Ray Ross Bridges

[Joshua]

And again - ratchet down the snark. I just had to edit a post. Next time I'll hand out party favorites as well.

Respect, people.

 

[TheRayRoss]

Unfortunately for me, I had to read this 5 times. Chemo just makes me dumb as a rock. I’m pretty sure I understand. With this explanation, I only understand some of the complaints which seem like non-issues. However we are dealing with Abby normal on my end...
Thank you

The complaints are indeed non-issues. I can say this because those who have caused the greatest uproar have absolutely zero experience with my hardware. They looked at a picture and said "nope" thats about it. The rest is a bunch of overly-intellectual drivel. I am just a guy that made something cool and wanted to share it. I have and will always respond to REAL questions, so feel free to ask anytime!

I will be at namm in january, in the flesh if anyone wants to come by and tell me it doesnt work. I will have a couple of my basses there for your playing pleasure. 1 is a 99 dollar p-bass knockoff, the other is a squire 5 string (200 dollar guitar) they both sound FANTASTIC. Floyd Rose booth 5629 hall "d"
Best of luck with the chemo, i hope i get to meet you someday.

 

[Joshua]

Good gravy folks, let's remember to report posts that break the rules rather than respond to them.

Rule 5: If you have a disagreement with a moderator (If your thread gets deleted, if you get a warning, etc.), DO NOT post your complaint publicly on the forums. If you would like to raise a complaint regarding a moderator's actions, start a private conversation or email the moderator. If the moderator's response is unsatisfactory, please contact the forum admin staff by clicking the "contact us" link in any page's footer.

Please message me with questions.

Now let's all please go on respectfully having the conversation.

 

[Upstate SC Bass]

Anyone tried the 5 string version? Can you say what it did for the low B string?
Always trying to tighten up and make my low B strings sound stronger and more usable on every 5 I have ever had.

Also...Any plans for a 6 string version? To me the C string is always another of the same problem (for a different reason... less mass),...in trying to get all strings sounding consistent and strong and full.

 

[TheRayRoss]

i will reiterate the basics..
The frequency response is off the charts. this is settled and academic at this point. What this means for the user is a "note" you will feel in your guts, even if the bass is unplugged. No matter the string size, you will get ALL of it. "B" is enormous and "bell clear". players muuuch better than I have all discovered harmonics on the "b" that we did not even know were there..

I have gone round and round about whether to release a 6 string version, not a big deal, but it seems like more and more people are gravitating back to 4 and 5's. The "c" you describe is already a pretty tiny, twangy string on a bass. I personally LOVE the chords that a 6 string provides, and that bit o twang never bothered me.

 

[Jim C]

I've been watching the product since it was first announced here.
Announcing The Ray Ross™ Saddle-Less Bass Bridge

I saw that there was one post where a TB member bought the bridge and was going to offer some opinions but that post was shut down.
Anybody here actually bought one and tried it?
I'm a bit short on funds for experiments right now but open minded enough to value the idea and the implementation.

RR, have you sold enough of these to justify a redesign of the bass plate to fit other bases without modification?
I would think this will take some time to happen plus the world revolves around Fender anyway.
I had this crazy idea of an 1/8" adapter plate that would have countersunk screws going from the bottom of the plate into newly tapped holes into your bridge. Chances are the existing holes in my G&L would probably overlap with the stock Fender holes.
Then I thought about the amount of time to design, machine, plating, and realized how I would never get to this project!

 

[Mildew Jones]

Mr Ray Ross, I commend you on following thru with your vision. I had thought of a similar concept a decade or so ago(suspended string, not bending over a saddle) after reading a Rick Turner column in Bass Player where he discussed keeping a string straight for optimal performance. I'm no techie, no engineering basis at all, it was more of a "could I think of a product to sell an idea to someone who could make it", could have benefit with intonation, tone, etc.
I talked to an engineer once, actually had an email chat w/Rick Turner about it as well a coupla years ago, I'm a lazy dreamer, it stopped there.
I'm curious how long you prototyped it, tried it out on your own before the step to manufacturing.
Any issue with the tone pin bending over time? I had a different vision for how it held the string in place.
Good luck to you!
MJ

 

[TheRayRoss]

I've been watching the product since it was first announced here.
Announcing The Ray Ross™ Saddle-Less Bass Bridge

I saw that there was one post where a TB member bought the bridge and was going to offer some opinions but that post was shut down.
Anybody here actually bought one and tried it?
I'm a bit short on funds for experiments right now but open minded enough to value the idea and the implementation.

