HIPSHOT A STYLE BRIDGE - BRASS OR ALUMINIUM?

[miles'tone]

Hey there everybody.
Has anybody any experience with either of these bridges? I fancy putting one on my jazz bass but not sure about the tonal differences. the aluminium sounds like a great idea to my make the bass lighter (my poor back) yet if the brass gets a better tone then I'll survive.
I've got a 2000 A.standard jazz with strings thru but no top-load option. I really dig the tone of the Geddy Lee jazz and fancy that kinda resonance. I've been put off the badass III as it seems to need a rout or the neck shimming (too much fussing for me, just want a one off - one on situation)
Also the side to side adjustment on the hipshot is a big plus for me (Love my Fender but why can't they make sure every bass' strings pass right thru the middle of the pickups pole pieces? Mine don't and this has bugged me for a long time!)
Hope you guys can help....

Peace.

[62bass]

Originally Posted by miles'tone

Hey there everybody.
Has anybody any experience with either of these bridges? I fancy putting one on my jazz bass but not sure about the tonal differences. the aluminium sounds like a great idea to my make the bass lighter (my poor back) yet if the brass gets a better tone then I'll survive.
I've got a 2000 A.standard jazz with strings thru but no top-load option. I really dig the tone of the Geddy Lee jazz and fancy that kinda resonance. I've been put off the badass III as it seems to need a rout or the neck shimming (too much fussing for me, just want a one off - one on situation)
Also the side to side adjustment on the hipshot is a big plus for me (Love my Fender but why can't they make sure every bass' strings pass right thru the middle of the pickups pole pieces? Mine don't and this has bugged me for a long time!)
Hope you guys can help....

Peace.

Don't know if this is much help for you, but I've had a Carvin Bolt 4 with the Carvin Hipshot bridge in aluminum. It's a very nice bridge. I don't notice it being too bright or have any lack of sustain. It's very light, adjusts easily and since I've been using it I just forget it's there. It just does the job a good bridge should do.

I've had some of the really heavy bridges and didn't think they were any improvement over any other good bridge.

You can't go wrong with the Hipshot and if you want to save weight the aluminum is great. Doesn't seem to be any penalty in sound at all. You can see that bridge in the Carvin catalogue.

[redzebra6]

I'm with 62bass in that you can't go wrong with Hipshot. I have the brass A-style bridge on one of my Squiers, and it's a BIG improvement. I know I can 'feel' the notes better through the body, but tone wise...? It made it sound more ...solid... I guess. I didn't pay any attention to the natural sound until after installment. And it looks like they have both a top-load and string-thru.

Added bonus, it also seemed to balance my Squier a bit better. I don't notice the extra weight of the bridge. YMMV and so forth.

[Funkinthetrunk]

Originally Posted by redzebra6

I'm with 62bass in that you can't go wrong with Hipshot. I have the brass A-style bridge on one of my Squiers, and it's a BIG improvement. I know I can 'feel' the notes better through the body, but tone wise...? It made it sound more ...solid... I guess. I didn't pay any attention to the natural sound until after installment. And it looks like they have both a top-load and string-thru.

Added bonus, it also seemed to balance my Squier a bit better. I don't notice the extra weight of the bridge. YMMV and so forth.

+1.
I never thought too much about bridge replacements, until I installed a brass Hipshot in place of the existing aluminum Hipshot. The brass gave it more clarity with a bell like tone. Very piano like. For me, a huge improvement over the aluminum.

[RC Sideburns]

I've recently installed a Hipshot bridge on my 2006 Ric 4003. Sounds great and makes it very easy to adjust the strings.