Hipshot Kickass - Brass vs Stainless Steel saddles
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- čas přidán 24. 10. 2019
- A comparison between the two saddle materials, I've had these steel ones for a while now, and it was about time I tried them!
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Subtle, but clearly noticeable difference. IMO, brass saddles have more midrange than stainless steel saddles.
Thanks for posting this video. I just installed one on my 5 which came with the stock brass saddles, and was thinking of upgrading them to the stainless. After this video I'm going to leave the brass on.
I agree with Oliver's conclusion. Thanks for the video.
Man... Great content!!!!
Thank you for posting the comparison. I have a bass right now that came with a bridge with brass saddles. I am considering replacing the bridge, and was debating between brass and stainless saddles, and this video was helpful. I agree that the stainless saddles sounded brighter. A bit more subdued in the mids. While the brass seemed to have a slightly warmer, fuller sound.
I'm glad it was helpful! 😊
Thank you for the good information. Very informative ✌️😎
Steel saddles me
4:08 Nice Faith No More riff! 🤘
Haha well spotted!
That was a kickass album in my early teenage years. 🤘
Edge of the World!
haha! i heard that too 😎i have FNM aria pro II and zon basses
The Brass we're a tad warmer but they still had a nice brightness to it, this is what I want to do to my Mexican pbase because it's sounding a little dead even though I put some new lollar pickups with help but I think a high Mac Bridge would add that brightness that I'm looking for
Very nice bass. It sounds amazing. The tonal difference
between the brass and stainless steel saddle is subtle at best. Great review.
Thank you for watching!
I tried both types of saddles on my 1993 Squier JV Precision (alder / rosewood) as well. In fact the difference are more audible in real life than in a compressed YT video. I was looking to add more brightness to my bass and therefore mounted the steel saddles. But in the end, I prefer the low end and mids of the brass saddles.
Thanks, that was exactly the comparison I was interested in. Well done and nice licks, you played!
Surprisingly the steel saddles seem to have a little bit tighter low end response to me. But I think it's more an effect of slightly scooped mids. A bit more clarity where the brass saddles sound a tiny bit warmer. Subtle but noticeable difference.
You're welcome, and thanks for watching! Yeah, it's subtle, but there's definitely a difference
I could hear a difference. Stainless had a more modem aggressive sound. Brass had a more vintage mellower sound.
I liked the idea of a brighter sound, but it seems that the steel saddles make it a bit too bright for my liking. At least with your demo, the brass sound great!
I like the tone of this bridge and I do prefer the brass saddles to the steel. I’m thinking of replacing the bridge on my Fender MIM P bass and am debating between the kickass,or a Badass II. Still trying to decide but your video is most helpful.
Steel saddles ftw
Has the same high frequencies but definitely more midrange on the brass. Thanks for this
Thank you for watching! 😊
Subtle difference but I'm going with the brass .. great demo
Thanx for the nice vid!
I'm quite surprised, as I expected the difference between the saddle materials to be way more noticeable!
(Maybe there might be something happening at the *very* top end - beyond the P-Bass quartepounder's frequency range?!?)
To my ears, the steel saddles don't seem to *add* some high end (as one would expect), but to *cut* some bottom end instead. What do you think?
Thanks for the video. Would brass or zinc be brighter?
The comparison starting at 2:58 did it for me. The brass sounds much better there, likely due to your using roundwounds where Harris uses flats. The steel was just a bit too pingy, didn't project the mids enough. Listen for how that G on the D string just pops with growl to it on the brass insert but doesn't with the steel. I do think it's all relative, meaning literally things change between strings in a piece like that, so it might be a good thing to use brass on the D and G strings but steel on the E and A strings. If you were to set that specific guitar aside for Maiden type pieces that'd be the way to go without having to change other things like strings (to his heavy flats) and amp settings too much. I didn't expect to pick up this much important info from watching this video but, hey, that's how it usually happens, like, SURPRISE! lol. Thanks for taking the time and filming this.
Didn’t think I’d be able to hear it but it’s there for sure... don’t know which I think more though. I like the brass look more so let’s go with that...
I like the growl of stainless steel pronounces!
I wonder what would happen if you mixed them and used steel on the E and A and brass on the D and G?
I have done just that today . I like the grind the steel gives on the E and A. On the D and G it is too bright and stiff sounding, the brass perfect for those and the low B .
