Anyone seen this new Hipshot bridge?

[Bryan316]

It's an interesting design. But I don't like the idea of the rear setscrew pressing against the cap screw's threads. That's how parts/threads get damaged and then you snap/break a bolt or screw and you are FUBAR for repairing it.

I don't like the very shallow angle of the string laying across the first two saddles. I want a sturdy, stiff anchor point for the strings at the saddle and the nut, otherwise you get crap sustain and no tone from the body wood. It then becomes all string and pickup for your tone, at which point you get stale dry tone.

I do, however, like how the base plate is anchored to the body at the four corners, as opposed to screws underneath the saddles in a line. The further apart mounting fasteners are from each other, the more stable an anchoring you'll get. So I dig that part.

If they made an A-Style bridge with the base plate's screws corner-located like this design, I'd definitely like that over all the designs out there.




Except I wouldn't use wood screws on the corners, I'd be using HUGE hex head lag bolts to look EVIL. \m/ Like a Frankenstein bass, like a rat rod!

 

[tjclem]

"But I don't like the idea of the rear setscrew pressing against the cap screw's threads. That's how parts/threads get damaged and then you snap/break a bolt or screw and you are FUBAR for repairing it."

I agree it looks like it is set up like that but I can't believe they would be that stupid. Must be something I am not seeing.......t

 

[Bryan316]

Perhaps those capscrews have shoulders on them before the threads start? Or maybe the setscrews press against a block? It just throws up so many red flags.

My brother's guitars ALL have Floyd Rose style tremolos on them, and he's had issues with set screw threads or small screw threads stripping out. Mostly because many manufacturers think that magnesium or zinc are quality materials for machined parts. BWAAHAHAAH! Gimme a break.

Stamped steel, solid brass, or billet T-6061 aluminum. Anything less is unacceptable.

And designs that chew up screw threads are definitely unacceptable.


Are there any other photos available of this new bridge?

 

[Rodent]

... like a rat rod!

hey now, don't get me riled up and forced to whip you with my tail



all the best,

R

 

[Angus]

Bryan316, have you ever machined magnesium? There is absolutely nothing wrong with it- very light and quite strong (and a PITA to machine).

That said, Floyd Rose bridges are NOT made of magnesium. It's way, way too expensive. IIRC the ones I've seen have been steel. If it's coated, it'll be zinc-coated, but not MADE of zinc. If you find me an all-magnesium FR, I'll eat my hat!

And I would say that it doesn't matter if the mounting points are inline in the center or at the 4 corners- the loads that the bridge sees are not high enough that the 4 screws can't keep it completely seated in either location.

 

[pilotjones]

As far as the mounting to the body, I'd agree with Angus. Corners, center, either way most bridges are anchored beyond what they actually need. (Assuming no stripped threads.)

AFA the setscrews mashing the threads of the clampdown bolts, yes that seems like a problem, except for two factors: 1- the mashed threads are always in the "through the saddle material" area, never in the thread engagement area, so damage should be unimportant from a functional sense. Aesthetically, damage would be pretty well hidden by the button heads. 2- damage would be minimized if Hipshot is smart enough to use flat point setscrews, instead of conventional cup point setscrews.

AFA this being a solution to whatever problems people find with using setscrews for height adjustment, this one does use setscrews for height adjustment, AFA I can tell.

The break angle for bridge-mounted strings does look a little shallow, but I wouldn't be sure of that personally, it could be just the pic, or I might find that other bridges are the same. What does look bad to me is that the break angle on the thru-body strings look waaay too sharp to me. It's forcing the speaking part of the E string, at least, way up in the air--so there's no way that's going to intonate well unless you do a serious thumb-press-bend at the saddle, and then I'd be afraid of reduced string life.

I like the color/finish



The comment about using big honkin' chrome screws definitely makes me think of Wal, and, I think, Fury. Kind of steampunk-y.

 

[Angus]

I forgot to mention that- I don't think the break angle of the top loaded strings is any big deal at all. Look at any ABM (especially) or Hipshot A and it's no different. Hell, the break angle on an ABM is very small and I think they're the best sounding bridge on the market. The issues the poster mentioned I've never heart at all.

