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originalritz
December 29th, 2011, 08:42 PM
So a couple weeks back I posted on here asking about what a good bridge would be to use with a Hipshot bender. I got a bunch of suggestions, and decided on a Wilkinson Sung-Il double-loader.
I'd been meaning to upgrade the six-saddle setup on my Nashville Tele for some time, but just hadn't found the right inspiration to do so. When I decided to pull the trigger on a Hipshot I figured now's the time.
I went shopping online and found the bridge on ebay, a nice one with compensated brass saddles. It was only 30 bucks! The double-loading nature of it saved me the trouble of having to deal with drilling a hole in the plate, which I'm not at all set up to do by myself. Also I figured since the plate is designed to accept string ends either through the body or on the back edge of the plate, the string angle would be pretty good over the saddle.
I ordered the Will Ray model Hipshot, since I really have no use for the E-D lever that comes on the standard one.
Everything came last week and I got it all on there. I also bought a black replacement pick guard and black cover for the middle pickup. I never really did like the white cover on the tortoiseshell guard.
The bridge went on super easy, and I started to notice the sound got better too. To use the standard turn of phrase, it's much more "bell-like" than before. It really rings nicely and the twang has been kicked up a bunch too. :cool:
The bender was surprisingly easy to install. I was afraid of having issues with tuning or string breakage and having to deal with a bunch of BS but it went on easily and works great. I didn't bother with the two extra support screws because it feels super solid with just the middle screw. I finagled a small piece of the teflon tubing into the bridge plate hole, threw a new string on and away I went. Also I slathered some Nut Sauce on the string tree, nut, and on the saddle just to lube things up a bit too.
It's been a blast so far.
Anywho just wanted to share that with y'all. It's given me a nice little kick of inspiration and boy, is she ever pretty now! :razz:
This is how she looks now:
http://i.imgur.com/u2xyF.jpg
I'd been meaning to upgrade the six-saddle setup on my Nashville Tele for some time, but just hadn't found the right inspiration to do so. When I decided to pull the trigger on a Hipshot I figured now's the time.
I went shopping online and found the bridge on ebay, a nice one with compensated brass saddles. It was only 30 bucks! The double-loading nature of it saved me the trouble of having to deal with drilling a hole in the plate, which I'm not at all set up to do by myself. Also I figured since the plate is designed to accept string ends either through the body or on the back edge of the plate, the string angle would be pretty good over the saddle.
I ordered the Will Ray model Hipshot, since I really have no use for the E-D lever that comes on the standard one.
Everything came last week and I got it all on there. I also bought a black replacement pick guard and black cover for the middle pickup. I never really did like the white cover on the tortoiseshell guard.
The bridge went on super easy, and I started to notice the sound got better too. To use the standard turn of phrase, it's much more "bell-like" than before. It really rings nicely and the twang has been kicked up a bunch too. :cool:
The bender was surprisingly easy to install. I was afraid of having issues with tuning or string breakage and having to deal with a bunch of BS but it went on easily and works great. I didn't bother with the two extra support screws because it feels super solid with just the middle screw. I finagled a small piece of the teflon tubing into the bridge plate hole, threw a new string on and away I went. Also I slathered some Nut Sauce on the string tree, nut, and on the saddle just to lube things up a bit too.
It's been a blast so far.
Anywho just wanted to share that with y'all. It's given me a nice little kick of inspiration and boy, is she ever pretty now! :razz:
This is how she looks now:
http://i.imgur.com/u2xyF.jpg