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The Official Rumblekat Club
- Thread starter user362432
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Hi, welcome to the club, back on post#226 is a pic of the hip shot hb6y 3/8 tuners I installed, drop in replacements
The only “direct” replacement bridge is the Hipshot 3-point Supertone, but it is really designed for flat-top basses like Thunderbirds and will require some shimming on a curved top like the Rumblekat to avoid harming the top wood (I used a couple potentiometer washers per screw on my Rumblekat when I tried a Hipshot bridge), but ultimately I preferred the sound with the original bridge.
As for the bridge, generally 2 options, web tech mod bar or hip shot super tone, I recommend reading the posts from 75 on, might help you.
So just for info, made a thread called "Short Scale Bass Club". Hopefully a informal central place we can pass on experiences and info on SS basses and equipment/accessories.
The Epiphone website is notorious for misinformation, Gibson too for that matter.
@sunbeast, I'm curious, what was it about the original bridge sound that you liked better? I'm having an issue with the Hipshot Supertone bridge I put on, and depending on how things go, I may have to put the original bridge back on.
I found the Hipshot added sustain and also scooped the mids a bit to my ears, and I preferred the slightly thumpier vibe and particularly the more midrange-forward vibe of the original (I expected the Rumblekat to be a kinda muted bass, but found it to actually be quite snarly when setup right which I really liked). I’ve had similar reactions putting high-mass bridges on Fender-type basses in place of the old fiddly bent-plate designs- sometimes those cheap bridges added to the vibe from those old basses that made them what they were, and you can compromise some of that vibe when updating to better-engineered alternatives. More sustain or mass don’t necessarily make a superior tone, it’s all subjective (though I do far prefer the setup of most any bass when using a more modern bridge!). I do prefer the Supertone to the original on my Jack Casady bass, as well as the Hipshot Rickenbacker bridge on my 4003 and numerous other Hipshot bridges on other basses I have- just in this instance I didn’t think it was an improvement and clearly wasn’t designed for a curved top (though the Casady bass has that same issue, I like what it did to the tone on that bass despite needing to do some extra fiddling to get it to sit right).
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Thanks, sunbeast. I also found the Hipshot added more sustain and vibrance to the sound of the Rumblekat. I just fixed the issue i was having (with one of the saddles and intonation screws on the Hipshot), so all is good. For my needs, the Hipshot is preferable, and I'm glad I was able to work out the problem. I appreciate the quick response to my question.
Yeah its really a matter of preference- the Hipshot was totally solid on my Rumblekat, just changed the tone/feel a bit in a subjective way that I didn't like. Then it was the opposite on my Epi Jack Casady bass (which required more modification to get set-up correctly). I did prefer Hipshot Ultralites tuners on the Rumblekat though, which improved tuning and balance with no consequences
Inspired by the Beatles:Get Back show on Disney+, and in an attempt to gain some of Sir Paul's mojo...a slight modification...
I haven't seen "Get Back" yet, but it's high on my list. Nice mod! And is that a penguin on top of your metronome?
