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Ray Ross Bridges

If that works for you and you go to a gig and have no doubts in your gear, then great. If I ever saw a bridge that costs $10 and I can trust it not to break and to sound good, I’d give it a go too. However for now my preference lies with the bridges in question in this thread, because in my opinion, the package they offer to me is way better than a generic one. You might not see it that way, many people might not see it that way. I’m just saying that there is one who does. Maybe more.
And this is precisely why I said it’s a highly debatable topic.
 
When is it a free choice?

Regardless, my answer would not be based on reliability as that’s a non-issue for the vast majority of bridges.

Ok, please help me out here. I’m really trying to understand all the pessimism towards the Ray Ross bridge. I personally have only seen great things from it so I really don’t understand.

Say I give you a bridge for free, choice between a no name and say Hipshot. Which and why?
 
Ok, please help me out here. I’m really trying to understand all the pessimism towards the Ray Ross bridge.
I have zero pessimism towards the Ray Ross bridge, nor have I expressed any in this thread. Re-read my posts. I've said very little about that bridge in particular.

Say I give you a bridge for free, choice between a no name and say Hipshot. Which and why?
The Hipshot, but only because it's a known quantity. My answer might change if I know more about which Hipshot bridge, or what the no-name bridge happens to be in terms of specifications.
 
I have zero pessimism towards the Ray Ross bridge, nor have I expressed any in this thread. Re-read my posts. I've said very little about that bridge in particular.

I remember your posts, pessimism is the general vibe in this thread and I’m trying to understand ALL of the opposing opinions. Wasn’t saying you’re pessimistic towards it, however I wouldn’t say you’re optimistic about it either. That’s just an observation.
What do you mean by “known quantity”? Sorry English isn’t my first language and sometimes I miss things.
 
pessimism is the general vibe in this thread and I’m trying to understand ALL of the opposing opinions
The general pessimism in the thread is because of bogus and impossible claims combined with unprofessional responses from the manufacturer himself. If you remove all of that from the start of the conversation what would have followed would have been a healthy dose of skepticism, but a lack of negativity.

however I wouldn’t say you’re optimistic about it either.
I'm ambivalent. I'm neither optimistic nor pessimistic. I'm a skeptic, which is a healthy and good thing to be in all things. Please note that this is different than being a cynic. Skepticism good, cynicism bad :p

What do you mean by “known quantity”? Sorry English isn’t my first language and sometimes I miss things.
Don't sweat the English thing. You speak English as well, or better, than many native speakers.

"Known quantity" means that there's enough information on-hand to make a decision without needing to do more research. If you say "Hipshot versus no-name" then I'll pick the Hipshot because I know enough about them to be sure I'll get something workable, whereas "no-name" tells me next to nothing other than the fact that it happens to be a bridge. That said, Hipshot has a lot of variability in models, so I would prefer more information.
 
The general pessimism in the thread is because of bogus and impossible claims combined with unprofessional responses from the manufacturer himself. If you remove all of that from the start of the conversation what would have followed would have been a healthy dose of skepticism, but a lack of negativity.


I'm ambivalent. I'm neither optimistic nor pessimistic. I'm a skeptic, which is a healthy and good thing to be in all things. Please note that this is different than being a cynic. Skepticism good, cynicism bad :p


Don't sweat the English thing. You speak English as well, or better, than many native speakers.

"Known quantity" means that there's enough information on-hand to make a decision without needing to do more research. If you say "Hipshot versus no-name" then I'll pick the Hipshot because I know enough about them to be sure I'll get something workable, whereas "no-name" tells me next to nothing other than the fact that it happens to be a bridge. That said, Hipshot has a lot of variability in models, so I would prefer more information.


Ok, thanks a lot for helping me out here.

I understand if some people have negative attitude towards other people which has occurred throughout arguments/claims/whatever else has been in this thread. I just wanted people to acknowledge and consider some real life experience I have of the product in question.

I’m a skeptic too so I understand where you’re coming from. However I’m also cynical about life... not in life though.

Thanks and thanks - I now know better what you mean by known quantity and can understand better where you’re coming from. I guess if that happens for the RR bridge one day, people would be able to base their opinion on broader evidence, not just one guy on a forum.
 
