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This is Hipshots take on the classic Vintage style bridge – but true to form, it’s a long stretch to even call this one a vintage bridge!
Built purely with playability in mind, this bridge, the gorgeous 4410043, takes the elements which make the Fender® Telecaster® such a hugely popular guitar in “vintage” circles and gives that classic design a modern make over that not only solves some of the more technical issues you’ll encounter with the original, but also some of the everyday niggles that have dogged the instrument since its inception.
The Base Plate
The most obvious change is that base plate – rather than sporting the “lipped” base you’ll see on normal vintage models, Hipshot have completely done away with it, opting for a flat plate which you’ll commonly see on a modern bridge.
After extensive researched into the pros and cons, as well as a trial into the use of over bridge string covers, the lip was deemed unnecessary for most of today’s player, and whilst the Ashtray will be missed by some, the improved access to strings under the strumming arm gives the Telecaster® a huge boost in the arm, allowing not only for effective string muting, but also a level of comfort that you just don’t get with lipped bridges.
Whilst we’re talking about the bridge plate, in a complete break from tradition, Hipshot are actually utilising stainless steel rather than the more traditional Mild Ferrous Steel you’ll see on many of the top end bridges.
There’s an often perpetuated myth that steel is god’s gift to guitarists, with that extra weight and its magnetic nature having some magical “boosting” effect to your tone. In some cases, it’s absolutely brilliant – but it’s a fairly involved subject, with steel being used in different ways, in many different styles, on different guitars.
Hipshot have tried and tested the theories with this bridge and found that the Iron in normal steel actually has an effect on the pickup mount there within, and whilst not necessarily a bad thing, mild steel certainly attenuates the top end of the pickup, taking a little of the bite and sparkle from the top end, and absolutely robbing the middle frequencies. The lack of Iron in Stainless has a much smaller effect on the magnetic eddy currents, and will give a truer representation of the pickup. Often, bridge pickups are described as much “chewier” with a more forgiving nature when used mounted to stainless bridges plates.
Beyond the tonal differences, the real advantage of Stainless steel is pretty obvious, this bridge isn’t going to pit, rust and corrode under the sweat from your hands – it will, without a doubt, last a lifetime and still have that shine and lustre that it had the day you fitted it.
The Saddles
Beyond the innovative and well thought out base plate, we’ve got the ever popular compensated brass saddles fitted as standard. A fairly simple idea, and by no means exclusive to Hipshot, these “pre-intonated” barrel saddles address the age old problem that Vintage styled bridges have suffered with since the creation of the instrument back in the 1950s. The sad fact with a standard Barrel saddle is that it just will not intonate correctly because 2 strings essentially share one adjustment screw.
The compensations on the saddles mean that it’s possible to intonate a vintage bridge without too much fuss, and you will never have to compromise on the quality or material used on the saddles, with many people preferring the tone given by the three brass saddle setup you only get from your vintage bridges.
We can also offer this bridge with smooth brass barrel saddles too if that’s more your thing! They’re much closer to the original Fender® design, complete with the slot head screws for height adjustment – but please note, these are not Hipshot® parts.
The Screws
It’s not often we end up speaking so highly about something normally so mundane as the screws on a bridge, but Hipshot just keep delivering the goods with their dedication to providing the very best possible parts for your guitars.
Rather than scrimp on cost, and ultimately quality, they’ve used Stainless steel again on the height adjustment, intonation screws and springs and mounting screws to ensure that your bridge will not rust in the slightest over its life time. You just don’t get that sort of consideration to quality with most companies – and that really impressed us.
Summary
We’ve always said that a vintage style is a beautiful sounding instrument, but they can be unforgiving to play at times - ultimately, we think they’re quite challenging at best and they’re a little out of date at worst – Hipshots innovations not only give you the very best quality in terms of construction and design, they also make this once difficult beast an absolute pleasure to play without having to compromise on the elements many of us absolutely love about the vintage bridge.
This bridge is designed to fit Fender ® Guitars including the Telecaster ®, Esquire® and Nashville ® but please note, these are not official Fender ® parts.
If you love the idea and tone of a vintage bridge, but the limitations are putting a crimp on playing style, we’d strong advocate the Hipshot Vintage style Bridge as a straight replacement for the Standard “lipped” bridges that come as stock on most Vintage Fender ® Telecaster®.
This bridge is designed to fit Fender ® Guitars including the Telecaster ®, Esquire® and Nashville ® but please note, these are not official Fender ® parts.
Fender ® Stratocaster ® Telecaster® and Tele® are registered trademarks of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, Axesrus® and Hipshot® have no affiliation with FMIC
String Spacing - 54mm
Saddles - 3 x Compensated Brass
Height Screws - Alan Bolt
Intonation Screws - Cross head
Material - Hand Polished Stainless Steel
Thickness - 2.2mm
Supplied with Stainless Steel mounting screws
Made in the USA by Hipshot
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