Guyker 4 String Headless Bass Bridge (and headpiece) report!

[MovinTarget]

I'm planing to address some neck dive on a Ibanez TMB30, this tuners mount on a flat body without any carvings, right?

I still have not used it, but it certainly looks like it. Just looking at it, I can see the saddles have a more conventional profile than some other headless bridges. If you order it through Amazon and not Guyker direct, you may get a better return policy (just in case) and it may even be cheaper...

 

[MovinTarget]

And when I say "just looking at it", I mean physically looking at it, in my hands and next to a conventional bridge...

DO BE AWARE that the knobs sit a bit low so depending on how you mount it, you might need to cut away a little, just in the back. See my pictures earlier in the thread.

https://www.talkbass.com/threads/gu...e-and-headpiece-report.1654922/#post-28529060

 

[sektor]

Tnx for the info, i'm looking to buy them from Aliexpress, there are several different bridges and i'm looking for one that doesn't require carving the body. Guyker is most popular (or at least with some reviews), others are more elusive, like these ones.

 

[ctmullins]

I have a set of those first ones. They’re an interesting design, and work well enough. I do always smear axle grease on the threads of any and all headless tuners.

 

[sektor]

Tnx for the info ctmullins, there are no instructions but i presume you can do everything with them like height, intonation? It's just not obvious from the pictures.

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[ctmullins]

Tnx for the info ctmullins, there are no instructions but i presume you can do everything with them like height, intonation? It's just not obvious from the pictures.

​

Yes. Like many others, they use a slightly-crappy copy of the ABM saddle unit, which is fully adjustable.

 

[MovinTarget]

Tnx for the info, i'm looking to buy them from Aliexpress, there are several different bridges and i'm looking for one that doesn't require carving the body. Guyker is most popular (or at least with some reviews), others are more elusive, like these ones.

I can't speak for the individual tuners in your one pic, my experience is they typically have tall saddles which is why they are often recessed in the body.

The ALP-style would be viable, you may have to buy separate headpieces as the one that comes with it is very specific in how it mounts...

 

[MovinTarget]

The other things to consider are your specific needs. I wanted to try the Guyker for my build where the neck will be removable so I need the ball ends to be top loaded. As you can see from @ctmullins's pic, the individual tuners are string-through which is fine, and the on the ALP-style the ball end goes in the headstock and the cut-end goes in the bridge....

Just goes to show you how creative they get with trying to solve the issue of headless implementation...


If you are not planning on taking the neck off much or swapping strings alot, these two you are looking at are fine. Individuals can be a bit more challenging to get perfectly lined up though...

 

[MovinTarget]

Finally, I do want to point out that if all you are trying to do is stop neck-dive, there are several cheaper and fully-reversible steps you can take.


...I'm not trying talk you out of the mod, but its always good to understand the assignment...

If that's all you are looking for, start with a wider strap that has some grip to it. Then get lightweight tuners and a matching Hi-mass bridge. These steps will solve that issue most of the time and can be reverse if they don't or if you want to sell the bass.

 

[sektor]

Tnx, i know about straps and all, but this bass is really unbalanced on the lap, where i have it most of the time, and it's cheap enough to mess with it. If i won't be using it I'll pass it to some kid or sell it for even cheaper. I'm on tinker mode right now

 

[MovinTarget]

I'm on tinker mode right now

I know all about that!

 

[sektor]

I have a set of those first ones. They’re an interesting design, and work well enough. I do always smear axle grease on the threads of any and all headless tuners.

How do you adjust for intonation? Do you just push the moving piece by hand? Side screw is for intonation lock, front is for height lock? I got them in mail and i'll try to install it during holidays.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

How do you adjust for intonation? Do you just push the moving piece by hand? Side screw is for intonation lock, front is for height lock? I got them in mail and i'll try to install it during holidays.

That’s it. It helps to loosen the string then slide the saddle assembly to where you think it needs to be, tune the string, check intonation, repeat as needed. Double check the intonation after you tighten the screw on the side as those bridge assemblies like to move as that screw gets tightened down. A bit fiddly but as long as you’re not changing string type and gauge all the time it’s a set and forget.

