Danhedonia
Noted duckfat enthusiast
OK - so help me out. I have a Squier Jazz bass where I think I need to do a bit of work on the neck, but was considering replacing the bridge. The bridge is flimsy pot metal. What would you suggest?
Does greater weight equal more tone?
- Thread starter Scott Powell
- Start date
dougk
b00b
Don't get me wrong, it isn't that there can't be significant improvements over a flimsy or crappy bridge... it's just that a bridge improving tone simply because it has mass is a fallacy IMO. Tighter fit and over all quality will allow strings to do their job without robbing their energy. That's what you want really.
jp_nyc
Kick Henry Jackassowski
Either spring for a Hipshot or ask the talkbass crowd what the next best option is.
DFB
Kick Henry Jackassowski
That LP gets me chubby.You're playing a les paul through a marshall, it better sound just like that, lol. :rawk:
FWIW, my les paul custom is pretty heavy (not 15 pounds, maybe 10), and it sustains pretty well.
This tele was made for me by a friend, it's solid maple, maple top, birdseye maple neck with an ebony fingerboard. It's a tank, about 15 pounds. It has a seymour duncan hot rails in the bridge - sustains for days.... I do believe weight has something to do with it, but the makeup of the wood does as well.
instantsteve
Glowing Cloud
<Gasp>
Help!I'maRock!
Mediocringly Derivative
Modern Saint
Starve your Fear, Feed your Dream!
I say no!!!
I love the way my chambered LP's sound.
I love the way my chambered LP's sound.
bsman
b00b
BTW -- I've been playing my new "thing" with the 2Tek bridge right now (which is perhaps the most overbuilt hunk of metal I've ever seen on a guitar -- it's almost like a bass bridge) and it sustains better than my strat did (that guitar was oddly "dead"), but I am not ready to attribute that all to the massive bridge...
Guitar Heel
Demented Trick
I'll also say that, with regard to the Knaggs I once owned, it had [what I later found after some quick research to be] a proprietary bridge that sustained like crazy. It's the only guitar I'd ever played in which my initial reaction was, wow, that was crazy sustain. It was only then that I looked into their bridge design and realized that was the point. It wasn't a high-mass thing, just a great design.
Grant Gross
Kick Henry Jackassowski
Given that good "tone" is totally subjective, I'm thinking the answer to the original question is no. Greater weight may have an effect on things like sustain, maybe, but sustain and tone aren't the same thing.
And given all the things that have an effect on your guitar's sound -- strings, pickups, body wood, neck wood, electronics, your playing style, cables, effects, amp, etc. etc. -- I'd think body weight would have a minor impact at best.
And given all the things that have an effect on your guitar's sound -- strings, pickups, body wood, neck wood, electronics, your playing style, cables, effects, amp, etc. etc. -- I'd think body weight would have a minor impact at best.
Help!I'maRock!
Mediocringly Derivative
I weigh about 300lbs and I tend to get compliments on my tone.
I'm not fat, I'm toneful.
Grant Gross
Kick Henry Jackassowski
After I lost 100+ pounds, my gas seems to have lost most of its tone.
dougk
b00b
In regards to what?
Help!I'maRock!
Mediocringly Derivative
In regards to I want the other bridge on a Titan!
dougk
b00b
Gotcha!
I'm not sure it'll fit. I don't know why it has that goofy post on the side but if it's normal hardtail tele or strat mounting you're welcome to use one
Help!I'maRock!
Mediocringly Derivative
But it has to be a top loader for a strat hardtail, right? Something about the ferrules not lining up?Gotcha!
I'm not sure it'll fit. I don't know why it has that goofy post on the side but if it's normal hardtail tele or strat mounting you're welcome to use one
dougk
b00b
Has to be toploading. Titan doesn't have string-thru holes BUT it is predrilled for both telecaster or strat mounting style.
emmaporkchop
The face of emmaporkchop
My Hamer 2 Tek's have an insane amount of sustain but aren't heavy, my new Clover bass is pretty light (IMO) and also sustains for pretty much as long as I want it to.
Of course both have pretty significant bridges but I don't really feel that they're the reason. I think it's mainly just the fact that they're extremely well built, tight fitting assemblies with great pickups. I think those factors have more to do with good sustain and better tone than weight.
Of course both have pretty significant bridges but I don't really feel that they're the reason. I think it's mainly just the fact that they're extremely well built, tight fitting assemblies with great pickups. I think those factors have more to do with good sustain and better tone than weight.