Those of you that use headless systems know it can get kinda nuts. You have cheap pot-metal Steinberger knockoffs (lookin at you, Overlord of Music) some mid-market options with different options like string through, backloaded Nova that are light weight and feel nice, but might be kind of hard to dial in for height and intonation...
Then you have the Hipshots, ABMs, and boutique sets.
So inherently you have a lot of challenges cramming all the functionality of a conventional bridge *plus* tuning into a headless system and different companies try to address this different ways... One problem being that they end up standing "taller" so you can't get your action low enough without having to cut an indent in the body.
I am looking to do a build later this summer and I *really* did not want a "tall" system to deal with, and it is planned to be a travel bass that can be broken down/set up quickly and repeatedly so I needed "top-loading" tuners. I didn't know of any such systems out there that didn't cost an arm and a leg *except* the <shiver> Overlord of Music (OoM) bridge, but that has free moving intonation blocks like a Ric so that's a no-go.
Then someone turned me on to these:
Not overly expensive, top loading, not "tall", and has what looks like fairly conventional setup mechanisms for string height and intonation! Looks like a winner!
NOTE: Amazon in the US had them even cheaper than the website so check there if you are interested!!!
So it came today (via Amazon) so here is my review thus far:
1) packaging - Excellent! It was practically sealed on the outside and well packed/protected on the inside
It was safe from the elements in it's journey from China.
2) Weight (bridge only)
Compared to my (shiver) Overlord of Music... notice the saddle blocks are completely free floating, imagine the headaches in travel and losing one!!!
So 80g lighter! Still "solid" if you are not fond of super-light tuning systems. My only other system, a Nova is mounted ATM so I could not weigh it but it's definitely lighter than the Guyker.
3) Component heights - If you are just looking at the frames, it is comparable to the OoM bridge, but when you look at the actual saddle options, it's *MUCH* better... Also some shots next to my mounted Nova tuners:
The Guykers are not even bottomed out and you can see how much lower the saddles sit!
Here's with the OoM:
4) Things to note:
It does *not* come with thrust bearings, but plastic washers... Not terrible but FYI. I had some laying around so I threw them on, no problem, there is plenty of travel to accommodate them:
I'll finish with some more general pics, but note that the knobs sit low, which means when planning to use them, there does need to be clearance below them or they'll scrape the surface of your bass at best and be hard to turn at worst. The mounting holes are a little more forward than the halfway point of the frame, so you can easily plan on have the knobs hang out, away from the body, but you really need to be aware of this. To me this is an acceptable design to keep the whole thing low profile to the point that it could *almost* serve as a drop in replacement for a conventional bridge.
One other thought is I can't seem to get a "string claw" out of the frame... no biggie, unless I need to replace it (I had a Steinberger claw break on me once, so it can happen)
Anyway, more pics:
Top down view, really looks like normal-ish saddles with even a little spacing control (haven't tried it):
Here you can really see the knurled knobs hanging lower than the frame:
Here again you can see the knobs go lower, but also you can see the channels for adjusting intonation much like normal bridges...
Underside shots, you can see mounting holes and the string claws...
Then you have the Hipshots, ABMs, and boutique sets.
So inherently you have a lot of challenges cramming all the functionality of a conventional bridge *plus* tuning into a headless system and different companies try to address this different ways... One problem being that they end up standing "taller" so you can't get your action low enough without having to cut an indent in the body.
I am looking to do a build later this summer and I *really* did not want a "tall" system to deal with, and it is planned to be a travel bass that can be broken down/set up quickly and repeatedly so I needed "top-loading" tuners. I didn't know of any such systems out there that didn't cost an arm and a leg *except* the <shiver> Overlord of Music (OoM) bridge, but that has free moving intonation blocks like a Ric so that's a no-go.
Then someone turned me on to these:
Not overly expensive, top loading, not "tall", and has what looks like fairly conventional setup mechanisms for string height and intonation! Looks like a winner!
NOTE: Amazon in the US had them even cheaper than the website so check there if you are interested!!!
So it came today (via Amazon) so here is my review thus far:
1) packaging - Excellent! It was practically sealed on the outside and well packed/protected on the inside
It was safe from the elements in it's journey from China.
2) Weight (bridge only)
Compared to my (shiver) Overlord of Music... notice the saddle blocks are completely free floating, imagine the headaches in travel and losing one!!!
So 80g lighter! Still "solid" if you are not fond of super-light tuning systems. My only other system, a Nova is mounted ATM so I could not weigh it but it's definitely lighter than the Guyker.
3) Component heights - If you are just looking at the frames, it is comparable to the OoM bridge, but when you look at the actual saddle options, it's *MUCH* better... Also some shots next to my mounted Nova tuners:
The Guykers are not even bottomed out and you can see how much lower the saddles sit!
Here's with the OoM:
4) Things to note:
It does *not* come with thrust bearings, but plastic washers... Not terrible but FYI. I had some laying around so I threw them on, no problem, there is plenty of travel to accommodate them:
I'll finish with some more general pics, but note that the knobs sit low, which means when planning to use them, there does need to be clearance below them or they'll scrape the surface of your bass at best and be hard to turn at worst. The mounting holes are a little more forward than the halfway point of the frame, so you can easily plan on have the knobs hang out, away from the body, but you really need to be aware of this. To me this is an acceptable design to keep the whole thing low profile to the point that it could *almost* serve as a drop in replacement for a conventional bridge.
One other thought is I can't seem to get a "string claw" out of the frame... no biggie, unless I need to replace it (I had a Steinberger claw break on me once, so it can happen)
Anyway, more pics:
Top down view, really looks like normal-ish saddles with even a little spacing control (haven't tried it):
Here you can really see the knurled knobs hanging lower than the frame:
Here again you can see the knobs go lower, but also you can see the channels for adjusting intonation much like normal bridges...
Underside shots, you can see mounting holes and the string claws...
Last edited:
