Can u swap a tuneomatic out for hipshot hardtail?

[Gmork]

Maybe a dumb question but can u swap it with something else?
Something about tuneomatic bridges i just dont gel with... Even adjusted low it feels like the strings are too high up... Or am i just crazy?
Anyway... Can it be swapped out for something like a normal hipshot hardtail??

 

[idejxa]

Not likely, due to neck angle and heights as you mentioned. Hipshot does make a tune-o-matic bridge which is a little different: https://hipshotproducts.com/products/6-string-tone-a-matic-guitar-bridge-metric-right-handed

I have it on an older guitar, it feels a little different that the original TOM but it probably wouldnt address your string height feel and it is a bit pricey.

 

[cindarkness]

I'm assuming that you are rocking an arched top body with neck angle made for TOM bridges? You're probably feeling the strings being far off the body around where you pick, it's just a TOM thing. I really don't see a way to fix this, unless you go full on Dr. Frankenstein. Ripping out that set neck (assuming that it's not an bolt on), getting rid of the neck angle and maybe cutting a recess for the bridge.

 

[spudmunkey]

The answer to your question is a very easy-to-understand, two-word answer: It depends.

Some guitars, like a Les Paul, the neck is tilted back, so the bridge rides high up in the air like a tall suspension bridge.


Even fi the top of the guitar were flat (not carved) like on an SG, the Hipshot likely couldn't reach high enough even if you adjusted the saddles all the way up, unless you put some sort of shim/riser/spacer under the bridge to raise it up high enough, and that'd likely look goofy. Here's an example of one where the bridge couldn't reach up high enough on this guitar because either the neck pocket wasn't cut down deep enough, or the neck was made too thick (or maybe it was using 16 penny nails as frets.



Other guitars, like many Carvins over the years, were neck-through (so no tilted-back neck), so they recessed the TOM into the body a bit.



And on some models, they offered both a TOM and Hipshot fixed at the same time, as options.




Some guitars use a tune-o-matic because the top of the guitar isn't flat, so anchoring it on posts decouples the bridge from the face of the guitar, so the guitar can be any shape it wants underneath it. Like a house on stils.

 

[Emperor Guillotine]

OP: Look at how a TOM is mounted on the body. Then look at how a standard Hipshot fixed bridge is mounted into a body. Seriously, just look and you’ll have your answer.

TOM: Two huge studs that are spaced-out and mounted into bushings in the guitar body. Hipshot standard fixed: Three simple screws relatively close together, drilled directly into the wood of the body.

They are two vastly different universes. It cannot be done.

The TOM isn’t the problem. You just haven’t adjusted it properly; or you’re letting something you read on the internet color your perception and psyche you out.

Not sure if one day we need to draw a line on this forum between what we determine as “beginner” or (“beyond beginner”) and “possibly trolling”.

 

[cindarkness]

Trolling or not, but OP should try top wrapping perhaps.

 

[spudmunkey]

OP: Look at how a TOM is mounted on the body. Then look at how a standard Hipshot fixed bridge is mounted into a body. Seriously, just look and you’ll have your answer.

TOM: Two huge studs that are spaced-out and mounted into bushings in the guitar body. Hipshot standard fixed: Three simple screws relatively close together, drilled directly into the wood of the body.

They are two vastly different universes. It cannot be done.

Well...I mean...to repeat my very simple answer from before: I'd depends. The success of end result will depends on your opinion of what's acceptable, but it's certainly not impossible.

The Hipshot's screws don't fall on the TOM'S post holes. The post holes would just be visible sticking out the sides of the fixed bridge like round ears, which with some finishes would look a bit like more direct-mount pickup routes.



Depending in the type used, you might even be able to leave the TOM'S bushings installed if they are recessed and you didn't mind the look of the visible metal in the hole.

And even if somehow a Hipshot screw did have an issue with the TOM's post hole, that could be drilled out, plugged with hardwood, and redrilled.

Now...if you wanted it to look like the swap was "factory", well that's going to take a lot more finish repair work, and even then, will still likely be at least a little visible.




But there is a bigger question:

What you say you think the bridge feels "too high"...and you "can't get it low enough", are you saying you are having trouble getting proper setup with the fretboard? Or are you saying that you don't like how high up off the face of the guitar the picking area of strings is?

If it's a setup issue, that's one thing. If it's the latter, that comes down to more of that fact that many guitars are just inherently built that way, and some guitars actually go to some ridiculous lengths to make that area of the body taller to make the strings feel like that are closer to the body, like this Floyd Rose Speed Guide:


If that is your issue, perhaps you could ass something like a bass player's "ramp" between your pickups, and maybe a smaller one between the pickup and bridge.

 

[Byle]

Maybe a dumb question but can u swap it with something else?
Something about tuneomatic bridges i just dont gel with... Even adjusted low it feels like the strings are too high up... Or am i just crazy?
Anyway... Can it be swapped out for something like a normal hipshot hardtail??

gotoh makes a recessed tuneomatic bridge that makes everything sit a lot lower but i dont think you can just swap out the parts like that, you're stuck with that TOM most likely. Definitely won't be able to put a hardtail on it

 

[Gmork]

I see, also i apologize, i should have searched this topic before making a thread, theres already almost an identical one from 2017

 

[Gmork]

We need a section for spontaneous drunk posting...
But yeah.... Guess i just hate tunomatics/guitars with angled necks.

@spudmunkey not a setup issue, its absolutely the height of string off the body at the picking area. I think im just use to anchoring my wrist/palm against the body, so on the TOM/angled neck guitars my picking hand is just floating in the air without support.

 

[spudmunkey]

We need a section for spontaneous drunk posting...
But yeah.... Guess i just hate tunomatics/guitars with angled necks.

@spudmunkey not a setup issue, its absolutely the height of string off the body at the picking area. I think im just use to anchoring my wrist/palm against the body, so on the TOM/angled neck guitars my picking hand is just floating in the air without support.

Ahh, OK. Yeah, I also don't like feeling like i'm playing up on telephone wires a mile above the body, either. If you're handy with a saw/sander, a "ramp" might be worth experimenting with. Bassists add it and thumb rests to their instruments all the time.

 

[Byle]

We need a section for spontaneous drunk posting...
But yeah.... Guess i just hate tunomatics/guitars with angled necks.

@spudmunkey not a setup issue, its absolutely the height of string off the body at the picking area. I think im just use to anchoring my wrist/palm against the body, so on the TOM/angled neck guitars my picking hand is just floating in the air without support.

just sell the guitar and buy one that has a bridge you like. that is the absolute best course of action

 

[cardinal]

There are pics out there of Vai's old Soloist(s) where he taped sort of an arm rest to the face of the guitar to fix this problem.

Personally I can pick so much faster with a TOM. I don't know why.