Fishman power bridge, is it true

[coaltrain]

Does TAG now have Fishman bridges back in stock? If so I would like to buy one for my DTC.

[coaltrain]

never mind, I see it was just a joke,:(

If anyone ever sees one for sale, I want it.

[pipedwho]

If anyone ever sees one for sale, I want it.
Me too. ...

[Pietro]

I have a gold fixed bridge I might part with. I thought I was going to be building something, but I just don't need it, so... I should unload it.

Brand new. Never been installed, but doesn't include screws to hold to body.

PM me.

[pipedwho]

I remember when that gold fixed bridge was on Ebay, along with a chrome trem version. I wan't to hit BIN on the chrome trem version, but stuffed around too long and missed out. I'm still kicking myself about this. :(

I'd love to hear my HCS with a bit of piezo bridge mixed in.

I think Tom should have a few hundred of his own trem bridges made to order to accept the Fishman saddles, and then just order the Powerbridge saddles separately.

So Tom, how about it? :)

BTW, what are the mechanical differences between the regular Anderson vintage trem and the Fishman version of the Anderson trem? Is it just a few holes in the right place, or is it something more significant than that?

[tom]

there aree detail differences, but the main thing is the pivot screws and holes. the stock fishman is made for the large am std size mounting stud so it has open front mounting holes on the baseplate. i much prefer contained screws so the bridge can't slide back on the top f the body when strings are removed. we had some string breakage issues with the saddles and there was no solution for that.

[pipedwho]

How hard would it be to mill an Anderson vintage trem into one that would work with just the raw Fishman saddles?

The Graphtech Ghost saddles are great, except the wires come out too far forward to be run through a concealed slot beneath each saddle. I had a Tune-o-matic Ghost bridge on a Schecter that worked well without a preamp as long as the cable wasn't too long. But if worst comes to worst, an onboard preamp isn't the end of the world.

So it seems what we're all waiting for is Graphtech to work with TAG to make a piezo version of their Ferraglide saddles while TAG makes a slotted bridgeplate? :D

[tom]

the baseplate has to have a cavity milled into the bottom to hold the pc board that sums the 6 pickups. that has to be done before the hardening and plating of the plate. with the graphtech you also need double the amount of wires which gets pretty crowded under there. then you need a preamp because they don't make enough level. then you need enough people wanting to pay for that investment in tooling. so far we've tried 2 different systems and neither has been in consistent demand to support it.

[pipedwho]

Thanks Tom for all that detail. I can see how this would be a PITA to do without enough demand to make it worthwhile.

It's a pity that Fishman had the string breakage problem too, as not being able to rely on the guitar can be more of a problem than just not having something in the first place.

If you ever find a good solution to this problem, I'm sure there will be a core group of very excited people - myself included. I understand why the rock guys don't do piezos, but I'm surprised that more P&W and general cover band players don't go for them. I suppose it's the complication of a dual output setup vs just guitar->amp.

[tom]

i don't believe the fishman had any worse string breakage than any other bridge, but your point about losing something you have is right on. when there isn't a solution for something you've sold, it's a very uncomfortable situation.

[guitarzan]

it's not a 1:1 trade, but my son's Roland Cube amp has a pretty cool acoustic modeler setting that is nice.

I'm sure it could be usable to split the signal and then send one to the BOSS Acoustic Simulator pedal and then into a stereo set of Strawberry Blondes- with maybe some rack gear to add swirl and swish. (Oh, and don't forget roadies and/or cartage...) :)

[guitarzan]

and zebra striped pants.

[akivisuals]

If you ever find a good solution to this problem, I'm sure there will be a core group of very excited people - myself included. I understand why the rock guys don't do piezos, but I'm surprised that more P&W and general cover band players don't go for them. I suppose it's the complication of a dual output setup vs just guitar->amp.

