Hipshot Bass Tremolo

I bought this brand new not long after Hipshot started selling them. Basically, it is a full-floating tremolo system, meaning that you can pull it back and forth (raising or lowering the pitch). The package came with everything, even a blueprints for the routing! If I were an experienced router, I could have done it all myself and saved some money.

The package comes with 5 springs, and you will have to use all five of them. When it was first installed, only 3 springs were put in because I was worried that 5 springs would put too much tension on the strings and break them. With only 3 springs, my bass became a nightmare to tune. As soon as I got the two leftover springs in there, all of my tuning problems ceased to exist.

This bridge does some incredible things. I still get reasonable sustain, even though there is a big hole in my bass' body for the springs. Once, I start to pitch, I lose the sustain a little bit, but I can usually coax the bass into giving me more. The springs are very quiet once they are broken in. Hipshot really does take "full-floating" to a new level. I can raise or lower the pitch more than I ever thought I could, and much more smoothly than I anticipated.

When Hipshot said that this trem bridge would stay in tune, I was a bit skeptical. Hipshot proved me wrong; my bass stays in tune just fine! That was a surprise for me. Good job, Hipshot!

This is the cleanest, best looking tremolo bridge that I have seen for both bass and guitar. It looks a lot like Hipshot's regular bridges. This kind of debunks the whole idea that tremolo bridge has to be horribly complex and hard to maintain. Just make sure that whoever is doing the installing of this baby knows what they are doing. If they mess up the routing or installation at all, you WILL have to get a new bass. Luckily, Warmoth is offering some of their bass bodies pre-routed for the Hipshot bridge. Pretty cool, if you ask me.

I have tested the limits of this trem bridge, and it has held it's own. I dove it down as far as it could, then let go of the whammy bar. T'was nothing to the Hipshot. The saddles have held their place firmly, and my action remains good no matter what I am doing to the bridge.

One warning: The Trem bridge is a total string eating monster. I have to buy a new set of strings about once a month because of the trem bridge. I recommend that if you get this installed in your bass, to switch to heavy-guage strings.

Hipshot does incredibly well with their customer support. I emailed them a couple times to ask about different options and for some advice, and they sent a speedy and friendly response. These guys do some amazing things.

This bridge is it. Even if it was possible for me to get a different bridge on my bass, I wouldn't. It is every thing I could have imagined and more. It has influenced my playing and given me another avenue to explore. I had considered some other bass trems, but none had the looks or the features that this one does. Kahler is outdated. This is the new bass trem.