What’s the difference?Differences between guitar bridges is one of those topics that keeps conjuring up endless debates among players. What are the best materials? How does a trem affect to the sound? Which bridge has the best sustain? Is a locking trem from the devil? An abysmal swamp of myths, assertions and opinions, often triggered by tradition or a piece of (dis)information one has heard from a friend or read online. I’ll be stone cold pragmaticThe perspective I’m offering you is based on my own experience, having made, repaired and played a whole lotta guitars over the last decades.
I’m not relying on what I’ve heard from someone or what I’ve read from books. My approach could be described stone cold pragmatic.
I’ll go through in this article a few common situations in the hope that reading this piece won’t at least leave you more confused than you were before. Bridge solutions that workI’ll start from wraparound bridges for one particular reason. This story describes perfectly my approach to guitar design in general. Practical solutions. Nuts and bolts.
Graph Tech offers many different types of saddles for electric guitars. Whether you have a Strat, a Tele, a Les Paul or just about any other electric guitar or bass, we have an options for you. Different Materials. This is certainly the most basic and common type of adjustment to do to your guitar to. On what type of guitar you are playing and what type of bridge it uses.
Things that work. I was reluctant for a long time to offer wraparound bridges in any of my guitars.
There were a couple of reasons why so. The traditional wraparound models are mounted with studs that need to have a pretty loose tolerance so there’s any room to balance the height of the low and high strings. This results usually that after adjustments the bridge sits leaning forward, in an angled position in the loose stud slots. What if the wood gives in?I’ve seen guitars where the bushings of the wraparound bridge have given in and the whole unit is leaning forward.
Or, the bushings have started to crawl up from their holes. This can happen if the fit of the bushings is too loose – or if the body wood is soft (like mahogany or spanish cedar) and the wood compresses over time, making the holes oval shaped. There is a constant force of about 60 kilograms pulling the wraparound bridge forward, so it’s no wonder that sometimes the wood gives in. To me, this has been a turnoff. I’ve felt it’s not designed right, and so I’ve steered clear of it. Luthier collaborationA few years back I started to design the guitar. I wanted it to have a wraparound bridge – if only those drawbacks were solved somehow.
The studs were an easy one. Lari (one of my luthiers) and I were drawing a locking stud that would be easy to use. Then I stumbled upon the locking studs my fellow luthier had designed. It was just like my drawing. Jason had gotten there first! I ordered a few of those studs to try them out. The quality was excellent, and the studs did exactly the job I wanted them for.
We’ve continued using the Schroeder locking studs ever since, in all the guitars we make with wraparound bridge. Lock-thru-body bushingsThe bushings remained a major concern. I couldn’t find any ready made solutions for the problem, so Lari and I started brainstorming the part. Lari is quite a wizard with not only understanding mechanics, but he also has the skills to do the metal work. We came up with the idea to lock the bushings through the body.
A really simple fix to a nasty problem! One of those moments when we thought that somebody must have figured this out before us. But we couldn’t find anything like it anywhere.Lari made the first prototypes in our shop basement with his 100 years old lathe, and they turned out perfect. It wouldn’t work as an aftermarket part for vintage guitars though. Because you need to drill a hole through the body! But with my guitars, I’m free from the vintage ghosts, so this was the perfect solution for us. Improving the improvedTo complete our task we needed a great wraparound bridge with the right feel.
It would need to also meet our strict quality requirements. I contacted and it turned out they were right in the middle of developing a new wraparound bridge. They sent me a prototype, which seemed absolutely great. They had milled it from a billet of aircraft grade aluminium, and the bridge sounded and felt phenomenal.
I pointed out a little shortcoming about the total height of the unit, and to my amazement the guys at ABM were thankful for my feedback and improved the design before launching it. Rock solid wraparound bridge solutionSo now I had the ABM 3024 wraparound bridge locked in place with the Schroeder studs, and the whole unit anchored to the body with our own Lock-Thru-Body bushings. The most rock solid wraparound bridge solution ever!We were so excited about this new bridge concept that we decided to started offering it as an option for all the and the guitars.
