Ultralites?

[Krabster]

Thinking of trying Ultralites on my $$, and also on the Thumb. As far as lightweight tuners, are these pretty much the only game in town?

 

[Jimmy]

Can you search my posts? I have made a comparison somewhere in a thread on this.

 

[Krabster]

Thanks, I'll do that.

 

[azzyrazzy]

Schaller has:

 

[krkozbassman]

not the only, but the BEST IMHO

 

[thefitz]

Schaller has:

Those are not even close to retrofit for Warwicks. The Hipshots, you replace your Warwick tuners directly. I believe those Schallers are Fender retrofits, and were on the American Deluxe basses in the mid 90s to mid 2000s.

EDIT: Just to clarify, my heavy 1990 Thumb sits at about a 45 degree angle with Ultralites.

 

[KevinK]

Thinking of trying Ultralites on my $$, and also on the Thumb.

I remember reading a thread post somewhere (can't find it as yet) that someone had compared Hipshot Ultralites against Warwick tuners on both older and newer basses. Iirc, the conclusion was that older basses=big difference in tuner weight...newer basses=not much difference in weight. I can't remember the Warwick tuner "change over" year...but I'll keep researching for that thread post.

If this is true...you'd notice a significant difference on your '94 Thumb, but not sure about the '08 $$?

 

[thefitz]

I dunno, there are people who think ultralites are useless - that the Thumb balances 100% perfectly - and that anybody complaining is crazy. Well, I think they're crazy.

You better believe on the heavy-ass 90's Warwicks with brass tuners, Ultralites make a HUGE difference. I had ultralites on an '01 Thumb BO, and they really helped. Had them on my Katana, and they helped too. Currently on my Vampyre, which I could not possibly play without them. Once I get a brass bridge on that puppy, I think it'll balance perfectly.

 

[Krabster]

I remember reading a thread post somewhere (can't find it as yet) that someone had compared Hipshot Ultralites against Warwick tuners on both older and newer basses. Iirc, the conclusion was that older basses=big difference in tuner weight...newer basses=not much difference in weight. I can't remember the Warwick tuner "change over" year...but I'll keep researching for that thread post.

If this is true...you'd notice a significant difference on your '94 Thumb, but not sure about the '08 $$?

I weighed a tuner off of my Thumb, and it was 70 grams. I'll have to take one off of the $$ and check it.

 

[KevinK]

I weighed a tuner off of my Thumb, and it was 70 grams. I'll have to take one off of the $$ and check it.

Wow! Worth changing out the older Warwick tuners for H-Ultralites on your '94 Thumb for sure...really interested to hear about the tuner weight on your '08 $$! Thefitz is correct about much improved bass balance...when the tuners are that drastically different in weight.

I haven't worried about paying for the H-Ultralite upgrade (or buying direct) for my newer Wick models...because I was under the impression that there wasn't much difference in weight anymore. Guess I should take a tuner off sometime and actually weigh it, to confirm my assumed minimal weight difference.

 

[Krabster]

OK, I took a tuner off the $$ and weighed it. The trouble is that I'm using a kilogram scale, so the Thumb tuner showed .07 kg, and the $$ tuner shows .06 kg. Since the scale isn't graduated further, I ASSume that this means the $$ tuner is 60-65 grams, and the Thumb tuner is 65-70 grams. So they could be up to 10 grams apart, or perhaps 2 grams. In any case, the $$ tuner is not very lightweight.

 

[Martin Such]

anyone knows how heavy would a single Hiphot Ultralite be then?

 

[thefitz]

There was a thread that had photos of a scale with the tuners on it - maybe someone can find it, I can't.

That thread should be stickied - this comes up all the time.

 

[thefitz]

I lied:



Please, sticky this....

 

[Nightmaresandconclusions]

yeah I went through this whole exercise and weighed everything. The link is

I noticed a difference with my 2011 Thumb 6 with ultralites

 

[Florin]

The result is about 5o grams lighter. 50 grams can be a lot...
Ask any weed smoker

 

[thefitz]

I thought of a goofy, borderline excessive way to help bass balance. I was considering making my own thread, but I don't have real proof of this, but I'll try to test it more.

Basically, have the strap lock on the upper horn be a regular strap lock, and have the strap lock on the bottom be recessed. You're basically adding the length of the strap lock to the length of the horn, while shortening the bottom of the instrument by the length of the strap lock.

The easiest way would be to have a regular Dunlop strap lock on the horn, and a recessed Dunlop strap lock at the butt end. Or, if you want, use any old Dunlop/Warwick strap lock (i.e. the kind with the post you insert) on the horn, and use no strap lock on the butt end.

 

[DiMarco]

If "neckdive" alone is not pleasing enough then yeah, you might need ultralites.

 

[Florin]

I thought of a goofy, borderline excessive way to help bass balance. I was considering making my own thread, but I don't have real proof of this, but I'll try to test it more.

Basically, have the strap lock on the upper horn be a regular strap lock, and have the strap lock on the bottom be recessed. You're basically adding the length of the strap lock to the length of the horn, while shortening the bottom of the instrument by the length of the strap lock.

The easiest way would be to have a regular Dunlop strap lock on the horn, and a recessed Dunlop strap lock at the butt end. Or, if you want, use any old Dunlop/Warwick strap lock (i.e. the kind with the post you insert) on the horn, and use no strap lock on the butt end.

I do the same thing - like... I don't use the straplock for the bottom part, I simply put the strap like on a regular strap button. COnsidering the angle, it is impossible for the strap to detach