I'm a P&W guy and have had the Powerbridge on my main axe (Alder/maple DTC) for 7 years now. Honestly, I can't say that I've used it more than a handful of times. I thought I'd use it more to get some acoustic sounds, but I've found that it just doesn't sound "acoustic" enough for my ears. Also, if I'm leading, I'll typically use an acoustic throughout the entire set anyways so the Goodall or Crowdster will sound a heckuva lot better than the DTC w/Powerbridge. For when I'm backing another leader on the electric I don't often need the acoustic tones so I'll just play the reg pups or the Hollow Cobra. So, in short I basically spent all the extra bucks for nothing.... :(

[guitarzan]

I'm a P&W guy and have had the Powerbridge on my main axe (Alder/maple DTC) for 7 years now. Honestly, I can't say that I've used it more than a handful of times. I thought I'd use it more to get some acoustic sounds, but I've found that it just doesn't sound "acoustic" enough for my ears. Also, if I'm leading, I'll typically use an acoustic throughout the entire set anyways so the Goodall or Crowdster will sound a heckuva lot better than the DTC w/Powerbridge. For when I'm backing another leader on the electric I don't often need the acoustic tones so I'll just play the reg pups or the Hollow Cobra. So, in short I basically spent all the extra bucks for nothing.... :(


I think the versatility is good. My first anderson (HDTC) had the powerbridge and I used it maybe 4 or 5 times out of hundreds of sideman gigs. I always had the romantic notion that I could split the signal and mix the two back in together for a really cool, lush sound, but as a hired guitar monkey it always seemed like twice the hassle to lug the extra gear around and to assume that a soundguy was going to manage the acoustic tone like it needed to be managed.

Again, I believe the versatility is awesome, but not being able to get a powerbridge these days doesn't really sting anymore. Especially when a sparkly clean split pickup can sound heavenly as a replacement in those sections where an acoustic breakdown would fall.

[tom]

i felt the same way, i put power bridges on all my guitars thinking i would use it regularly. the extra gear and relying on sound people to get the proper mix made it not work out for me. we also always have an acoustic player. i did feel like i got a great sound out of my cobra, but the feel of lighter strings didn't make it feel like i could really play acoustic style.
on the other hand, i am surprised that most crowdsters we build are plus's these days. i figured we'd do very small numbers of them but it seems to be the standard. go figure.

[akivisuals]

i felt the same way, i put power bridges on all my guitars thinking i would use it regularly. the extra gear and relying on sound people to get the proper mix made it not work out for me. we also always have an acoustic player. i did feel like i got a great sound out of my cobra, but the feel of lighter strings didn't make it feel like i could really play acoustic style.
on the other hand, i am surprised that most crowdsters we build are plus's these days. i figured we'd do very small numbers of them but it seems to be the standard. go figure.

Although I don't use the electric pup all that much on the Crowdster Plus, it's still nice to have. IMHO, I think the acoustic sounds are much better out of the C+. Granted the electric sounds out of one of your electrics will probably sound better than the C+, the acoustic tones from the C+ are much better than the acoustic tones with a Powerbridge. I liked the chunky tones the C+ gave up. I just wish it had a neck pup too.... hint hint! :p

[Pietro]

I can NOT live without both acoustic and electric sounds out my guitars any more, but I mix my own sound on stage. Either through an amp with a mic into a mixer in front of me (and then monitored through a floor speaker) or through my ToneLab, then I kick the acoustic with it.

For my money, mixing that sound up together yourself and sending only one signal to the board is the way to go, and what a way to go.

Also, I'm on the list of people who'd send his C+ to you for that neck pickup retrofit, too. Only problem is, if this guitar had a neck pickup, I'm afraid I wouldn't play most of the others I still have. Oh well...

[marsodude]

I haven't said much lately but I'd be on that list too!

[Rob C.]

I couldn't live without the powerbridge on my guitars!!

I had Bruce retrofit one of my Cobras a couple of years ago and quickly had the rest done as well. I have my rig wired with an Axess RX1 & FX1 and everything I use for the acoustic signal path rackmounted. So to toggle between electric and acoustic is as easy as bringing up a new preset.

http://www.racmusic.com/images/gear/Rack-3.jpg