Download the app and there you’ll have it! Why do some guitars have a “twangy” sound?
The sharp, bright, percussive, mid-rangy, in-your-face type tone that works great to a wide variety of music, most often connected to t-style guitars. There are a number of factors contributing to this special tonal character but not many come to think that one of the key reasons for the twangy sound is the traditional t-style bridge baseplate made of steel, which functions as a mounting ring for the bridge pickup as well. The steel plate changes the shape of the pickup magnetic field, contributing to the characteristic edgy sound of the guitar. The magnetic flux changesWhen you change the bridge material to a non-magnetic material – like brass or stainless steel – the sound of the guitar changes. One would say the sound improves – while another hears the alteration in a negative way. So there are no rights or wrongs here.
It’s all a matter of personal preference. But – it is certainly useful to be aware of the fact that a steel plate surrounding a pickup affects the pickup sound due to the change of the magnetic flux. Out of the box thinkingWhen you think outside the box, you sometimes stumble upon surprising ideas. Even if this little story is not exactly about a guitar bridge, it is bridge related, so here goes. Based on the aforementioned phenomenon (steel changes the shape of the magnetic field of a pickup), we have developed a little custom part called the “twang ring”. It is a pickup ring we first started using in the model. The idea was to find a solution to not lose the twang even if we install a vibrato bridge to a guitar.
The twang ring works very nicely for this purpose – even though the vibrato does always alter the sound of a guitar as well. More about that later! The perfect guinea pigAfter making quite a few Mojo Kings, I asked myself: Since the twang ring works so well, why don’t we try it in other types of guitars as well? Since it adds “twang” to a Mojo King, how would it work for example in a humbucker equipped guitar? I was developing the model at the time, and that felt like the perfect guinea pig for the purpose. The twang ring worked beautifully in it, adding a slight edge to the humbucker sound.
As a nice side effect, we have now humbucker size twang rings available also for the model. Sometimes vintage sucksThere is another common debate about t-style bridges that I want to address. It has to do with the saddles. Should there be three of them, like it used to be back in the day?
Or are six saddles better? Stydying the history, I’m assuming the original idea was just to make a very simple bridge design. A combo that fixes the strings at the body end, mounts one of the pickups and allows to set the intonation somewhat correct. The last of the features sucks, though. You just can’t adjust intonation of six strings with three saddles that move back and forth.
In that regard – yes – six saddles is indeed better. Bridge saddles matterEliminating one problem may cause another! Changing this particular bridge design to six saddles, the sound changes as well – and not for the better. The strings press the saddles downwards, and with three saddles the pressure is really strong as the saddles are pressed down by two strings each. This way, the bridge is rock solid. So is the sound.
With six saddles, however, the pressure on the saddles is weaker, and the sound loses some of its solidity. So now we’re back to three saddles.! A pragmatic solution to a pragmatic problemOne way to fix the intonation is to file the saddles individually. This works fine, but if you change string gauge or brand, you might want to readjust. Trevor Wilkinson has come up with an ingenious solution to this problem by developing his WT3 saddle that swivels around its axis. The design allows precise intonation adjustment without compromising the string pressure at the saddles.
To me, Trev’s solution is spot on the same wavelength with my thinking. A pragmatic solution to a pragmatic problem, without compromising the tone. That is why we like to use the Gotoh/Wilkinson WT3 bridge in our guitars. Functionality comes firstThere is an endless debate going on also about saddle materials of various bridge types. Different materials all affect to the tone slightly, but I’d like to look at this feature from the practical point of view first. Because the tonal differences are so very subtle, that the practical approach just makes more sense as a starting point.
First, the bridge has to function well. Secondly, it needs to be durable. After these points are in order, then it’s time to worry about the slight tonal nuances. Brass or steel?Brass is a great saddle material for many types of bridges. It is softer than the strings, but hard enough so the strings won’t dig into it if the angle of the string crossing the saddle is not too steep. The relative softness of brass is good, making the saddle slot edges “gentle” to the strings.