Thank you for the upload, I think the stainless steel is to clangy for me, for prefer brass
OK. Very good bridge. But there is in version for 3 hole-string through body Fender mounting??? 10Q very much 🙂🇮🇹
Well brass or steel depends on bass material also. For example zinc and steel are a great combination. With a Pbass that is not an Quarter pounder Seymour Duncan with high output. Steel saddles are generally better for pbass as it evens out those low-mids. However I find that zinc plate with brass saddles are great for jazz bass as those single coils are already bright. The brass warmer low mid additive gives it that special kick. I’m not a huge fan of the kickass bridge as it is not known for its resonance.
I prefer the brass saddles personally.
Changed my Jackson stock himass bridge to this on my Spectra. Man, kinda mad I did. I think maybe I need to invest in the stainless inserts. I completely lost brightness on certain songs that I really actually liked that we play in our band. They were almost exclamation point moments and now sound must blah. It's either that or I throw the stock bridge back on. IDK
Great playing as always, and I must say how I love that metallic purple P Bass! TBH, I didn't hear much other than maybe a very slight difference. Nothing that a SLIGHT roll of the tone knob or EQ wouldn't fix. Certainly not enough for anyone to change saddles over.
Thanks for your kind words! It's a candy purple finish from Warmoth. Yeah same here, I kinda prefer brass though. The Kickass makes easy enough to switch them though, so I wanted to give them a try
Thanks for posting. For Fender Made in Mexico basses, do you know if you can fit the Kickass straight on to the bass without any modifications? Like drilling in new holes? I have a MIM P bass and would like to install a Kickass but don't want to make any modifications. Just hoping for a straight fit.
Hi there, thanks for watching! If your bass has the usual five screw pattern used on most Fenders you can fit it with no modifications!
Best advice would be to email Hipshot and let them know what you have. They will recommend the correct bridge.
Love that you played a ghost riff also prefer the brass
Out of all the high mass Bridges which do you like the best for brightness and sustain
Probably the Kickass would be my first choice most of the time. Like the option to switch saddles and adjust string spacing, and is overall a great bridge
2:59 "And the moral of this story, this is what not to do if a bird shits on you: THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER!!!"
The stainlees steel saddles sounded thinner with headphones.
Hey ho, i have on my japanese geddy lee a badass ii
Would you recomend to change to the kickass?
The Badass II is just as fine. As long as you don't have string spacing issues I wouldn't recommend it.
Keep the badass 2 bridge sir.
What these two dudes said.
Brass has more bite and sounds fuller.
Stainless were clearer and brighter, almost to a fault. Brass wins for me.
Com essa unha qualquer ponte timbra assim kk
slap 5:36 and 5:47, thanks a lot
Dove si trova in Italia questo ponte ? Grazie
In Italia purtroppo non ne ho idea. Io l'ho preso dal rivenditore ufficiale Hipshot in Spagna, su eBay.
The sound difference is so miniscule as to be completely moot.
Candy Purple?
Exactly
Not much difference overall, but I prefer the slight midrange of the brass saddles. Seems more "Right" to me
I cannot hear a difference
Anyway cut your nails.
Whatever bridge you use, the sound is bright.
couldn't one just make these inserts themselves from steel?
Yes, or wood, or plastic, or anything you wish to try
@@OliverTobyn it will cost over 100$ AU to buy and ship 4 little steel squares from hipshot lol 🤣 that's 10$ AU for the squares and then over $90 AU for the shipping! i can have these custom made at a local metal works for around 25$ or better yet, have them cut the squares to measure and i can do the rest..
Some people have had good luck with making their own saddles for this bridge out of bone, using nut blanks.
"Something you can not do on the BadAss bridge". Doesn't that just simply mean that it is NOT necessary? I have this (probably really weird) notion that if it was USEFUL and NECESSARY to do certain things with a bridge (or a guitar, or a car, or whatever!) they would have most certainly PUT IT ON THERE. So the question is: are all these manufacturers really stupid or are some features on a bridge just a gimmick that in reality add nothing useful? I wonder....
I mean adjusting string spacing helps with a more accurate setup witch leads to better tone but i guess if you dont know how to setup a guitar you might think thats useless
@@xcodychaosx yeah....i guess you really have no clue what i mean....