SG & EB Bass Club

[msb]

My old Gibson 3 point had perfect intonation but it was a little fussy to set. And once changing strings I flipped it upside down and put the saddles in the wrong place. Didn't take long to figure out what happened and get them in the right order.
I just love the look of the Hipshot and have installed three of them now. Might seem a bit shallow , but it is much easier to palm mute. And they are much easier to adjust.

 

[GonePlaid]

My old Gibson 3 point had perfect intonation but it was a little fussy to set. And once changing strings I flipped it upside down and put the saddles in the wrong place. Didn't take long to figure out what happened and get them in the right order.
I just love the look of the Hipshot and have installed three of them now. Might seem a bit shallow , but it is much easier to palm mute. And they are much easier to adjust.

Bought an '09 Epi EB-0(been playing EB-_'s since 67, can't call 'em "SG's"), Immediately put on a Hipshot and Thumbrest(from '67 TBird).

 

[ajkula66]

It is the replacement bridge.

Well, I've got nothing then...apart from apologies from possibly steering you in the wrong direction.

Good luck.

 

[No Compute]

Yeah, wait a minute

Why do you think you have an incorrect thread pitch Zack? You were able to thread one of the supplied sets of bolts far enough into the bushings to lift them out of the body- so the pitch must be correct. A metric bolt in an SAE bushing (or vice versa) would have bound up pretty quickly and required a great deal of force to turn. And then you would not have had bushings that lifted out, your bushings would have twisted out- leaving all sorts of damage and splinters behind.

Are you under the impression that the bushings coming out of the body is due to an incorrect thread pitch? If so, look at my post above about the bridge's bolt hole sizing. This is a serious design flaw that turns a 'replacement / upgraded bridge' into a 'bushing remover.'

Since the damage is already done, you can find out for yourself easily. Thread the ST bolts into the bushings by hand. No binding? No problem

 

[SubHuman]

I picked up a 2007 SG bass and thinking about upgrading the bridge. Are they totally reversible? Which one? Thx!

 

[ajkula66]

I picked up a 2007 SG bass and thinking about upgrading the bridge. Are they totally reversible? Which one? Thx!

Congrats on an absolutely delicious SG Supreme! May it serve you well.

The bridge swap is completely reversible, and you need the top one from this page:

SuperTone Gibson® Bass Replacement Bridge

Play it in good health and enjoy!

 

[GonePlaid]

I picked up a 2007 SG bass and thinking about upgrading the bridge. Are they totally reversible? Which one? Thx!
View attachment 5038771

Nice "EB-3".

 

[No Compute]

Congrats on an absolutely delicious SG Supreme! May it serve you well.

The bridge swap is completely reversible, and you need the top one from this page:

SuperTone Gibson® Bass Replacement Bridge

Play it in good health and enjoy!

This one works too, and was actually stock for a number of model years on these 'SG Reissue' basses:

Babicz FCH-3 Point Bass Bridge

Having owned both, I prefer the Babicz. Your opinion and mileage may vary

 

[4andnomore]

Regarding the 3-point bridge, for what it's worth...
My experience with notorious Gibson 3-point bridge

 

[bobyoung53]

I don't know why people don't like the three point bridge, the two points suck but the three point is simple to set up and adjust. I just make sure I loosen all the strings first.

 

[No Compute]

'Three on the tree' with a high-beam switch on the floor was considered 'good enough' for a long time too…

By that logic I hope you don't own a car with an automatic transmission

 

[ctmullins]

'Three on the tree' with a high-beam switch on the floor was considered 'good enough' for a long time too…

By that logic I hope you don't own a car with an automatic transmission

Really not a relevant analogy.

Advances in automotive technology have resulted in an incredibly high level of safety, reliability, and comfort.

Nobody's life is endangered if your three-point bridge is maladjusted.

Well, maybe the drummer….

 

[No Compute]

The point wasn't about safety (transmission?) but rather ease of use to the end user

 

[bobyoung53]

'Three on the tree' with a high-beam switch on the floor was considered 'good enough' for a long time too…

By that logic I hope you don't own a car with an automatic transmission

Comparing a car to a bass makes no sense to me but since you brought them up, the three on the tree standards were better on gas and faster than an equivalent three speed auto and the high beam switch on the floor was a far safer method to blink your high beams off and on than combining high/low beam with the turn signal lever, I still hate taking my hand off the wheel to turn the high beams off and on, progress is not always for the best but this has nothing to do with a three point bridge.
I just don't care that much as long as I can get a bass intonated and the action where I want it, it's done, boom.

 

[bobyoung53]

The point wasn't about safety (transmission?) but rather ease of use to the end user

Going by that logic we should all be playing Fenders with bent plate bridges as they are by far the best and easiest bridge to set up and use.

 

[No Compute]

Whoa whoa. I was with you during the first post, but that is just crazy talk

 

[ajkula66]

Heh...whoever is complaining about The Oil Rig has likely never dealt with Guild's "Muller" bridge which was an answer to the Gibson's three-pointer...an absolutely atrocious piece of hardware.