This results in less string breakage at the saddles. Too soft materials, however, will cause trouble too.
The strings may dig in to the saddles causing tuning problems. The sound may be compromised too – dampened high frequencies or too soft attack. Hardened or not?In some applications, hardened steel works better than brass.
The Gotoh/Wilkinson VSVG that we use a lot in the and models is a vibrato bridge evolved from a vintage s-style vibrato. This bridge succeeds in eliminating some of the vintage design problems without compromising the sound.
When the saddles are made of hardened steel, it is essential that the shaping of the saddle is precisely right. Otherwise the hard saddle edges will snap off your strings, or easily cause unwanted resonances.
Even the bridge saddle plating matters!An important, yet often overlooked factor concerning saddles is the plating. Chrome-plating is super hard, and this can cause severe string breakage problems to a guitar. If the saddles are made of a soft material (brass, or die-cast zinc), the strings may sink in to the soft metal, but the hard chrome plating won’t flex one bit. Instead, the chrome breaks and leaves a razor sharp edge right under the strings. And then you’ll break strings over and over again This is why I prefer in most cases saddles that are either non-plated – or if plated, then the plating sould be done with a softer metal such as nickel or gold. Chrome plating works in a saddle in my experience only when it’s applied on very hard metal and when the string passes the saddle in a very gradual angle – such as the Gotoh GE1996 locking vibrato has.
The effect of vibrato springsLet’s look at some vibrato bridges in more detail. First the classics. Generally speaking, all s-style vibrato bridges and its descendants require a chunk of wood to be routed off from the back of the body. This allows to mount the springs that act as a counter-force to the string pull. This construction affects the sound of the guitar for several reasons. 1) Part of the wood is routed off.
2) Spring mechanism makes a “reverbish” sound when hitting the strings. 3) The bridge trembles slightly as with the strings vibrate. 4) The bridge “gives in” when bending strings. Is old school better because it’s old.?All mentioned in the previous chapter is perceived by the player as a natural part of the classic “s-style guitar sound”. Nothing wrong with that. Many prefer the vintage s-style vibrato bridge in their guitar. Is there any sensible reasons why it is so?
Or is it the vintage voodoo, you know, the common myth about the old way being better because well, it’s old?The original s-style vibrato mounts to the guitar body with six wood screws. You might think this is old-fashioned and outdated, but I’m one of those who like the six-screw mounting a lot. Because this is the only type of non-locking vibrato where the baseplate front edge rests – and is pressed against – on top of the guitar. This allows the energy transmit from a wider, more solid area of the bridge to the body. When a bridge with six-screw mount is made with high precision of premium materials, the guitar will also keep its tuning very well – as long as the rest of the guitar is set up to par with the bridge, of course. The problems of old school s-style bridgesThere are a couple of other details I’m not so much in favour regarding the vintage style vibrato, though.
I don’t like slack in the vibrato arm. That’s one of the many reasons we use mostly the VSVG model by Gotoh/Wilkinson. Also, the string spacing of the vintage bridge is unnecessarily wide, resulting that the strings are too close to the fretboard edges.
Another great reason for me to use the VSVG (or other bridges with improved string spacing).By the way – it’s a vibrato. Not a tremolo. The knife edge makes a bridge vibrate moreSome players prefer a non-locking vibrato with two posts and knife edge movement. Even if it would feel counterintuitive to some, this approach actually requires even higher precision from the rest of the guitar in order to maintain the tuning in a satisfactory way.
