern bridge would great if possible. One guy put a thick rubber foam pad down on the face (looked like thick mouse pad material) and a fender/badass style bridge on top there and sounded great, oddly enough.
Where are the rubber pads that are usually underneath by the screws?
See post #28 here to see that replacement bridge:

bridge replacement for Starfire

But what about the curve o the SF body? Good point. I am looking to update the bridge on my JS II so it’s not an issue there.

letstalkguild.com

 

[fronobulax]

Ouch. Never seen bridge lifting like that on a bass before.

 

[lungimsam]

Happened on my Gibson bass. Bridge posts started pulling out. Tech easily fixed it and never came out again.

I have removed my Starfire bridge on my NS Starfire but it screws directly into the wood and doesn't have washers like the ones pictured above in the OP. It only has the rubber bumpers to offset the bridge plate from the face.

 

[zulu]

Sorry that happened! The good news is that it should be a virtually invisible repair.

 

[Minnesota Flats]

Yipes!

I've never had that happen to any of mine.

As stated by others above, at least the bridge will hide the repair and then you should be good to go.

 

[teleharmonium]

Thanks folks. Yeah, the consolation is that it will look fine after repair. It just seemed strange; I'm prepared for things like neck joints getting too shallow, or bellying or bridge lift on flat top acoustics, but I can't recall ever seeing a bridge rip out of a semi hollow, which is to say out of a solid piece of wood in the middle of the body.

Maybe this one was never really secured to the center block from when it was made, and it just took 52 years to pull out of the top ?

 

[lungimsam]

Are those metal or rubber washers around the screws?
Are they factory? I thought there were supposed to be bigger rubber bumpers under the bridge.
Maybe previous owner adjusted the bridge alot to the point of stripping the wooden holes. Easy fix for a luthier.

In a pinch you could dip match sticks into wood glue then stuff the holes with them then screw back in and let sit for 24hrs. with no strings on the bass and then string up and see how long that holds before it starts slowly lifting again.

That's wierd that the screws are at such an angle.

 

[dreadnut]

Ouch!

 

[teleharmonium]

Are those metal or rubber washers around the screws?
Are they factory? I thought there were supposed to be bigger rubber bumpers under the bridge.
Maybe previous owner adjusted the bridge alot to the point of stripping the wooden holes. Easy fix for a luthier.

In a pinch you could dip match sticks into wood glue then stuff the holes with them then screw back in and let sit for 24hrs. with no strings on the bass and then string up and see how long that holds before it starts slowly lifting again.

That's wierd that the screws are at such an angle.

Those are rubber. I don't know if they're original, or how much it may have been adjusted in the past, but the bass (which was pictured on the forum previously when someone else owned it before it subsequently ended up at Guitar Center) doesn't look like it was ever played much.

I have a good repair guy, fortunately, I'm sure I'll feel better after he tells me the plan. I wouldn't dream of messing with it myself, I'd probably find a way to make it worse.

I am guessing the screws took a while to pull out and the angle got shallower at the end of the process as they were still under tension of the strings.

 

[mgod]

This happened to nme a very long time ago, 1974, when I received the Lesh M85 from Alembic. I had to buy a case for it and I did, a stock M85 case. One morning I opened the case and there it was, all floppy. Imagine how I upset I was, I'd broken my dream bass, a gift from Phil Lesh. I was barely consolable. My brother Bob was much more rational thank god. He'd been apprenticing himself to the local decent luthier, saw a problem and how to fix it. The problem was the the case wasn't deep enough and shutting the lid on it was putting pressure on the top of the bridge, the part thst tips the amgle over and begins the "speaking voice" of the string. So we took it apart, Bob broke a pack of wooden matches, filled the holes and put in some Elmer's over a few days until it was all dry. Voila! Fixed.

It's entirely possible. The question is what's putting pressure on the bridge.

 

[teleharmonium]

thanks mgod, I will share that info with my guy. It makes sense to me.

 

[edwin]

Maybe a perfect opportunity to upgrade!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1754300400...Uxv9PZCdrC6TNXLhq1mEyXtlk=|tkp:Bk9SR_y_1vutYQ

 

[James Hart]

Maybe a perfect opportunity to upgrade!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/175430040042?hash=item28d871f9ea:g:2T4AAOSwnu9h~XzQ&amdata=enc:AQAHAAAAoB+C6/0Y6Vp2W4PaKGbFblUtSzPsU7B7fTrS+7eWYQCgbk5a6Wqd+h6Ww7hG9auifBaxdH1E74RfQ0gtKHqtpXXaUZF1QCbmLQ19/w4bLmE4B6YV0smYub4T3XPP7+TzWVu8MhULka5tciBShYRXm61lOF9gXpLP/ckWloJitAT7W7qR93dyfjnXcVXIyUUxv9PZCdrC6TNXLhq1mEyXtlk=|tkp:Bk9SR_y_1vutYQ

Now I think I need to get a Starfire bass so I can add that bridge!

 

[lungimsam]

I’m curious how the bridge block anchors.
The tailpiece has three screws but the bridge looks like just a block.
It needs to be placed just right because intonation travel on the regular harp bridge sometimes needs alooot of travel.

 

[edwin]

I’m curious how the bridge block anchors.
The tailpiece has three screws but the bridge looks like just a block.
It needs to be placed just right because intonation travel on the regular harp bridge sometimes needs alooot of travel.

The block has a screw hole in the middle. It does need to be placed just right, but so does any bridge. While I'm good with electronics, I let my luthier install my bridges. Never had a problem. He does it all the time with lots of different kinds of bridges.

 

[mgod]

Let's see it when it's finished.

 

[teleharmonium]

...aaaaand we're back

looks good, sounds great, now sporting the flatwounds I got from mellowgerman

 

[Guildedagain]

And all was right again in the Shire ;[]

What's the acoustic headstock visible?