RR, have you sold enough of these to justify a redesign of the bass plate to fit other bases without modification?
I would think this will take some time to happen plus the world revolves around Fender anyway.
I had this crazy idea of an 1/8" adapter plate that would have countersunk screws going from the bottom of the plate into newly tapped holes into your bridge. Chances are the existing holes in my G&L would probably overlap with the stock Fender holes.
Then I thought about the amount of time to design, machine, plating, and realized how I would never get to this project!

You are probably talking about "rembo" he was a really nice guy, bought one, loved it, went to share his findings, and was amazed at how nasty people were being about it. (This was shortly after the press release, and it was pretty hot in here for a little while). He told me he would not be back. Alot of people have bought them and contacted me personally to say thank you. why they dont want to talk about it here, is anybodys guess. There is plenty of feedback in other internet venues, you just have to look for it.

The fender "5 hole" is as universal as it gets. if your GandL has 5 holes, it should fit right on there. Some other non- fender basses will line up with 3 holes, some will line up with 2. Really leaving you one or two holes to drill.

The 5 string really goes crazy with hole patterns. Solution?-- lots of holes. I recently did a yamaha bb-something or other, retrofit. 3 out of 7 holes lined right up. The rest was easy. They have hardware MADE by yamaha. so theres is always a little different. bottom line, its not a very difficult change over. That being said, I understand when folks dont want to poke another hole in their 72 pbass. The fender 5 hole is the best I can do CURRENTLY.
Hope that helps jim c.
As an aside, a fellow could do the swap on the beater in the corner. You know the one. The bass that never gets any love? We all have one of those. If you dont, the pawnshop down the street has one for 90 bucks. When THAT becomes your go-to bass,poking an extra hole in the good bass suddenly doesnt look that scary

 

[TheRayRoss]

Mr Ray Ross, I commend you on following thru with your vision. I had thought of a similar concept a decade or so ago(suspended string, not bending over a saddle) after reading a Rick Turner column in Bass Player where he discussed keeping a string straight for optimal performance. I'm no techie, no engineering basis at all, it was more of a "could I think of a product to sell an idea to someone who could make it", could have benefit with intonation, tone, etc.
I talked to an engineer once, actually had an email chat w/Rick Turner about it as well a coupla years ago, I'm a lazy dreamer, it stopped there.
I'm curious how long you prototyped it, tried it out on your own before the step to manufacturing.
Any issue with the tone pin bending over time? I had a different vision for how it held the string in place.
Good luck to you!
MJ

WOW!!
Thanks for THAT my friend. Where to begin? This has been a completely life changing experience for me. One day I will write a book, complete with punctuation and appropriate capitals..
Everyone has perception, your perception is either right, or its wrong. Sometimes it just needs to be "bigger". Experience in the water will change that perception and give you a bigger picture. I am by nature a "big picture" guy. So when I tell you "ideas are cheap", perhaps your perception will change a bit. Shark tank is not real, no one wants to buy an idea, namm is not what you may think it is, and things take waaay longer than you think they should.
That being said, you arent the only one who told me what you did. You know who else said those words? Floyd rose. he also fooled around with it years ago but abandoned the concept.
I have mentioned this in other posts, but here are the details:
I built 27 instruments in 7ish years.

Number 12 had a functioning bridge in place.

I applied for a patent. This can take a very long time and be expensive. Mine came back in a couple years.
10,388,261. That one is mine. A hard fought victory.

I met my distributor right before my first namm, he saw the bridge and was in.(do NOT go to namm without at least a "pending patent")
That was 4 years ago.

Last year (3 years in) My bridge was released and for sale. Then the press release hit talkbass. For almost a year
I answered questions, parried some off color comments, and mostly just put up with a heavy element of "its a hoax/snakeoil/impossible/cannot possibly work".
This year it seems to have finally gained some acceptance, and the naysayers have mostly found something else to do..
In part, because it IS that good, another part, i wont give up.