It is because the knife edge makes the vibrato more sensitive, just like a locking trem. In other words – when you play, the bridge trembles back and forth even if you don’t touch the vibrato arm. Another example demonstrating the sensitivity is a situation when you rest your picking hand on the bridge. A knife edge type vibrato goes easier out of tune (cause your hand presses the bridge) than a vibrato mounted with six screws.When the player acknowledges all this, learns to deal with it, a non-locking knife edge vibrato is certainly a great device that can add greatly to the expressive range of the player. For example, the Gotoh 510 series offers a few outstanding pieces of equipment that work well and sound fantastic. No slack in the vibrato arm, please!One detail worth mentioning is the way Gotoh has solved the vibrato arm mounting – none of their VSVG, 510 or locking vibrato arms have slack, and they’re easy to adjust to any player’s taste. Might feel like a small detail but from the practical point of view this makes a world of difference as compared to most other vibratos.
A locking vibrato has a very specific role to play in a guitar. No other vibrato keeps the tuning as well under such heavy use as many shredders need for their music. Floyd Rose is in this category the benchmark product that others are usually compared with. Unfortunately the quality of Original Floyd Rose has spiralled down over the years, and I prefer to use other versions when possible. The only exception would be 7-stringed guitars, as my favourite part is only available 6-stringed. Japanese engineering precisionTalking about favourites.
My number one choice among locking whammies has been for a long time the Gotoh GE1996. We’ve installed it to most of the guitars ever built, and it is a wonderful example of japanese design and engineering precision. I’m totally on the same page with how the Gotoh engineers think. They’ve studied carefully the market leader part, spotted the weak spots and designed a better product.
In theory all good and then life steps inThe knife edges and their corresponding slots in the studs are an important factor in a locking vibrato. They have a crucial role in keeping the guitar in tune.
Floyd Rose (and many others) have approached this detail in attempt to eliminate friction at the knife edges. They’ve chosen a hard material and shaped the knife edge literally sharp as a knife. In theory, this would be the best solution to the problem. A brand new Floyd vibrato does keep the tuning extremely well – but then life steps in!
The pressure at the knife edges is very high, and after a while (how long, depends on the player) of extensive vibrato usage, the knife edges (and the corresponding stud slots) will wear down, or the sharpest edges will chip off. The tuning stability deteriorates, and it keeps getting worse until you have to replace the worn down parts. A better approachGotoh has taken another approach.
The GE1996 knife edge isn’t exactly a knife edge at all. It has a tiny radius to it – matched with corresponding radius in the studs. This means the Gotoh vibrato has slightly more friction than a brand new Floyd Rose vibrato would have – but at the same time, the Gotoh part is extremely durable.
The Gotoh knife edges won’t wear down at all in the way Floyd parts will. The new Gotoh GE1996 keeps the tuning with 99,9% precision – and the situation won’t get worse in time. It is the best locking vibrato available. A part you and I can both rely on. Details, details, detailsAnother point worth mentioning is the way the vibrato arm mounts to the body of the vibrato. In a Floyd Rose vibrato the arm can feel wobbly even when brand new. And if not, eventually it will.
Another word of critic about the nut that fastens the arm to the plate – when you use the arm, the nut keeps loosening by itself. In the GE1996, Gotoh has used their proprietary mechanism to fix the arm. The same one they use in the 510 non-locking vibratos. You push the arm in to a snug nylon bushing in the body of the vibrato, and the arm has an inner threading that acts as a height adjustment for the arm.
You can adjust the tightness of the arm by a little set-screw. A well designed and excellently manufactured part, that can take heavy dives up and down for years and years. The roots of tune-o-maticThe roots of the tune-o-matic electric guitar bridge lay deep in the history of acoustic archtop guitars and the bowed instrument family.
When you look at the or the from side perspective, you notice that the body, neck, headstock, bridge and tailpiece form a similarly angled shape as in a violin. The strings pull the stop tailpiece forward and press the bridge downwards, against the top of the instrument.
