Opinions on no name bridges, hardware etc?

[Madiac]

Basically, its this

vs this

I'm not an expert on stuff like this but just looking at the pictures you can tell one is good qulaity and the other isn't as good. The screws have been commented on before but the springs look nice and uniform on the top one and not so nice and uniform on the bottom one. I'm not sure if this means anything or is an indicator of quality though!

Problem is, the picture below looks like its been taken by the shop itself. For example, the pictures gibson post at their site to show their guitars are always "perfect looking" pretty much, while the truth is different, so i wouldnt really trust such an image as on the hipshot bridge, but i kinda agree, but well see. The one i posted does not seem to be the same as the wd music one, atleast not the saddles. But then again, the bridge part itself cant make any real difference right? Isnt it pretty much the saddles only? So wouldnt the bridge pocket itself be unimportant, and then you could just upgrade saddles. What worries me is that i dont think you can change the bridges right off, since the bottom cheaper one fits with 5 smaller screw holes while the hipshot one fits with 3 larger ones.

[Will]

The bridge material will change the tone. Everything has some effect, its like an aluminium tailpiece on a LP makes a change, and thats not a saddle.
Also it could be a cheaper metal, you may have your action set, and slowly the bolts wear into the baseplate creating buzz. Either that or the bolts themselves wear.

[WezV]

the hipshot ones i have had (about 5-6 iirc) have been as perfect as they look in the photo's. infact, although i havnt used that exact cheapo bridge i have used similar ones and i would say the photo's are quite representative of what you get

the big difference you will notice when comparing them side by side off a guitar is that the hipshot is pretty solid with almost no movement of parts.  this is down to the accurate machining, higher quality of materials and decent springs and grub screws holding everything in place pretty much where you set them

whilst cheaper hardtails can be just fine i havnt found one that feels as solid as a hipshot

[Madiac]

Damn it, oh well, the story is i decided to get a scalloped guitar, was thinking of getting the beautiful  Feline/Bc rich slinger, but then decided i did not want a floyd. Then i came up with a custom built idea based on the allparts scalloped strat neck all maple.

So i found a builder, decided for a cool body shape, mix of a strat and sg, based on a 60s yamaha SG (not the more popular sg-2000 etc shape), oiled swamp-ash body, with one humbucker in bridge, fixed bridge, NO tone controls or switches, just straight to the jack like i want to. The thing is, he did recommend one of the cheaper bridges and said it was great, and so i went with it, but then i started getting regretful thoughts and made this thread (haha), thing is, he had already mounted that cheaper bridge (Which another person confirmed was very good for the price, but might not be just as good as a hipshot).

But in the end,  i ended up deciding for him to plug the holes and mount get a instead since according to him atleast the string spacing (body-through) was correct, so im getting a guitar with dowel plugs in it before its even finnished, but thats what ill pay for being a dumbo... wont be noticeable with the bridge on anyway but still. But hopefully i wont regret the decision haha. However, that bridge might actually have been pretty good, but i played it safe once again (doh)

Thanks for the advice, and no sadly this guitar isnt getting a BKP, because this Luthier likes to wind his own pickups, so ill try that for now!:)

[AndyR]

... because this Luthier likes to wind his own pickups, so ill try that for now!:)

Hope it's not the bloke in the link that Roo posted the other day!!

In response, I have just 7 words:

Rhythm in jump. Dancing close to you.

Roo

Wasted a good couple of hours following that link on sunday - it was quite amusing though...

Anyway, if those dowel plugs are under the bridge - just try and forget them :lol:

Hope it turns out well :D

[Madiac]

Yeah, i might post some pics when its complete ( est 2 weeks maximum), i doubt it will be the same dude who made the guitar Roo linked to haha (i also followed that link, hilarious stuff) , im in Sweden, and thus its a Swedish luthier, and im kinda annoyed since i turned in the Feline SG for the setup and 1 meg pot change + another little goodie, early last week, and i still havent got i back (although one cant expect such a job to go much faster), and ive been without an electric for a week, which is way to much for me  8)
Yes, im way to unpatient  :?

I can live with the dowels i think, im trying to be less picky with such things..

ENOUGH RANTS, im starting to feel like a whiny crybaby

Good night!