Hipshot bridge on a Jazz fretless bass

[Gary Lynch]

Has anyone out there put a Hipshot bridge on their fretless Jazz bass? I'd like to know if it worked out well or there were any issues. I have a Fender fretless Jazz I was thinking of outfitting with a Hipshot if it's a no brainer.

Thanks.

[line6man]

Which bridge?

I was curious about vintage jazz bass style bridge, because of the way the ball ends just hook into place instead of having to jam them thru a little hole and damage the windings.
But i figured that its essentially a glorified bent steel bridge, so its not the best choice for sustain.

[Gary Lynch]

Originally Posted by line6man

Which bridge?

I was curious about vintage jazz bass style bridge, because of the way the ball ends just hook into place instead of having to jam them thru a little hole and damage the windings.
But i figured that its essentially a glorified bent steel bridge, so its not the best choice for sustain.

This is the one I was checking out. Looks like it has mass and plenty of controls and is designed for a Fender bass;



http://store.hipshotproducts.com/car...t_detail&p=306

[John Bigboote]

If you're talking about an A-style bridge (like the one linked to above), proceed with caution. First, it has four mounting screws; your bass probably has five? So you'll have to drill. Then, you have to carefully establish where to mount it to intonate properly. I tried one for my MIM Zone bass. After drilling and mounting, I found out the only place I could mount it to properly intonate was right where the through-body ferrules are (whoopsie!). IOW, the only way I could use the bridge would be to dowel the through-body holes and drill them to mount, effectively losing the through-body stringing option. Uh, no.

Finally, AFAIAC, a *huge* design flaw of the Hipshot A bridges is that the intonating screws don't pass through the saddles, IOW, you can only screw the saddles back so far (even if you remove the springs) before the screws bottom in them. That's ridiculous, and it severely limits your intonating flexibility.

Very disappointing, since I love the machined brassiness of them. Great design, just not practical for a Fender drop-in replacement.

HTH,

-jb

[Lesfunk]

Just for the sake of info, Hipshot now makes an A Style Bridge with a 5 hole Fender Drill pattern

[Gary Lynch]

This is off their site regarding the A style bridge.

"Retrofits your Fender 5 hole mount bridge on your 4 string bass using the two outer holes and the center hole. The type A saddles feature variable string spacing adjustment for even greater versatility and fine intonation adjustment as well. Non String through version.“Fender is a registered trademark of Fender Musical Instruments. Hipshot Products, Inc. is not affiliated with Fender Musical Instruments.”

I think I'll just stay with the stock bridge. It works well, intonates excellent too. And maybe if I did a blind test I couldn't hear a difference. I thought I might get a A+ thumbs up on the A style but it appears it's a game of chance so why take it.....

Thank you for the information.

[Mr. Ray]

Hi I have the Hipshot B Aluminum on my Modulus Genesis Jazz ...it would work find on your Fender Jazz body. They also make them out of brass. Check the website

[Mr. Ray]

An added note you would have to redrill holes with the B bridge but they have a vintage bridge with a 5 hole pattern like on a Fender