This construction contributes to the sound of the guitar tremendously.I’ve used many tune-o-matic variants over the years. I’ve seen new products pop up with great little improvements and become successful fast. Then the production has been ramped up, followed by the quality spiralling down. The tune-o-matic bridge and stop tailpiece may seem like simple parts, but there are a number of details that can go wrong if the design isn’t perfect and/or the build quality isn’t up to par with the design. Die-cast or milled?Most cheaper (and some of the expensive ones) tune-o-matic frames are die-cast zinc. This metal alloy is not very strong, and the typical problem is that the frame gives in under the pressure of strings.
When that happens, the radius of the bridge doesn’t match the fretboard radius anymore. This causes a problem to set up the guitar right.
A die-cast part can be good too, though. TonePros used to make a good die-cast tune-o-matic, but then something happened. The metal wasn’t anymore as strong as it used to be, and other quality problems emerged as well.
We had no other option but to change brand. Bell brass rings like well, a bell!Now we’re installing ABM 2054 tune-o-matic to most Dukes and Unicorns we make. ABM is a small factory in Germany, that doesn’t offer any die-cast parts.
Every frame and saddle is milled from billets of metal. The tune-o-matic we use is milled from bell brass. The bridge sounds great, and the construction is super rigid.
The saddles sit in the bridge frame nice and tight without slack to any direction. A nice touch in the ABM tune-o-matic is the fact that the saddle inserts have been rounded off so they feel comfortable when resting your palm on the bridge.
This is a detail I haven’t seen in other bridges made by milling. Stop tailpiece milled from aluminiumThe ABM stop tailpiece we use is milled from aluminium.
It is lightweight, and contributes beautifully to the tonal character of our guitars. The build quality of the ABM parts is second to none. How to get the best sustain?One aspect that many players seem to be confused about is the height adjustment of the stop tailpiece. The most common myth is that the tailpiece must be screwed all the way down. Otherwise the sustain of the guitar will be compromised.
The stop tailpiece is adjustable, tooAnother popular belief is that the best sound comes from installing the strings to the tailpiece in a “top wrap style”. Jimmy Page used to do like this in order to make the string angle more gradual – which helps not break strings and to stay in tune. Well, guess what? Jimmy (or his technician) was correct in setting the angle more gradual. But he could’ve as well just raised the tailpiece higher.
I mean it is adjustable. A difference in tone, you say? Do a blindfold A/B test. Can’t spot any unambiguous difference. Jimmy Page did it!If you adjust the tailpiece too high, the pressure at the bridge will be too weak.
If you adjust it too low, the angle will be too steep and your strings will bottom out at the back edge of the bridge. This adds one more friction point to the strings (bad for tuning stability) – and you’ll be breaking more strings. The strings pull the tailpiece forward with about 60 kg force (with 10-46 gauge strings). That is enough pressure to make the tailpiece construction rock solid without any lock screws or other snake oil upgrades. With this force pulling the tailpiece forward, it’s meaningless if the tailpiece studs are screwed all the way down or adjusted high enough to clear the strings from the bridge edge.
They’re solid either way! So I would simply adjust the tailpiece as it was meant to be adjusted. The only sensible reason to screw the studs down and top wrap the strings over the tailpiece is that Jimmy Page did it like that! I can buy that. I’m a big fan.
Hats off to Jimmy. Let’s face it – Bigsby looks super coolOne of the most frequently asked questions I get is this: “Does Bigsby affect to the sound of my guitar?”.
The answer is: “Yes – it affects the sound and the feel of the guitar a lot”.There’s no way around it – Bigsby is super cool. It looks awesome in the same way as old American cars and motorbikes do. For some, this is the primary reason why they want Bigsby in their guitar. And it’s perfectly ok! I can understand that. In rock music, the appearances matter a great deal. Worth the trade-off?Truth be said, other than the looks, Bigsby can be a challenging piece of equipment.
When thought out and set up well, it will stay in tune reasonably well and you won’t lose much of the full potential of your guitar sound with it. See, the tune-o-matic style bridge with stop tailpiece is a kind of combo that really gives you the maximum potential of that particular guitar tone. When you replace the stop tailpiece with a Bigsby, the construction changes. It is inevitable that some of that solidity of sound will be gone. In exchange you get the vibrato and a slightly different sounding guitar. Once again – there is no right or wrong here – it is all about personal preference.
