The Leo Quan "Badass" bridge was developed in 1972 by Glen Quan, musician, collector of fine instruments, guitar repairman and stringed instrument restorer. Glen saw a need for a tunable bridge for his personal stage guitars and began building bridges for his own use. Other performers asked him to build these bridges for their instruments, and by the end of the 1970s Fender were using Badass bridges on many of their basses.

Source: Leo Quan website (archived 2006)