Best bass bridge?

Pelog · #1 05-21-2011, 05:00 PM

I'm considering the Babicz Full Contact bridge and two Hipshot bridges. Please tell me about your experiences with any of them.

Babicz Full Contact chrome 4-string bass guitar bridge

Hipshot TransTone bass bridge

Hipshot "A" series 4 string bass bridge

BagelBruin · #2 05-21-2011, 05:10 PM

I had a bass with Hipshot A bridge. I like it.

James Hart · #3 05-21-2011, 05:13 PM

I have 2 basses with the 3rd one... and have zero complaints with the bridge. I will say that I don't think I'd even consider a non-top loading bridge, but that's more preference than a justification for 'best'

mpdd · #4 05-21-2011, 06:17 PM

using a gotoh 201 on my jazz and a badass 2 on my precision, both are nice and stable

**garmenteros** · #5 05-21-2011, 06:27 PM

Have hipshot type A five strings on two of my basses. Excellent bridges and string spacing is adjustable. Have played around on a 5 string bass with a transtone bridge. Equally impressive as well but too bulky looks wise for me. But function is flawless on both. I like the hipshots better than leo quann badasses, standard fender type, and single rail type.

Don't have experience with the other bridge you posted.

rockosocko · #6 05-21-2011, 06:41 PM

Nearly all of my basses have Hipshot bridges, I think they're great. It's hard to imagine anything else being much better.

Rockingbird · #7 05-21-2011, 06:57 PM

To be fair, not nearly as many people use the Babicz ass does the Hipshot. I've never heard a bad thing about the Babicz from those that use it, or the Hipshot, for that matter.

madmachinist · #8 05-21-2011, 07:26 PM

never tried the babicz , but hipshot bridges are well made and
sound good .

i prefer a tailpiece/saddle 2 piece . Warwick and Alembic
both have exceptional 2 piece bridges , but they're not
for everyone (neither are warwick or alembic) and require
routing that may not suit your body's design.

Ric5 · #9 05-21-2011, 07:33 PM

There are some cheap bridges that I like a lot ...

Ric5 · #10 05-21-2011, 07:37 PM

Also I like Schaller and Kahler

WillieB · #11 06-10-2011, 10:33 AM

I put a babicz on and was really shocked by how much the sustain improved.

JB696 · #12 06-10-2011, 11:27 AM

What is it with this sustain? Seems like every bridge, nut, wood, fret, or paint discussion ends up mentioning the amount of sustain. We do a lot of jazz ballads. I never need more than five seconds of sustain. On the end of a few songs I may let the last note ring out for ten seconds. But even with flats, a plastic nut, light body, thick paint, bent sheet metal bridge etc. there is twice as much sustain as I will ever need. I'm curious to know where you guys are using this sustain. What kind of music are you playing?

walterw · #13 06-10-2011, 12:20 PM

maybe by "sustain" we're talking about how on the notes you do play, there's less drop in volume over their duration, even if that duration is pretty short.

that said, give me low-mass but rigid, like a fender bent-steel with threaded saddles, any day.

**Kinetic Shadow** · #14 06-10-2011, 12:27 PM

I have a Babicz FCH on my FB4 and Hipshot A on my MIA Pbass, they're both good bridges IMO, the only reason I didn't put a Babicz FCH on the Pbass was that it wasn't string through.

My only complaint with the Hipshot is that I had to cut the intonation screw on the E string in order to get it set up right, but not a big deal.

My only issue with the Babicz FCH is that the logo is way too big - don't like my basses looking like billboards.

And back to sustain, the FCH replaced the stock BAII that came on the Modulus and it definitely increased the sustain.

JB696 · #15 06-10-2011, 12:41 PM

I've never noticed any rapid decay or lack of sustain on the short notes unless I'm running a foam mute or muting with my hands. I'm going to listen for that.

SMILEYSIXX · #16 06-10-2011, 12:51 PM

I'll stick to a good, old-fashioned Fender style. Simple, efficient, and (to my ears) one of the best sounding.

CpTCrunch · #17 06-10-2011, 12:56 PM

I've used Kahler's on several bass projects and love emm.
Their a bit of a pain to setup depending on the string spacing but worth it imho.

Hipshot A's are great as well -> the brass version anyway. The aluminum version never did it for me.

I've yet to try a Babicz FCH, but I look for them used regularly. Its on my list of must try items.

walterw · #18 06-10-2011, 03:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JB696

I've never noticed any rapid decay or lack of sustain on the short notes unless I'm running a foam mute or muting with my hands. I'm going to listen for that.

you probably won't hear it, there's lots of placebo effect in replacing bass bridges

MusicBear · #19 06-11-2011, 09:03 AM

I recently installed a Babicz FCH bridge on my 5-string Fender Jazz Bass. I am not going to keep it.

There was not enough height adjustment initially so Jeff Babicz sent a set of replacement saddles. Even with the new saddles I still had to reverse-shim the neck to get the action into the FCH's adjustment range.

Secondly there is not enough range of adjustment for intonation. Even with the springs removed the saddles for the "E" and "B" strings cannot go back far enough to set the intonation. I would have to move the whole bridge backwards about 1/2"

Lastly, there has been a tone shift compared to the original bridge. With the Babicz FCH bridge the bass sounds "darker" than I'd like it to. (Sustain is NOT an issue - the sustain is great!)

The Babicz FCH bridge is aluminum. I am thinking of replacing the FCH with either a steel or brass bridge.

MiniMoose234 · #20 06-11-2011, 11:39 AM

The Babicz looked cool to me because its saddles don't have the screws coming up and I tend to enjoy palm muting.
Does anyone know if the Hipshot would fit under a P bass bridge cover?