Cost of hard tail bridge

[Crusader]

I've just looked up hard tail bridges and the prices vary from $16 for a generic brand to $200 for a Gotoh super duper unit. (510FX-6 Hardtail Bridge)

Is something like this worth it?

[Professor Woozle]

I guess it's the old "you get what you pay for" - at the bottom end, you'll be looking at cheap zinc-alloy Chinese copies that may do the job but will be of dubious quality and adjustability. At the other end, you've got the likes of Gotoh, Schaller and Hipshot that'll give you finely machined brass parts but there's also an element of "paying for the name" when you buy new - keep an eye out for second hand ones on Ebay, perhaps?

[Crusader]

8 hours ago, Professor Woozle said:

 - keep an eye out for second hand ones on Ebay, perhaps?

That's a good idea but I'm too impatient!

[Bizman62]

Although a no-name Chinese product may well be picked off the production line of a branded product, you never can be quite sure if it doesn't have the label because of being rejected because of poor quality or because it's just a copy made of pot metal, By experience I can tell that the nameless ones can have sloppy threads for screws and that although the thing works for the most part, one piece may not. One malfunctioning bridge piece or tuner out of six ruins the whole set.

That said, a bridge milled of one single block may not be worth it either - you'll have to pay for the processing time and the wasted material, neither of which affect the tone. A moderately priced item branded by the "house" is often good enough as the vendor doesn't want to be known for poor quality products. Something like these: https://www.northwestguitars.co.uk/hardtail-bridges/

 

[henrim]

Found this topic on my research for making my own hardtail bridge. A basic hardtail bridge is pretty simple thing to machine. Material choices, tolerances, proper finishing and quality control adds up quickly. So I can understand the huge price differences in mass production. 

One of the most clever designs I know is the Yamaha RGX A2 bridge. Simple and cost effective construction (when done in large quantities) to create a very streamlined looks while keeping all the essential function. Production needs specific tooling though. 

Image source https://www.jamesbisset.com/blog/2017/04/yamaha-rgx-a2

[ShatnersBassoon]

10 hours ago, henrim said:

Found this topic on my research for making my own hardtail bridge. A basic hardtail bridge is pretty simple thing to machine. Material choices, tolerances, proper finishing and quality control adds up quickly. So I can understand the huge price differences in mass production. 

One of the most clever designs I know is the Yamaha RGX A2 bridge. Simple and cost effective construction (when done in large quantities) to create a very streamlined looks while keeping all the essential function. Production needs specific tooling though. 

Image source https://www.jamesbisset.com/blog/2017/04/yamaha-rgx-a2

That looks really nice!

[Crusader]

Just for the record I went with the expensive option, as I always do!