So I have a Washburn Ab40sh. It’s an electric acoustic but it’s solid and has the feel of an electric hollow body w/ 24 frets. Plays great. I hate setting it up with the individual/single bridges and I’ve been looking at graph tech for an electronics upgrade. Do you think a hipshot Bridge w/ piezo loaded saddles would get too much crosstalk? It will fit but I’m not sure if it should fit.
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Hipshot w/piezo saddles on Aco/Ele?
- Thread starter BaceisthePlace
- Start date
If there is a center block, then mounting a bridge will work. However, that appears to have an arched top. You won't want to put a flat-base bridge on it. You will want something similar to a Gibson Tune-O-Matic or another bridge with a base that has the same radius as the top.
I assume you mean a wooden block under the current bridge pieces where the screws mounting the bridge sink into and the wires pass through. There is.
The original bridge pieces (4seperate/individual) are flat on the bottom but they sit flush against the top where
They’re mounted.
Which leaves me wondering why they wouldn’t have put hipshot style on there to begin with. I don’t know if you’ve used them but, the single individual bridge pieces require you to take the string back off once you’ve set the intonation/action to lock it back down. So you have to be extremely careful not to bump it (or sneeze) while you have the string off. I am remarkably unimpressed with that hardware. Lol. Thanks for the insights! I think that may have made up my mind to pull the trigger on a real bridge.
The original bridge pieces (4seperate/individual) are flat on the bottom but they sit flush against the top where
They’re mounted.
Which leaves me wondering why they wouldn’t have put hipshot style on there to begin with. I don’t know if you’ve used them but, the single individual bridge pieces require you to take the string back off once you’ve set the intonation/action to lock it back down. So you have to be extremely careful not to bump it (or sneeze) while you have the string off. I am remarkably unimpressed with that hardware. Lol. Thanks for the insights! I think that may have made up my mind to pull the trigger on a real bridge.
Why don't you leave the string in place,slacken the locking grub screw and tap the saddle forward/back. Tighten screw after you've set the string length.
That's the method I've used for the last 20 years.
I just replaced the originals with ones that allow me to do that. The ones that come with it the locking screw is inaccessible and it’s maddening.
I've wanted one of these since they came out in 2010 (is that the right year?). I pulled the trigger a couple weeks ago when I found one in excellent condition on a site I've never used before (buya marketplace, which I see as a direct competition with EvilBay). When it arrived, the preamp system was not working. A pawn shop from OK was the seller through buya, so I called them and they were very good, giving me the option of a simple return/refund OR take it to a local guitar shop & see what they could do. 10 days later, a tech called, had it working again for $40 - the 9V battery cable was replaced and they cleaned everything out (there was some corrosion, which concerns me), sprayed the pots, etc...and the seller agreed to refund $100 for the trouble!
Paid $500 + $50 S & H, felt it was a fair price, but I see some listings asking as high as $1400, others were $650, $850, $1150 on another, the latter now labeled as Sold, and it looks like they got asking price! Anybody have an idea why pricing is so variable, and is this instrument good enough to be called "Rare", as some ads for it suggest, put another way, is it a (future) collectible? How many were made?
I digressed there...my real ? was did you do it (replace the bridge/preamp), how did it work out, and what was the total cost, if you don't mind? I want to start the process of investigating replacement if needed/if it fails again...and may just follow your lead!
Paid $500 + $50 S & H, felt it was a fair price, but I see some listings asking as high as $1400, others were $650, $850, $1150 on another, the latter now labeled as Sold, and it looks like they got asking price! Anybody have an idea why pricing is so variable, and is this instrument good enough to be called "Rare", as some ads for it suggest, put another way, is it a (future) collectible? How many were made?
I digressed there...my real ? was did you do it (replace the bridge/preamp), how did it work out, and what was the total cost, if you don't mind? I want to start the process of investigating replacement if needed/if it fails again...and may just follow your lead!
Wow it’s been a while since I looked at this thread. So, I replaced the pickups with Graphtechs and ended up having one bad one in the bunch. Graph tech is awesome though and they sent me a whole new set free of charge. I got them in and it everything worked which is a miracle considering they must be like 36guage(?) wires. I also added an orange drop cap to darken the tone a little. Then several months later I started getting a radio station through the bass. I assumed it was my lack of experience soldering anything smaller than 22 gauge wire. I took it to a tech this time and turned out to be Washburn components again. We narrowed it down to the circuit board. That’s when I called grape tech and got the preamp and midi interface delivered. I got a little over his head and I ended up taking it to a luthier, tech, guitarist, and cool mf Wendell Walker owner of J Nunis Custom Guitars here in Atlanta. We talked and poked and prodded the bass for about an hour and he took every complaint and desire I had about what I wanted a bass to be and made notes. From functionality of knobs to grinding screws as to not bleed, to the tone, voltage and setup. It may need two 9v batteries. I also play drums and I e been playing with kick and Hat when I practice bass for a few years now. With the midi output I’ll be able to play a full kit (and pretty much anything else) on my strings. He still has it and it should be ready soon. I can’t wait to see hear and feel what he’s done with it.
Oh sorry to answer your question though. There are different models of it. There’s one I guess Stu Hamm actually has in his collection and plays. I really don’t know too much about them tbh. I had been waiting for a 24 fret hollow body to exist and when I saw this one I pulled the trigger immediately. After being ghosted by Washburn after reaching out several times i figured it best to go a different route. The bass feels great but the electronics seem a little fragile. Maybe that’s the upgrade is with the price difference.