So, about ten years now, I have been personally using rayross hardware. Which is why I was so suprised to hear so many decry its merits. Bottom line, if your product is crappy, you wont make it to another namm.
I have done 6 of them.

Please bear in mind that I am also a lazy dreamer. Most of my life i have been "inventing things". About the time i wake up, somebody has already patented the idea. Snowboards, self regulating tire pressure, and shock absorbers on bicycles. Yep, i thought all of those up.
Bottom line, if you wanna go from "idea" to a physical widget, plan on 10 years of eating baloney, scrimping, never eating out, and tons of expense that has no return, un-reembursed travel expenses, etc..

floyd rose was living in a van when his bridge finally "hit". I do not live in a van, but pretty dang close!

Also, there is some veery minimal deflection on the pins but it is supposed to be there. Over time it does not change. Let me know if the first chapter of my book is helpful

 

[Mildew Jones]

Thanks for the reply and info, great story...again, thanks for your time. Guitar player friend of mine was one of the first to get a Floyd Rose (he was likely the first in San Diego to get one, no verification...). He flew up to Seattle, I believe Floyd installed it in his garage...yup, small personal business. Turned out OK for him.
Best of luck to you, I hope you succeed with this, I'm curious to hear it, as well, though I'm done putting new instruments together, we'll see, I may need a new bridge sometime soon.
Curious if you can incorporate string spacing adjustment, so you wouldn't have to manufacture different spaced versions (there's that one bridge, I can't remember the model, a Gotoh? Has the adjustable side to side rollers for spacing).
Again, best of luck to you!
MJ

 

[TheRayRoss]

Thanks for the reply and info, great story...again, thanks for your time. Guitar player friend of mine was one of the first to get a Floyd Rose (he was likely the first in San Diego to get one, no verification...). He flew up to Seattle, I believe Floyd installed it in his garage...yup, small personal business. Turned out OK for him.
Best of luck to you, I hope you succeed with this, I'm curious to hear it, as well, though I'm done putting new instruments together, we'll see, I may need a new bridge sometime soon.
Curious if you can incorporate string spacing adjustment, so you wouldn't have to manufacture different spaced versions (there's that one bridge, I can't remember the model, a Gotoh? Has the adjustable side to side rollers for spacing).
Again, best of luck to you!
MJ

I have touched on this briefly also. I can do adjustable spacing, and will do adjustable spacing. It DOES also equate to higher costs due to small pieces. I realize everything is relative but 140 bucks is hard for some folks to handle. Thus far I have done everything i can to keep it affordable

 

[starjag]

Hoping the bridge is available in chrome soon. Certainly would like to try it.

 

[TheRayRoss]

Thanks for the reply and info, great story...again, thanks for your time. Guitar player friend of mine was one of the first to get a Floyd Rose (he was likely the first in San Diego to get one, no verification...). He flew up to Seattle, I believe Floyd installed it in his garage...yup, small personal business. Turned out OK for him.
Best of luck to you, I hope you succeed with this, I'm curious to hear it, as well, though I'm done putting new instruments together, we'll see, I may need a new bridge sometime soon.
Curious if you can incorporate string spacing adjustment, so you wouldn't have to manufacture different spaced versions (there's that one bridge, I can't remember the model, a Gotoh? Has the adjustable side to side rollers for spacing).
Again, best of luck to you!
MJ

Incidentally, i think "mildew jones" is the best handle yet...BAHAHAHAHAHAH!

 

[TheRayRoss]

Hoping the bridge is available in chrome soon. Certainly would like to try it.

Ya, they just ran outta chrome. make your widget in as many colors as you can think of and folks will only want 1 or 2.. Its the same in the greeting card industry. I would really love to do one in burnt chrome. (Personally) i dont know that many people would want it. For those unfamiliar, it looks like overly tempered steel, with every color you can imagine. Maybe a limited edition...

sorry they ran outta chrome, give it a minute

 

[Kubicki Fan]

I think it would be appropriate for the nay-sayers to go and try one in person before dismissing it.
I really don't think any of the "issues" brought forth are worth considering unless those that keep bringing them up have installed one, played it, taken it apart, put it back together and played it again. Then, we'll take your issues, if there are any, into consideration.
These threads, and there have been a few, all turn out the same with those that have never seen one dismissing it and the developer trying in vain to get people to understand and give it a shot.

