Gotoh bridge review

Flizzy21 · #1 05-21-2008, 04:11 AM

I am in need of a new bridge for a 2005 MIM jazz bass. The stock on has to many loose parts so the action is different every time i play it. From experiance, I dont particularly love the bassass bridges there kinda chunky and expensive compared to other options. I noticed a gotoh bridge the other day and they look nice and really cheap, so can anyone that has one of these bridges help me out? is is all solid or are there gonna be loose action problems like with the stock bridge?

wordsmith4u · #2 05-23-2008, 05:53 AM

Just put the Gotoh 201 on my Jazz MIM two nights ago. You'll love it! Just weighty enough to add nice sustain to your sound, but not too chunky. Matches up perfectly to the holes, and looks damn nice, too!

GlennW · #3 05-23-2008, 06:06 AM

There's also this one for a more stock look, and it's cheaper. It has two extra screw holes towards the neck.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Gotoh-203-Chrome...QQcmdZViewItem

()smoke() · #4 05-23-2008, 08:29 AM

my experience with gotoh 201 is positive--i have one on my fretless J, my P and one to be installed on the fretted J i'm putting together

rappa29 · #5 05-23-2008, 08:54 AM

I had one on my MIM Precision Special. It was fine. Did it's job, no intonation, tuning, sustain, etc. problems.

One thing to note is that the saddle barrels are slightly bigger than the stock Fender ones. I wasn't able to get super low action because of this. YMMV.

()smoke() · #6 05-23-2008, 09:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rappa29

One thing to note is that the saddle barrels are slightly bigger than the stock Fender ones. I wasn't able to get super low action because of this. YMMV.

good point--the lowest string ht achievable on the 201 is higher than that of the stock fender bridge

this hasn't been an issue for fretted basses for me, but my fretless bridge is adjust to the min. ht with only a sliver of light beneath the barrels of the E and G saddles--i could go lower by shimming the neck

miss g · #7 05-24-2008, 01:46 AM

I just got a gotoh for my MIM fender p special and its great. So much better than the stock bridge. I had a bunch of problems with the stock bridge. Here are a few pictures. Really I don't think you could go wrong purchasing a gotoh.

csala · #8 05-25-2008, 02:08 PM

Would anyone know if the Gotoh 203 fits under a Fender bridge cover (ashtray)? Thanks.

kenjikun · #9 06-02-2008, 06:17 PM

Yes 203 will fit under the Jazz ashtray cover but the 201 won't. No idea with Precision though.

GlennW · #10 06-02-2008, 06:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by csala

Would anyone know if the Gotoh 203 fits under a Fender bridge cover (ashtray)? Thanks.

It will, but you'll have to watch saddle height.

HMZ · #11 06-03-2008, 03:07 PM

The Gotoh bridges are great. I did the same upgrade on my mim Fender jazz. It worked great and sounds great but I did have to file the E string saddle down a bit to get a low action setup. I used a small round file and just made the grove deeper. You can get a Gotoh 201 bridge from Warmath for $30.00. The original Fender mim bridges are real cheap.

Nate74 · #12 06-04-2008, 09:44 AM

I had an issue with my Gotoh as well, in that the saddle height was too high, even when as low as it would go. I shimmed the neck with a little piece of cardboard and actually had to raise the saddles back up a bit. Problem solved and the neck seems quite stable. Just a thought.

therex · #13 06-04-2008, 05:51 PM

the bridge looks really nice compared to the stock bridge

fenderphil · #14 06-04-2008, 05:55 PM

yeah. the 201 rules.

i had my first one on my old modulus flea bass, then i got one for my jazz.

they stay stable.

btw, i replaced the one on my jazz with a gotoh because my stock bridge got crushed in transit in a soft case... i mean, it didnt crush it, but the height screws were all stripped out. i kept dropping strings and going... ***!??!?!? lol