 

[ctmullins]

As @Matt Liebenau said above. Fiddly but it works.

The front screw locks the saddle in place. Loosen it to unlock, then the top two screws allow for height adjustment.

 

[SMG]

I haven’t installed mine yet, but the Guyker saddles, which are made at 18mm, have a locking set screw that gives a tiny bit of adjustment, to maybe 18.5mm spacing. If one loosens the set screw and lifts the saddle assemble, the saddle piece itself will slide out.

Doing this I was able to, one at a time, grip four of the saddles in a vice grip, hold it to the side of a bench grinder wheel, and trim enough off to set at a full 19” spacing. I haven’t used the bridge yet, but the 19mm spaced saddles still have enough meat on them to lock into place when reinstalled.

My main bass for the last year has been a headless Kiesel 5, which has a 19mm spaced Hipshot bridge. Now l am really excited about building my own.

 

[FugaziBomb]

I'm not all-in with guyker. I bought some knobs from them that were pretty nice quality, but I notice that they ape stuff from other manufacturers. If I recall, they offer a couple of things that are essentially pirated Hipshot designs.

 

[MovinTarget]

I'm not all-in with guyker. I bought some knobs from them that were pretty nice quality, but I notice that they ape stuff from other manufacturers. If I recall, they offer a couple of things that are essentially pirated Hipshot designs.

And I get that. At the same time, I am never going to pay for the Hipshot equivalent of this bridge. Its just simply out of my price range. In that sense, and for me, I am not taking dollars out of Hipshot's pocket.

Accuse me of making excuses for not plunking down on the Hipshot hardware but the build I'm working on is an perfect example of me actually getting the excitement of experimenting going and then life happening...

The Hipshot hardware would have doubled my overall investment... just sitting there... until I get around to it.

*IF* I were a boutique luthier I would go with the quality hardware, I would go with Hipshot, but I am faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar from making basses for anyone but myself and my daughter...

 

[FugaziBomb]

And I get that. At the same time, I am never going to pay for the Hipshot equivalent of this bridge. Its just simply out of my price range. In that sense, and for me, I am not taking dollars out of Hipshot's pocket.

Accuse me of making excuses for not plunking down on the Hipshot hardware but the build I'm working on is an perfect example of me actually getting the excitement of experimenting going and then life happening...

The Hipshot hardware would have doubled my overall investment... just sitting there... until I get around to it.

*IF* I were a boutique luthier I would go with the quality hardware, I would go with Hipshot, but I am faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar from making basses for anyone but myself and my daughter...

It's easy to justify, that for sure. To each their own, but for me I steer clear of foreign companies copying American made products and undercutting my neighbors.

 

[MovinTarget]

It's easy to justify, that for sure. To each their own, but for me I steer clear of foreign companies copying American made products and undercutting my neighbors.

Its not undercutting anyone if I wouldn't be buying it would it?

This isn't like pirating music (which I don't do) where I am literally side-stepping normal sales.

I don't understand the logic. It sounds like your argument is that we must buy from the original creator regardless of our circumstances or their bottom line.

I guess I better start saving up for a Benz to drive...

 

[FugaziBomb]

Its not undercutting anyone if I wouldn't be buying it would it?

If a company designs a product from the ground up and another company takes that design down to the mm and replicates and sells it for half the price by paying their work force poverty level wages, that is by definition undercutting the original manufacturer

This isn't like pirating music (which I don't do) where I am literally side-stepping normal sales.

No, it's worse - it create systemic poverty. It directly puts the original company who has priced their product based on fair wages at a disadvantage and forces them to reduce cost - which typically includes reducing staffing and wages.

I guess I better start saving up for a Benz to drive...

That's not a 1:1 correlation and I think you know that. Your conflating an entire industry with a specific product.

You do what you think is right, but for me, I find it morally and fundamentally wrong to support a foreign company stealing American design products and selling it back to us at an unsustainable cost.