LeftyBassist.com

https://www.ebay.com/itm/203805128434

Don't see these too often. Nice low starting bid, too.

These are very difficult to find. Music Yo offered them for a blink of an eye moment. I found one years ago, but be advised to anyone looking to buy this that the E string intonation screw on the lefties (or at least on mine) maxed out and the bass could not be intonated. I found a longer screw for it and that worked. The body is also smaller than you'd think. But it is a fun little bass and does sound good.

I didn't think these have intonation screws? On the Steinberger bridge, the saddles are only held in place by the grub screw that clamps them together from the side I think? On my Hohner B2A this screw was on the treble side and access to it was hindered a LOT by the control knobs (I had to remove the stacked EQ knobs to get to it with an Allen key). I'm pleased to see this Spirit has the screw on the low E side! When you move the low E saddle too far back, the grub screw will no longer clamp the saddles in place though. Is that what you meant?

You are correct, my bad. It's been a while and my memory's not what it used to be. Luckily, I keep notes on all my basses, so here's what I had to do:

It was the tuning screw at the back of the bridge. I couldn't tighten it any further, as it was maxed, so the bass couldn't tune up higher than D#. I found the same screw/thread size online but longer (I forget where, but I'll dig into my records if anyone needs the info), and I cut the screw down so that I had enough additional length to extend the tuner's ability further.

I have a Hohner B2-A five-string, and have been having the same problem trying to tune the D and G strings up to pitch. I didn't realize until reading these comments that their is an allen screw that holds the bridge pieces in place once tuned. I'll try loosening the allen screw and see if that helps. However, if you could post where you bought those longer screws in case I need them, that would be appreciated.

Yep, there are no intonation screws. The string saddles are all free-floating. There is a little set screw on the side of the bridge that locks them in place. The trick to adjusting the intonation is to unlock the saddles, adjust the string saddle farthest away from the locking screw, lock the saddles, check the intonation and repeat as necessary until that string is intonated properly. Then, move on to the next string farthest from the locking screw, and so on. Be sure not to detune any strings that you have already adjusted the the intonation for while the saddles are unlocked because they can slide around on you.

I still have yet to decide if this bridge design is cheap, or clever and rugged due to its simplicity, or both.





This is interesting to me. Were you guys using double-ball strings or string adapter when you had this issue?
I had a B2AV, as well as a B2A, and now a Steinberger XL-2, and I have never had this issue. I had somewhat of the opposite issue with the B2AV: the B-string was up to pitch before the ball was all the way under the bridge. You can even see this is stock photos. It really isn't a problem, it just looks like of chintzy.

Wow, that bridge sounds like a blast to adjust. And I thought my Höfner was a pain in the nutz.

Looks like the old Spector bridge saddles (pre screws). When I first dealt with those, I would end up moving them too far and getting frustrated trying to get small movements out of them. What I found worked well was to keep a little tension on the string and if you are using roundwounds, you could move the saddle under the winding one at a time. It's like they would notch along back and forth under the string. Made life with those saddles much easier.

These bridges were The Norm on headless basses for a long time, they were used on almost anything with the exception of stuff like the Kramer Duke that has regular tuners at the butt end of the instrument. I much prefer the ABM Mueller monorail pieces that are on both my Status basses, they're a breeze to set up and every part locks in place with a grub screw. The only thing I don't like about the ABM is that the tuning claw that holds the ball end slides over the finish of the bass . The housing is open at the bottom, save for the part where the saddle is and where the mounting screws are.



If I had to pick a favourite, it would probably be this one (also by ABM, but there are very similar designs by ETS and Hipshot that look great too). I like that they're a separate bridge and tailpiece, and I like that the saddles are separated and don't hold eachother in place.



And of course the brilliant but complex Kubicki bridge, and the complex works of art that Atlansia conjures up. I love the creativity that went into these designs, even if they're overly complex and unnecessarily large.

Yep, that's also a Steinberger design. Ned Steinberger designed the classic Spector bass, hence the model names (NS2, NS4 etc.).

The original string tuners/clamps on the old Steinberger XL2s had their own share of problems. Mine stripped and cracked on my D string and wouldn't hold a string anymore. Thankfully and gratefully, Bill machined me new ones.

Yoink!

...translates to "I may have done a thing"?

Oh I definitely did a thing.

I checked on it yesterday evening and all the bids were gone. I put in a totally reasonable number, but no one outbid me, so I took it for way less than that. $257+shipping.

It's not too bad. The saddles actually stay in place quite well when under tension. I can tell you I would much rather set up one of these than my Zon VB. That thing is a nightmare to re-string.



That looks like a good one, like the best of both worlds: the saddles are separated, and also there is no clutter of a tuning screw and intonation screw.



Wow! That is a great price! A new XT-2 goes for much more than that, and these are much harder to find! I love the Steinberger Spirit and Hohner B2 series, myself.

Hey Peter!

Still have a couple floating around the office!

Awesome! You might not get a request for them anytime soon, but at least you know you made one lefty very happy.

So, I ordered a 5-string set of GHS Light Gauge strings for my Hohner B2A, and after reading all the advice in this thread, loosened the allen screw that secures the bridge pieces, took them out, then unscrewed the knurled tuning screws, oiled them up, and put them all back in. I had always had a problem bringing the G-string up to pitch, and what I discovered was, the previous owner hadn't been paying attention when taking the tuning screws out, and had doubled-up a screw with two of the small black washers that goes between the tuning screw, and the base of the bridge. I found two washers on one tuner - when I put a washer back on the G-string tuning screw, It was easy to adjust the string up to pitch. Lowered the action, and intonated the strings... it plays SO much better now!

This is my B2A....

Hey, that's good news, and a very nice looking bass!

This guy should arrive tomorrow, but things are fucked lately so I probably won't have much to say about it before the weekend