SG & EB Bass Club

[ctmullins]

Bravo, @mellowgerman ! My kind of guy!

 

[No Compute]

Mellowgerman said a whole bunch of important stuff here. Please see the original posting back on Page 403 for all of the specifics he outlined. I only quoted in this way to ensure he saw the post below

That is awesome. Is there any chance we can see a cavity picture of that monster? I really like what have done here

 

[Deleted member 268085]

Uh oh. SG & EB now on the 404 page.

 

[mellowgerman]

Outstanding work! I doubt if there is a more versatile EB bass currently in operation anywhere on the planet. Also like the elegantly artistic "pickguard". What brand are the pickups?

That is awesome. Is there any chance we can see a cavity picture of that monster? I really like what have done here

Thanks, fellas! The pickups there are Joe Bardens (Rickenbacker replacement set with the '51 Precision replacement in the middle) though I did just recently swap the neck pickup out for a Bartolini GB humbucker. It sounded excellent with all-Bardens, but mostly using the neck pickup to source lows and low mids, I found that JBE Rick pickup there to be slightly lacking, relative to the thunderous lows I'm used to getting from the Bisonics in my old Guild Starfire. So the big Bartolini in there now with it's high aperture, provides all the massive lows I like and when solo'd with the filter rolled off a bit does a very nice vintage mudbuckery tone as well.

Also, important to note, the resonant filters are JTEX Distillers! Excellent preamp units made in a very small shop in Canada. My favorite so far - having tried a few ACG preamps and Alembic, which were both nice in their own right, but I've found the JTEX to be of equal quality and just more user-friendly.

As for the cavity photo, as you can probably imagine, it's a big ol' copper-lined bowl of black and silver spaghetti in there, but I'll try to remember to snap a photo next time I have the bass out on the bench!

 

[Deemz]

Hey everyone I put some double sided foam tape under my neck pickup to get rid of the rattle I was hearing and that worked wonderfully but upon tightening my strings back up I now hear a higher pitch noise coming from either my bridge pickup or the bridge itself and the weird thing is I only hear it on the A string no other strings make this noise was wondering if anyone els has come across the same issue and what you did to fix it
Thanks in advanced
Deemz

 

[No Compute]

Stock (or more precisely, depending on model year): 3-point bridge?

Maybe an intonation screw spring is rattling. Hard to say from afar

 

[Deemz]

Stock (or more precisely, depending on model year): 3-point bridge?

Maybe an intonation screw spring is rattling. Hard to say from afar

Yea stock 3 point bridge I tried tightening the screws on the bridge and they all seemed tight tried raising and lowering the bridge pickup and still get the sound I brought it to my local music store and the guy kinda brushed it off but saying guitars make rattling sounds even expensive ones but this sound was not there before I did this which has me confused

 

[No Compute]

Well, let's take all of that one statement at a time…

First, if your neck pickup rattle was as loud (and resonant) as mine was before the foam addition I posted about, you wouldn't have heard the other noise(s) that you can now notice anyway. So is it "new?" Maybe, maybe not.

Second, I did not mention the three 'point' screws. I would not touch those unless you truly understand their function. They are not simply affixing the bridge to the body. I mentioned the intonation screws specifically. Those are the screws that move the saddles closer to or further away from the nut. By design, they cannot simply be tightened until everything is tight (otherwise your instrument may not be intonated correctly). Sometimes they sit in a position where the spring is not fully compressed. If you can verify if this is the actual source of the noise, my suggestion would be to slip a bit of surgical tubing (or even heat shrink tubing) over the offending spring, and then reassemble. This, of course, would mean you know how to re intonate your instrument.

Don't just go around tightening things at the bridge Willy Nilly if you aren't sure what function they perform or if you can't re-adjust them properly after your trial and error phase. Mine has a Babicz bridge; not stock to my model year, but stock for others. It does not have any springs, so there are no stray mechanical vibrations to track down

 

[No Compute]

Also worth noting-

I needed to add weatherstripping foam below the pickup itself into the cavity route, as well as adding a much thinner layer of foam between the pickup cover and the top of the pickup.

Since the pickup cover bottoms out on the body itself, 'tight' does not actually mean the pickup has been immobilized.

Are you certain that you aren't hearing the same cause of the rattling, but now only isolated to certain resonant frequencies (as you say, along the A string)?

 

[Zach77]

Just picked up a gorgeous USA SG, and switched out the 3-point bridge with a stardard 2-point Hipshot. Everything was great until I discovered the screws (both Metric and SAE) would not fit. I racked my brain. I wasn't forcing the screw at all, was careful not to strip the thread. I'm a fairly experienced player (28 years) and have done plenty of modifications on multiple basses and guitars. I've never had an issue exactly like this. Additionally, when I put the original screws back in, it pulled-out the glued-in stud/bushing, ever-so-slightly, when tightened, which I was able to tap back in. I try to take great care to do things very carefully and never force or over-tighten anything.

Needless to say, I'm frustrated. I've done this before on an Casady Epiphone, which gave me no problems.

Anyone else here with similar experiences? I suppose I will need to re-glue the studs, but it doesn't account for the threads not matching. I'm at a loss.

Thanks for your input.

 

[Bruce Pete]

Are you trying to tighten the 3-point Gibson bridge down tight to the body of the guitar?

