No doubt Hipshot are known by many,my first Hipshot experience was on a client guitar.The trem were the "6 string US contour tremolo".It features two different pivot contact point to both stud.On the bass side is a conventional knife edge while on treble side are a couple two sharp conical pin.The trem has also a push in trem system which itself eliminate jitters.No unwanted flutter and loss of sustain.It is as fantastic as Gotoh,Schaller and other quality that I can't remember at this time.
The Hipshot in this post is the "7 string Ibby HM". It's a fix bridge style. The built is very good with nice contour edge for palm muting. Personally I think Hipshot should at least stamp or engrave their name on or under it. Ha ha..But nevertheless as the name says it's a direct drop in replacement over the Ibanez "Gibraltar Standard II 7 string"The bridge uses only 2 mounting screws compared to 4 needed with Ibanez. The Hipshot does not have the exact dimension to cover up the Gibraltar old spot but this shouldn't be a worry to anyone thinking about this upgrade.Are the 2 mounting screws strong? Yes the are and they line up exact but dear Hipshot
The issue(s) came when it was time to intonate the bridge or to be exact the saddles placement themselves.I discovered it's impossible to intonate the High E,B,G and Low B due to the too short and too long screws for the saddles itself.For the 3 bottom treble strings there's not enough forward travel for saddles to neutralise the flattened notes while the Low B has less room to back off from the sharp.
In short, direct drop in could post undesirable outcome.
For that I need to bring the attention to players and to Hipshot themself in particular about their "7 string Ibby HM" bridge.Firstly I don't know whether Hipshot had done much R&D when they made this or the Ibanez model they were working to put this on to didn't have the issue that I wrote about. As a guitar player this would be seen as a hassle or without much understanding of Metric and Inches this could possibly ruin the Hipshot bridge itself.A mistake worth USD125.
I hope in future Hipshot would also include 3 or 4 pcs of 4-40 x 1.00" and 1 or 2 pcs of 4-40 x 5/8" together with the outfit.Bear also in mind that 70% of the world is using metric hence we(techs and players) would be grateful when the necessary inclusion is implemented as soon as possible.After all you did made this as an option to fit Ibanez guitars or their players.From here on let's make it easier for them(the installer).For me,I'm just glad to have the right screws on hand but I don't have many of it left.
The guitar in this post is an Ibanez RG752FX
Thank you
yustech
CC Hipshot New York
8 comments:
Did you find the hipshot only having 2 mounting holes to present any issues? If it’s a direct replacement, why didn’t they make it 4 hole just like the Gibraltar?
Eric,
So far so good.I'm not receiving any feedback from the guitar owner.
I think the mounting screw isn't critical as this is a string through body design.The strings are actually pushing down firmly on the front part of the bridge so having 2 more screws there is an over kill.
However I'm disappointed about the intonation screws Hipshot provide.Clearly whoever that designed this don't know about guitar setup.lol
Thank for visiting my blog.
I may just buy the ibanez Tight end bridge to replace my Gibraltar.
Sounds good however I can't comment about its foot print over the Gibraltar
Good luck Eric.
Great article YusTech. I'm expecting delivery of an Iron Label RGD 7 string next week and am already thinking about replacing the Gibraltar II with this Hipshot model. From your perspective, does it make much difference to tone and playability?
Also, can you do me a HUGE favour and post pictures of the bridge to show how it covers up the front 2 mounting holes (the ones not used by the Hipshot bridge. If the replacement bridge doesn't cover up the holes that may be a deal breaker for me.
Also... where can you source the additional screws from?
Great blog and I hope to hear your thoughts soon.
Hello Da Tater
I am for the most part is unable to answer your questions in your first paragraph. The best party to answer this is Hipshot themselves. My apology. I can only say both design looks good and unique to their own.
If you look closely at the last two picture you could a light footprint of the stock bridge.I don't have any more pictures of the area. I may say its not that noticeable if the change took place for a new guitar(like this one. Hopefully on yours too.
The screws I bought from a screw shop I think long time ago (2005). So long that I couldn't remember where that shop is now. I don't work on imperial guitars a lot hence the reason there's substantial amount of left over to this day. Not for sale though.He he. You can buy any screws online nowadays.
Thank you for your inquiry and I hope you found the above much help.
Thank so much for posting this! I had the same problem with the Ibby 6 string bridge: The intonation screws were too short. Thanks to this post I managed to buy some 4-40 1inch screws and they fit perfectly and solve the problem!
Great, I thought Hipshot had solved this minor issues. Ah well. I hope somebody will point them this flaw before its becomes an epidemic.
Post a Comment