And don’t get me wrong – I love old American cars and motorbikes too! Bass guitars vibrate a lot!The low frequencies make a bass guitar vibrate a lot. This vibration needs to be kept under wraps. Otherwise there would be a lot of fret buzz and tuning problems – even trouble keeping the instrument in one piece!It’s like the old Harley Davidson bikes: The engine is bolted right onto the frame of the bike without suspension of any kind.
The motor shakes the whole bike so much that one would think a magnetic rear fender should be an obligatory feature to collect all the fallen parts! Cool bikes, none the less. Energy transference from strings to bodyAfter a little sidestep, back to bass bridges! It is essential in any musical instrument, that the energy of the strings is not “wasted” in wrong type of vibration – but in a bass guitar this is even more serious business.When I went shopping for the ideal bridge for my bass, my main priority was to find a bridge that is capable of transferring as much vibrations as possible from the strings to the body of the instrument. Contrary to common beliefs, heavy mass is not the solution. If the bridge is too massive, it may be solid all right, but it doesn’t transfer the sound to the body. The musically inspiring and responsive solutions are not typically the most heavyweight and sturdy ones.
Sensitivity versus durabilityIf one seeks sensitivity, the same laws apply to any musical instrument. A great classical guitar top and bracing, for example, are made so delicate that they just about hold together without collapsing. The result is a sensitive guitar – and the skill of the luthier determines how well can he/she find the optimal balance between musicality and durability. The perfect electric bass bridge?I was working closely together with my friend on my bass design. I listened carefully to his experiences and analysis on what makes a great, transparent sounding bass. Our talk shifted from tonewood through pickups to hardware.
Then it dawned to me – the vintage t-style bridge design philosophy might offer us a solution for the perfect bass bridge. I just had to find a simple, lightweight bridge in which each saddle would be shared by two strings.
This way the pressure of the strings would be massive, eliminating the possibility that the bridge parts would start moving around with the low frequency vibration. Instead, the vibrations would transmit better from the strings to the body.I was certain we have to make such a bridge ourselves, but to my great relief and amazement I found the Gotoh WB2P, designed by none other than Trev Wilkinson. Our paths had crossed before and so they did again. Adapted from guitars to bassesThis particular bridge has the exact features I had listed earlier: 1) Lightweight construction. 2) Each saddle shared by two strings. 3) Precise intonation adjusting possibility. Trev had solved the intonation problem by adapting the swivelling axis design from his WT3 bridge to his bass bridge design.
Too unconventional for mostAt the time of its launch, this bridge was perhaps too unconventional for most. Maybe the bass makers didn’t realise how great it was. Whatever the reason, Gotoh discontinued the product soon after its launch. But I’m the obstinate type. I went to Gotoh and asked if they would be willing to make the part for me. They did, as long as I would buy enough so it made sense to them. And so we have ended up at this point of time as the exclusive bass maker using the WB2P bridge – even if Trev Wilkinson didn’t perhaps plan it that way!
The bridge of your guitar may seem minuscule in the scheme of things, but its importance mustn’t be understated. It might prove a little challenging deciding between the types of electric guitar bridges available, but we’re here to help you make the right decision.Guitar bridges come in many varied forms, each with their own characteristics that suit different playing styles and give a different sound. However, there are 4 particular styles of the bridge which have gained popularity and are the most commonly used. These are:. Fixed. Tremolo. Tune-O-Matic.
Floyd RoseThere are a lot of differences between these styles, yet some similarities all the same. It’s very important to know what makes each style so different from the other, and what the advantages to each one are. Let’s begin to discuss what makes each style so unique. What Are the Main Types of Bridge?
A Fixed Bridge:A fixed bridge is the most uncomplicated type of electric guitar bridge. It consists essentially of a metal plate set into the guitar’s body. The plate does not move and is fixed permanently.