If so, don't do that. The 3-point bridge rides above the body of the guitar a tiny bit.

 

[Zach77]

Hey everyone, new to the forum just bought my 2nd bass ever and ended up snagging a Gibson SG Standard in ebony and I'm in love, other than the slight rattle sound I get out of my bridge pickup when in the horizontal playing position but taking the advice from @ajkula66 and going to add some extra foam under the pickup and hope it helps

Anyways here is a picture of my bass, coming from a Jackson JS2P I'm definitely loving the feel of the short scale on the Gibson View attachment 5031488

I had the exact same issue. Put just a little foam on both sides of the pickup, and it went away nicely. Just needed a little padding in there. I'm not sure why they send them out this way, but thankfully, it doesn't take much effort to fix. I did mine without needing to take the strings off.

 

[No Compute]

Hey Zack

I had a Supertone on a prior instrument. Take a look at how the 2 mounting holes look at the bottom of the bridge. Since they are larger than the bushing's shoulder, they allow you to leverage the bushings right out of the body while tightening. Pretty much how a knob puller or bearing puller works.

Try filling the cavity with washers or a spacer to stop this. Worked for me, but wasn't a big fan of the bridge anyway.

My 2014 SG had metric bushings from the factory

 

[ajkula66]

Just picked up a gorgeous USA SG, and switched out the 3-point bridge with a stardard 2-point Hipshot. Everything was great until I discovered the screws (both Metric and SAE) would not fit.

There are two types of Supertones: One replaces the 2-point (tune-o-matic) and the other one was designed for the 3-point bridge. They are not interchangeable. My best guess is that you've got the wrong type of bridge in your hands.

 

[No Compute]

Good spot. I missed that detail (2 vs 3 point)

I partially retract the above statement-

I had assumed the poster had purchased a 3 point HS Supertone. Perhaps your 'thread pitch' issue is actually a C to C bolt spacing issue, Zack.

But I do not retract the part about the underside of the bridge cavity (Re: leveraging out the bushings). That is a pretty serious design flaw

 

[Deleted member 268085]

Just picked up a gorgeous USA SG, and switched out the 3-point bridge with a stardard 2-point Hipshot. Everything was great until I discovered the screws (both Metric and SAE) would not fit. I racked my brain. I wasn't forcing the screw at all, was careful not to strip the thread. I'm a fairly experienced player (28 years) and have done plenty of modifications on multiple basses and guitars. I've never had an issue exactly like this. Additionally, when I put the original screws back in, it pulled-out the glued-in stud/bushing, ever-so-slightly, when tightened, which I was able to tap back in. I try to take great care to do things very carefully and never force or over-tighten anything.

Needless to say, I'm frustrated. I've done this before on an Casady Epiphone, which gave me no problems.

Anyone else here with similar experiences? I suppose I will need to re-glue the studs, but it doesn't account for the threads not matching. I'm at a loss.

Thanks for your input.

As others have mentioned, is this the Hipshot bridge you're trying to install?

This one's for the tune-o-matic replacement, and won't replace the oil derrick bridge.

SuperTone Gibson® Bass Replacement Bridge

On the product page, you can select either 3 point mounting or 2 point mounting in the "Mounting Style" drop-down list. That 3 or 2 refers to the bridge that you're replacing. Both Supertone bridges install with two screws.

I had zero problems installing the top one on my 2013 U.S. SG.

 

[Deleted member 268085]

...
But I do not retract the part about the underside of the bridge cavity (Re: leveraging out the bushings). That is a pretty serious design flaw

And one of the major reasons I replaced the oil derrick original. Geez, but I hated that bridge.

 

[Zach77]

As others have mentioned, is this the Hipshot bridge you're trying to install?

This one's for the tune-o-matic replacement, and won't replace the oil derrick bridge.

SuperTone Gibson® Bass Replacement Bridge

On the product page, you can select either 3 point mounting or 2 point mounting in the "Mounting Style" drop-down list. That 3 or 2 refers to the bridge that you're replacing. Both Supertone bridges install with two screws.

I had zero problems installing the top one on my 2013 U.S. SG.

It is the replacement bridge. I've gone nuts trying to figure out why the threads don't match. I'm sure there's a logical explanation, but I can't figure it. It came straight from Hipshot too, so I can't imagine they'd send the wrong threads, but I suppose it's possible. I should probably give them a call, but was just wondering if anyone else had any issues.

Thanks, y'all!!!

 

[msb]

I never had any problems setting the Gibson 3 point bridge exactly where I needed it to go , but after putting a Hipshot 3 point replacement bridge on my Jr it was just a matter of time before I put one on my SG. I just loved the look of them.

 

[Zach77]

I never had any problems setting the Gibson 3 point bridge exactly where I needed it to go , but after putting a Hipshot 3 point replacement bridge on my Jr it was just a matter of time before I put one on my SG. I just loved the look of them. View attachment 5037975

I guess I'm excited too, if for nothing else great intonation! Looks great too. I might add that it sounds phenomenal, but Gibson factory QC isn't what I expected, regarding fit and finish. I went into this project knowing some of these issues, and it-is-what-it-is. Love the pickups and playability. Once I have the bridge studs re-glued, I think I'll have what I'm looking for.