Same could be said for the BadassII bridge, which I hate with the fiery passion of a 1000 suns, as it's break angle is very shallow as well. But the problem most people have there is they don't realize that they have to file impressions into the saddle for the string to seat in.

I think the string through mounting is are larger problem. A very large break angle will have WAY more problems that too shallow of one.

 

[Bryan316]

That said, Floyd Rose bridges are NOT made of magnesium. It's way, way too expensive. IIRC the ones I've seen have been steel. If it's coated, it'll be zinc-coated, but not MADE of zinc. If you find me an all-magnesium FR, I'll eat my hat!

ACK. Allow me to correct myself. Floyd Rose LICENSED. It's a Jackson custom shop, and it was actually a Kahler Floyd licensed trem that went bad. It was a cast chassis, not a stamped steel one. Cast iron is much more brittle and easier to strip threads than an equal piece of, say, 1018 cold rolled steel or 1025 hot rolled steel. Which is what I suspect that trem to be made of, or something softer than steel like mag. It certainly wasn't aluminum, though.


He now HAS a legit Floyd Rose trem. Far superior. As well as my lead guitarist, who bought a brand new legit Floyd for his ESP LTD, which I had to chisel out the trem pocket on the bottom side to make it fit correctly. He now LOVES his guitar again after a year of constant battles and fears of more problems just changing strings.

 

[Angus]

I will also eat my hat if it's made of cast iron. That would be really, really, really heavy, and would be prohibitively expensive to finish because of the flash inherent in cast iron.

 

[west*coast*bass]

I've been playing bass since 1978 and can honestly say that I have never really given too much thought about the bridge on any of my basses over the years. I have had about 8 custom basses made for me and have never had a preference on bridge type...whatever the builder thought to use was fine with me.

Once you get out of your room and into a full band setting the subtle nuances of differet bridge types will not matter much at all. This opinion comes from years of gigging...

And for those who will come back with some smarta$$ answer, I have never had someone come up to me after a gig and tell me that my bass would have sounded better if I had a Badass bridge instead of a Hipshot or Fender...it's just never happened and after 29 years, I doubt that it ever will.

 

[tjclem]

I've been playing bass since 1978 and can honestly say that I have never really given too much thought about the bridge on any of my basses over the years. I have had about 8 custom basses made for me and have never had a preference on bridge type...whatever the builder thought to use was fine with me.

Once you get out of your room and into a full band setting the subtle nuances of differet bridge types will not matter much at all. This opinion comes from years of gigging...

And for those who will come back with some smarta$$ answer, I have never had someone come up to me after a gig and tell me that my bass would have sounded better if I had a Badass bridge instead of a Hipshot or Fender...it's just never happened and after 29 years, I doubt that it ever will.

I agree I think too much is made over the bridges. Some are more adjustable or are easier to adjust but with few exceptions in the real world they just hold the strings.... ...t

 

[PilbaraBass]

I'm in the school of cheap-yet-functional bridges...

My yamaha has an inexpensive fender-esque bridge and it works perfectly...nothing wrong with the playability of this bass at ALL!

I have a really cheapo P-bass copy that has a very similar bridge...only difference, is the metal is cheap...so the height adjustment screws are putting divots in the bottom plate...(not good...makes small intonation adjustments a PAIN!)...same basic function and design...different materials...mind you this bass is now starting to play pretty good, too...(give me another six months with it )

I may have to replace this bridge...not because of the bridge design...but because, it's materials are cheap and NASTY! I'll replace it with a solid 5-screw fender bridge (Badass or Hipshot is not necessary)

 

[Angus]

And for those who will come back with some smarta$$ answer, I have never had someone come up to me after a gig and tell me that my bass would have sounded better if I had a Badass bridge instead of a Hipshot or Fender...it's just never happened and after 29 years, I doubt that it ever will.

The same could be said for tuners, pickups, preamp, woods, fret type/size...whatever. In the mix, perhaps depending on the music, none of them really make a huge, huge deal because the electronics, touch, etc can make up or account for almost everything.