I bought a RayRoss bridge. Intonation was easy to attain on a low end bass (swapped to Res-O-Lite tuners the originals). Sustain and tone was good, as well.
However, the '3/4" forward' issue caused the speaking part of the string to wrap around the tuning post; this I don't like.
Another issue was that the mounting screws were soft and while they lined up with the standard Fender five hole configuration the screws were thinner than the standard and wouldn't hold on a pre-drilled Warmoth body. The fender screws would not go through the bridge holes, so it is NOT a drop in. I like the bridge for looks, setup, and sound but it needs fiddling.

 

[Kubicki Fan]

This has got to be the ugliest and possibly most needless bridge design out there. Hipshot, Gotoh, and countless others have it covered.

De gustibus non est disputandum. This is so old it is even in Latin: tastes vary. The Gotoh 201 saddle barrel bottomed out on a Warmoth build. The RayRoss goes lower, so the need to shim the neck or grind the barreel is eliminated if the issue is not severe.

 

[Kubicki Fan]

I've been watching the product since it was first announced here.
Announcing The Ray Ross™ Saddle-Less Bass Bridge

I saw that there was one post where a TB member bought the bridge and was going to offer some opinions but that post was shut down.
Anybody here actually bought one and tried it?
I'm a bit short on funds for experiments right now but open minded enough to value the idea and the implementation.

RR, have you sold enough of these to justify a redesign of the bass plate to fit other bases without modification?
I would think this will take some time to happen plus the world revolves around Fender anyway.
I had this crazy idea of an 1/8" adapter plate that would have countersunk screws going from the bottom of the plate into newly tapped holes into your bridge. Chances are the existing holes in my G&L would probably overlap with the stock Fender holes.
Then I thought about the amount of time to design, machine, plating, and realized how I would never get to this project!

@Jim C, see an earlier post that lists my experience with RR bridge. Overall I like it.

 

[TheRayRoss]

I bought a RayRoss bridge. Intonation was easy to attain on a low end bass (swapped to Res-O-Lite tuners the originals). Sustain and tone was good, as well.
However, the '3/4" forward' issue caused the speaking part of the string to wrap around the tuning post; this I don't like.
Another issue was that the mounting screws were soft and while they lined up with the standard Fender five hole configuration the screws were thinner than the standard and wouldn't hold on a pre-drilled Warmoth body. The fender screws would not go through the bridge holes, so it is NOT a drop in. I like the bridge for looks, setup, and sound but it needs fiddling.

Thanks for the feedback kubicki, i will take these one at a time:
You DO know that the string is not "speaking"past the nut, your string did not break either,right? So its aesthetic?

it IS drop in if the holes line up. To match EVERYBODY'S screw holes, i would have to send a 10 lb bucket of various bits in order to provide you with a perfect install. If i sent huge screws that you had to drill your bass out, you probably would not like that either. Thanks for posting the translation, i skipped latin

 

[TheRayRoss]

De gustibus non est disputandum. This is so old it is even in Latin: tastes vary. The Gotoh 201 saddle barrel bottomed out on a Warmoth build. The RayRoss goes lower, so the need to shim the neck or grind the barreel is eliminated if the issue is not severe.

This also varies from bass to bass, depending on manufacturing practices and neck joint construction. One custom builder wants me to make rayross even shorter, to acommodate his interesting neckjoint. Tastes vary/ basses vary...how you say that in latin?

 

[Jim C]

I bought a RayRoss bridge. Intonation was easy to attain on a low end bass (swapped to Res-O-Lite tuners the originals). Sustain and tone was good, as well.
However, the '3/4" forward' issue caused the speaking part of the string to wrap around the tuning post; this I don't like.
Another issue was that the mounting screws were soft and while they lined up with the standard Fender five hole configuration the screws were thinner than the standard and wouldn't hold on a pre-drilled Warmoth body. The fender screws would not go through the bridge holes, so it is NOT a drop in. I like the bridge for looks, setup, and sound but it needs fiddling.

Thanks very much for this.
Without starting a war , did you hear much difference with the bridge swap?