Let me put it this way: if any of you goes to a luthier to order a custom bass, would you order the cheapest possible hardware, or woods (cos I know that’s another can of worms), if you could easily afford top components?
Yes, cost does not mean quality. I have an $11 Chinese bridge on my Guild Pilot that I prefer greatly to the Schaller it replaced. If you are judging quality solely on price as you are doing here you are making my point. You have assigned top status solely on price.

Reliability was brought up. in the '90s when US aerospace production went down an industry was created making super expensive bike parts using the highest technology and materials. It was super expensive and most of those parts were junk that broke more often than cheaper Asian made Shimano components. But people still argued they were better because they cost so much.

You're arguing your viewpoint is better than mine here because you have a RR bridge and I don't, I'll counter that mine is better because of my decades of experience with science, marketing, and magicians. I create perceptions professionally. What I see here is familiar to me.
 
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I hate those things :)

No slots to keep the saddles from moving sideways and the threaded slots can be impossible to find even string spacing.

That said the cheap stock bridge in my MIM Jazz is perfect, and unlike the RR bridge can be intonated and height adjusted with strings tuned to pitch, not have issues with string windings at the tuner, and no poles sticking up where I rest my palm. So I greatly prefer the Mexican Fender bridge.
 
Yes, cost does not mean quality. I have an $11 Chinese bridge on my Guild Pilot that I prefer greatly to the Schaller it replaced. If you are judging quality solely on price as you are doing here you are making my point. You have assigned top status solely on price.

Reliability was brought up. in the '90s when US aerospace production went down an industry was created making super expensive bike parts using the highest technology and materials. It was super expensive and most of those parts were junk that broke more often than cheaper Asian made Shimano components. But people still argued they were better because they cost so much.

You're arguing your viewpoint is better than mine here because you have a RR bridge and I don't, I'll counter that mine is better because of my decades of experience with science, marketing, and magicians. I create perceptions professionally. What I see here is familiar to me.


No, I’m not assigning value to anything. I asked to see how you would respond to it. If you like your $10 bridge, I cannot fault that.

Again, and I’ll repeat it as many times as I have to - my argument comes only from the point of view that I have compared one to other bridges and you haven’t, but you’re arguing about its qualities. To me that isn’t a valid argument.

My argument is based on real life experience of the product in question. Yours isn’t. Buy one, try it, then I’m more than happy to accept your disappointment with it. Otherwise I’m not gonna be convinced by any of the philosophy or theories you or other members might google and post here.

I’ve tried it and I have my opinion on it - if you’re interested in debating it, please try one, then we can talk.
 
I hate those things :)

No slots to keep the saddles from moving sideways and the threaded slots can be impossible to find even string spacing.

That said the cheap stock bridge in my MIM Jazz is perfect, and unlike the RR bridge can be intonated and height adjusted with strings tuned to pitch, not have issues with string windings at the tuner, and no poles sticking up where I rest my palm. So I greatly prefer the Mexican Fender bridge.

How many times do you intonate or adjust your strings height? I use Elixirs so for me it’s usually once a year when I change them (I have a few basses so between them I don’t have to change stings more often than that). If your case is different then I can see how it could potentially be a downside.

Again you’re speaking without trying. The tone pins, as I’ve said, don’t poke into your palm. On the contrary, to me they’re a lot more comfortable than catching a raised saddle screw.

There’s no issues with the string windings at the end of the strings - don’t know who’s come up with that - it’s non existent.

I don’t understand how can you greatly prefer something over another thing that you haven’t tried, claiming that it has issues that it doesn’t... I’d understand if you say you don’t want to try it because you’re boycotting the company or something, but that’s a completely different thing.
 
Buy one, try it, then I’m more than happy to accept your disappointment with it.
There's no way I would ever buy anything from RR based on him alone. Just as you see price as an indicator of quality I see him as an indicator I would never like his product.

And the argument that I can't have an opinion until I give you guys money does not sway me. You're coming at me as if I'd never seen a product before. I've probably bought more bridges than you ever have, Mike Tobias used to sell me bridges for my basses back in the Burbank days. I say that because I know you're a fan and I've devolved into "marketing speak" here (I'm using association to validate my point). They were not great bridges, they could develop rattle problems and the black finish wore off easily, I really hated the Wilkinson bridges he used even more. Yet he's still my favorite builder and a great guy.
 