To me, the point is not whether one can set a three-point to their liking - it most certainly can be done, speaking from personal experience - but I just prefer the options that the Supertone replacement provides nowadays.

Obviously, YMMV.

 

[Zach77]

Yeah, wait a minute

Why do you think you have an incorrect thread pitch Zack? You were able to thread one of the supplied sets of bolts far enough into the bushings to lift them out of the body- so the pitch must be correct. A metric bolt in an SAE bushing (or vice versa) would have bound up pretty quickly and required a great deal of force to turn. And then you would not have had bushings that lifted out, your bushings would have twisted out- leaving all sorts of damage and splinters behind.

Are you under the impression that the bushings coming out of the body is due to an incorrect thread pitch? If so, look at my post above about the bridge's bolt hole sizing. This is a serious design flaw that turns a 'replacement / upgraded bridge' into a 'bushing remover.'

Since the damage is already done, you can find out for yourself easily. Thread the ST bolts into the bushings by hand. No binding? No problem

Thanks, guys. Problem figured-out. And to the above, the bushings lifted out AFTER putting the old bridge back on with the original bolts.

After much tinkering around, I figured out the SAE bolts from the Hipshot DO fit, however, there was paint dust or some type of black inside the threads on the bass. Weird. Long-story short, I removed the bushings from the body, tamped them back in with wood-glue, and every thing was good-to-go. It was only after removing them from the body, I discovered the SAE bolts from the Hipshot DID fit, but there was just enough crud inside to muck-up the threads. After some cleaning and WD-40, I was able to install the Hipshot bridge.

Everything is good, set-up, and plays wonderfully!

I can't say I'm super-impressed with Gibson's QC, but then-again, the bass sounds amazing...but I can't help but think a Gibson USA-made instrument should have a slightly-better build quality and control over which instruments pass their standards. Honestly, I've seen better build quality out of Chinese instruments. Not bashing on Gibson, because they do sound great. I plan to keep the bass, and I'm happy with my set-up, but I don't know if just anyone would be willing to take all of the steps I've taken to get the most out of a stock instrument.

 

[bobyoung53]

Thanks, guys. Problem figured-out. And to the above, the bushings lifted out AFTER putting the old bridge back on with the original bolts.

After much tinkering around, I figured out the SAE bolts from the Hipshot DO fit, however, there was paint dust or some type of black inside the threads on the bass. Weird. Long-story short, I removed the bushings from the body, tamped them back in with wood-glue, and every thing was good-to-go. It was only after removing them from the body, I discovered the SAE bolts from the Hipshot DID fit, but there was just enough crud inside to muck-up the threads. After some cleaning and WD-40, I was able to install the Hipshot bridge.

Everything is good, set-up, and plays wonderfully!

I can't say I'm super-impressed with Gibson's QC, but then-again, the bass sounds amazing...but I can't help but think a Gibson USA-made instrument should have a slightly-better build quality and control over which instruments pass their standards. Honestly, I've seen better build quality out of Chinese instruments. Not bashing on Gibson, because they do sound great. I plan to keep the bass, and I'm happy with my set-up, but I don't know if just anyone would be willing to take all of the steps I've taken to get the most out of a stock instrument.

I'm pretty sure the old bushings are just pressed in don't know about the new ones, have had no trouble with the original bridges one of which is a three point. I had them pull out a little in my EB4-L from the Supertone, there is a cavity underneath so if you crank the screws down hard they will pull them out a little. I left the old bushings in also when I put the Supertone in after I got really sick and tired of playing with the tilt-o-matic. I still hate the looks of the two point Supertone but it's one hundred times better than a tilt-o-matic. I bought two new Gibsons, two Thunderbirds, a Reverse and a NR, both came perfect, I was actually highly impressed with their workmanship and Quality Control especially after all the bashing you read here , they're factory pleked and I can get the action lower than any other bass I own.

 

[Zach77]

I'm pretty sure the old bushings are just pressed in don't know about the new ones, have had no trouble with the original bridges one of which is a three point. I had them pull out a little in my EB4-L from the Supertone, there is a cavity underneath so if you crank the screws down hard they will pull them out a little. I left the old bushings in also when I put the Supertone in after I got really sick and tired of playing with the tilt-o-matic. I still hate the looks of the two point Supertone but it's one hundred times better than a tilt-o-matic. I bought two new Gibsons, two Thunderbirds, a Reverse and a NR, both came perfect, I was actually highly impressed with their workmanship and Quality Control especially after all the bashing you read here , they're factory pleked and I can get the action lower than any other bass I own.

I'm glad you got some good quality Gibsons. I'm sure mine wasn't representative of the norm, but it sucks to have to do work on them from the factory. Like I said, I love it now, but it has been a pain. The sound is great, and it actually might become my #1, go-to bass. The neck humbucker is fat and meaty, and the bridge humbucker cuts almost like a Jazz, except I like it better.