That said, what is your point beyond taking the moral high ground? Just because your trumpet player can't tell the difference between bridges doesn't mean that nobody should care.

 

[tjclem]

"Just because your trumpet player can't tell the difference between bridges doesn't mean that nobody should care."

If you can't tell the difference why would you care?

 

[Khronic]

Once you get out of your room and into a full band setting the subtle nuances of differet bridge types will not matter much at all.

I ,respectfully, disagree. So does Mr. Courtemanche.


"Rick, I purchased a bridge from you a few months back for my US made Fender Jazz bass. The tone is deeper and was noticed immediately by the guitarist in our band. This man earns his living as a sound engineer, both live and studio, so he has ears. The other thing I have noticed is that my smaller amp rig seems to cut through the band better than before. I believe this may be due to the new bridge and the increase in the presence of the bass' sound. As a result I do not have to bring my 6x10 cabinet to as many gigs as before, which is a nice bonus of the Naimish bridge! Thanks again. -dc"

email from David Courtemanche

 

[west*coast*bass]

I ,respectfully, disagree. So does Mr. Courtemanche.


"Rick, I purchased a bridge from you a few months back for my US made Fender Jazz bass. The tone is deeper and was noticed immediately by the guitarist in our band. This man earns his living as a sound engineer, both live and studio, so he has ears. The other thing I have noticed is that my smaller amp rig seems to cut through the band better than before. I believe this may be due to the new bridge and the increase in the presence of the bass' sound. As a result I do not have to bring my 6x10 cabinet to as many gigs as before, which is a nice bonus of the Naimish bridge! Thanks again. -dc"

email from David Courtemanche

Well it sure is nice to know that David is happy.

The guy claims that he can use a smaller amp after changing his bridge...PLEASE, that is ridiculous. If he were playing the same gig in the same room time after time he may have had a statement that was worth something but he fails to mention if he is playing in the same location - same room - same acoustics...

 

[west*coast*bass]

The same could be said for tuners, pickups, preamp, woods, fret type/size...whatever. In the mix, perhaps depending on the music, none of them really make a huge, huge deal because the electronics, touch, etc can make up or account for almost everything.

That said, what is your point beyond taking the moral high ground? Just because your trumpet player can't tell the difference between bridges doesn't mean that nobody should care.

You have made my point.

 

[Khronic]

Well it sure is nice to know that David is happy.

Yes it is, thank you.

 

[throbgod13]

ACK. Allow me to correct myself. Floyd Rose LICENSED. It's a Jackson custom shop, and it was actually a Kahler Floyd licensed trem that went bad. It was a cast chassis, not a stamped steel one. Cast iron is much more brittle and easier to strip threads than an equal piece of, say, 1018 cold rolled steel or 1025 hot rolled steel. Which is what I suspect that trem to be made of, or something softer than steel like mag. It certainly wasn't aluminum, though.


He now HAS a legit Floyd Rose trem. Far superior. As well as my lead guitarist, who bought a brand new legit Floyd for his ESP LTD, which I had to chisel out the trem pocket on the bottom side to make it fit correctly. He now LOVES his guitar again after a year of constant battles and fears of more problems just changing strings.

i'll have to beg to differ..

the Kahler Steeler was the first FR-Licensed trem to have a floor plate and trem block actually made of steel.. you can't really count Schaller, because Schaller made all the OFRs for a time for Floyd Rose..

if the trem you are talking about is made of cast iron, it is a Floyd Rose II.. they were used on budget import guitars.. some companies had their names cast into them.. Jackson being one of them.. Kramer used them also..

 

[west*coast*bass]

That said, what is your point beyond taking the moral high ground? Just because your trumpet player can't tell the difference between bridges doesn't mean that nobody should care.

I am not taking the moral high ground. In your last response to me you listed that there are a number of components that add to the overall tone...but ultimately the most important is the player. I agree with you on this 100%.

I just think that some folks go a bit overboard at times thinking that an extra ounce of aluminum or brass is going to make a huge difference in their tone. Personally, I think it's a bit silly.

I think that everyone should be able to do whatever they want, swap out the screws in your pickguard if you want...be happy. I may not understand it and I may question it, but I do respect it.