Changing bridges on my basses gave me two insights (I’ll not get into sustain):
I think initially string through set ups were thought to provide better sustain but I don’t believe that ever proved to be true. Early Fender Basses never took that approach since most of us played flat wounds that didn’t take too well to the kind of bend required. That’s changed somewhat but some flats still don’t.
Once we began to play round wounds string through bodies became more common but even Leo Fender realized they weren’t producing the intended impact. By then he’d begun to work on better bridge designs eventually ending up with his Saddle Lock Bridge for both his G&L basses and his guitars.
While I still dislike the concept of two grub screws being the sole contact of the saddle with the bridge plate it’s still a major improvement on his original bent steel bridges. But from a cost standpoint we can easily see how much more money more clever designs like the Babicz FCH or Ray Ross bridges can cost.
Despite the added cost some manufacturers and custom builders are using Babicz Bridges on a number of their basses and guitars; Gibson and Harley Benton are two.
I’m not talking about string through, my friend!
I mean the mechanism that allows for easily attaching the strings to the bridge - just put them through the gap:
The saddle lock bridges have exactly the same issue as my 404BO, unfortunately - the length of the screws of the saddles limits the intonation:
This is not the case for the Fender Highmass (that unfortunately doesn’t support top loading, otherwise they would be ideal!). As you can see, the screws go through the saddles, allowing for more flexibility:
The Gotoh 404SJ has the same principle, but somehow it has a wider range of intonation than the 404BO (or it fits my basses better), so that is my new bridge of choice…
It looks almost the same as the 404BO , but has some subtle differences:
I was just riffing on why I believe we never saw string through bodies until round wounds became popular. I prefer to use top load bridges on my basses as well.
These current bridge offerings all look much nicer but all still have that same inherent design feature of having only the two grub screw contacting the bridge plate. The Babicz FCH avoids that intonation issue in that like the Fender Hi Mass Bridge the adjustment screws can pass all the way through the saddle.
That’s one big MF 
Man, I dig that Babicz! That’s one beefy sumbitch.
Interesting read.
But it’s actually quite light. 3.7 ozs same as the stock bent steel bridge from that bass. It’s aircraft aluminum not steel.
Now, where do those fit in 
The Mustang bridge is one of my favorite bridges. It is string through only, but everything else about it is great. It’s solid like a MM or G&L bridge. Leo at his best. And happily LaBella makes a set if flats specifically for it. I don’t have any issues changing strings.
Oddly, and I was expecting to be disappointed here, a really good sounding bridge was the one on my Fender Telecaster bass. It was a 50s retro design, it had two stainless cylinders as saddles. Forget perfect intonation, but the slight sharpness/flatness of the sound was part of the vibe. You would think without a notch for the strings it would be a problem, but the strings were steady even when restringing. It was a pleasant surprise it performed as well as it did. As basic a bridge as you can get. Worked as well as any.
My thought on sustain is the original note on Another Brick in the Wall part 2 was played on Fender P with an angle iron bridge. You can get more sustain, but you don’t need it.
My issue with that would be that it is not top loading (obviously).
I have two reasons for top loading bridges, non related to actual playing or tone:
If you have one bass that top loads for travelling, or does both, does it matter if the others aren’t?
I’m no stranger to modding myself, but to me it needs to be pragmatic. Would changing out an MM bridge be an improvement? Form follows function. Or, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.
I have changed out many bridges in my life if that helps.
No … Ronin is definitely for travel. But I slowly get to love the fretless Minty. So I might take that with me sometimes.
In fact it is pragmatic. The stock Harley Benton bridge s#cks. And even if it doesn’t: it’s ugly!
So I needed to replace anyway. I knew I wanted highmass - and why not get top loading & string through “ready”, when available? So it was a logical choice…
That is a good reason to mod.
Looks like it uses a design concept similar to a Babicz.
I’m no expert by a long shot, but have been curious about this same thing. From what I have read there really isn’t much difference in sound between a standard bridge and a thicker one. Maybe if you were a bass virtuoso you might be able to hear a difference, but it sounds like the average person won’t hear a change.
The average person probably won’t hear a difference between a $200 bass and something like a Mayones. It’s just us, the ones that play them that get weird about it all.