I think you’re trying to use my words against me here, and you know that assigning value to cost wasn’t what I was talking about.

You know very well that given the choice, any of you would take a free MTD over a free Chinese knock off bass so let’s not twist and turn words just to get an advantage.

Unless you’ve never tried an MTD. Then you’re allowed to argue that it’s no good. It would seem.
 
hearing the entire string voice in this design is interesting to me and a means toward other possibilities/sounds. some folks are more gearhead than player and then there are the others.
it is interesting and fun if so inclined.
esoteric fuzz your thing - cool
fossilized ivory your thing - cool too
time on the rock is short at most - play on
 
There's no way I would ever buy anything from RR based on him alone. Just as you see price as an indicator of quality I see him as an indicator I would never like his product.
Again, I never said I see price as an indicator of quality.
And the argument that I can't have an opinion until I give you guys money does not sway me.

Who is “you guys”?


You're coming at me as if I'd never seen a product before. I've probably bought more bridges than you ever have.

You probably have indeed - I trust you on that and I’d happily hear and consider your opinion on the ones you’ve bought and experienced.
I’m not coming at you man, I’m just saying that this product is different and your points against are based on what you assume about it - I told you I haven’t experienced those.


Listen - I’ll go out of my way here - if you have someone flying to Europe frequently, I’m happy to lend you one of my RR bridges so you can A/B it. I don’t know if you’d like it but at least you’d have experience with it and we can debate.
 
How many times do you intonate or adjust your strings height?

This kind of comment makes me think you're a troll. The answer is every time I change strings. You dismiss a huge flaw in the design and make it personally into a criticism of my use of a bridge.

I don’t understand how can you greatly prefer something over another thing that you haven’t tried
That's your limitation. Please accept not everyone has the same limitations. Just as you dismiss my wanting to be able to intonate and adjust height as simply as the original '50s Fender bridge does. Just as I don't need to get a tattoo to decide I don't want one, I'm not paying top dollar for a bridge that has major flaws over ones that are a 1/10th the price. I'm not swayed by someone telling me to spend top dollar for something I don't see any improvements with, I see major flaws with, and comes from a seller who clearly makes stuff up only to defend it by arguing he doesn't know what he's talking about as he's not an engineer, but a visionary.
 
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This kind of comment makes me think you're a troll. The answer is every time I change strings. You dismiss a huge flaw in the design and make it personally into a criticism of my use of a bridge.


That's your limitation. Please accept not everyone has the same limitations. Just as you dismiss my wanting to be able to intonate and adjust height as simply as the original '50s Fender bridge does. Just as I don't need to get a tattoo to decide I don't want one, I'm not paying top dollar for a bridge that has major flaws over ones that are a 1/10th the price. I'm not swayed by someone telling me to spend top dollar for something I don't see any improvements with, I see major flaws with, and comes from a seller who clearly makes stuff up only to defend it by arguing he doesn't know what he's talking about as he's not an engineer, but a visionary.


You’ve completely misunderstood me here. I’m not criticising your need, neither desire to be able to adjust your bass on the fly. I’m just saying that to me that disadvantage, being once a year, is negligible compared to the benefits I hear. as I said in the original post - if for you the need is more frequent, then I understand how you can see it as a disadvantage.

I’m not a troll, let’s not insult each other.


I’m sorry, but to me a limitation is thinking that you know everything and refusing to even try, and simply dismissing a product just because you have a negative attitude towards its creator. I would call that arrogant, but I don’t want to offend you, because I’m not a troll.
 
Again, I never said I see price as an indicator of quality.
Maybe not in those exact words but you've said it many times.
Listen - I’ll go out of my way here - if you have someone flying to Europe frequently, I’m happy to lend you one of my RR bridges so you can A/B it. I don’t know if you’d like it but at least you’d have experience with it and we can debate.
That's all I need? Frequent round trips to Europe? Any part of Europe in particular? That's sounds like a ridiculous offer designed to never be taken up on. Like Sterling Ball's infamous wide spaced 5 string deal. Am I to understand you would take a bridge off your personal bass and let someone fly it to the US for a while?

Send me one in the mail. I'll try in my 5 string Jazz and then pass it on to the next tester. But we can be pretty sure I won't like it. Hopefully we've learned why in this thread.
 
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