Apart from the string saddles, the fixed bridge has no moving parts and as such is quite suitable for beginners or less skilled guitarists although seasoned players may appreciate it for its simplicity and predictability. The saddles can be tweaked to alter the intonation of the guitar as well as its action, but these are the only moving parts on it.The fixed bridge is also known as a ‘hard-tail bridge’, and due to the absence of complicated mechanisms, replacing strings and maintenance is comparatively simpler than the other electric bridge styles, and it remains in tune longer as well. A fixed bridge electric is a good option for rhythm guitar, which involves a lot of intermittent force on the strings. You can typically find this bridge style on Telecasters.
The older Telecasters had just three saddles to adjust intonation and action, but later models, much like other newer fixed bridges, have six saddles. The Tremolo Bridge:A tremolo bridge, or synchronized tremolo bridge, bears a few similarities to the fixed bridge. A tremolo bridge has a metal plate with adjustable saddles, but unlike the fixed bridge, a tremolo bridge is not fixed into the guitar body. A tremolo bridge can be moved with a lever known as a ‘whammy bar’, or a ‘vibrato bar’. This bar adjusts the bridge, which in turn alters the amount of tension on the strings, changing the pitch. It is sometimes known as a ‘tremolo bar’, but that is technically incorrect as the effect it produces is not actually tremolo, but vibrato. Regardless, this term has entered standard usage.Tuning Issues?
The presence of the whammy bar allows for some rather creative effects but its mechanism, causing frequent tension changes in the strings, subjects your guitar to frequent detuning. If you’re going to be using the whammy bar a lot in your style of play, be prepared for frequent tunings to keep it sounding right. The synchronized tremolo bridge has been a staple of the Fender Stratocaster, and may be one of the reason for it’s popularity since the 60’s. It is also featured on similar styled guitars.
A Tune-O-Matic Bridge:Similar in form to the fixed bridge, the Tune-O-Matic bridge style has its six individually adjustable saddles, but in addition to that, it has a pair of adjustable struts, one at each side of the bridge. These struts can be used to easily change the height of the entire bridge, but not dynamically during play.The Tune-O-Matic has the very important added benefit of giving the guitarists the opportunity to adjust the saddles of each string individually.
This allows for finer control of the intonation of each string. Most Tune-O-Matic guitars have the strings run up to a tailpiece, while a few of them go directly through the body.This bridge is particularly stand-out in the way it manages to stay tuned over time. It also has excellent sustain and is a good choice if longer sustain suits your style of play. Just like the fixed bridge, the Tune-O-Matic is appropriate for beginners as it requires very little maintenance once it is up and running.
The Tune-O-Matic bridge was designed and introduced by Gibson and is still synonymous with The Gibson Les Paul. A Floyd Rose Bridge:You can think of the Floyd Rose bridge as a level above the typical synchronized tremolo bridge in terms of complexity. Instead of using a standard nut, the Floyd Rose bridge utilizes a ‘locking nut’ which helps keep the strings stationary and in tune. In addition to the locking nut, it also makes use of a locking bridge which holds the strings like a vice, with much less friction. That explains a more technical name for it: the Floyd Rose Double-Locking bridge. These two additions keep the guitar in tune longer than a guitar with a synchronized tremolo bridge. The Floyd Rose guitar bridge is patented, so only Floyd Rose and other licensed models may use it.The Floyd Rose bridge also utilises a whammy bar, and with its double-locking system, it stays in tune a lot longer than a tremolo bridge, even with frequent use of the whammy bar.
It is a complex bridge system, however, and is relatively inaccessible to beginners to guitar as maintenance is quite difficult. It should be noted though that floating Floyd Rose bridges are dependent on the tension of all strings, and a single string break will knock the whole bridge out of tune. However, a ‘half-floating’ Floyd Rose bridge does not have this problem.
Floyd Rose bridges can be found most commonly on Floyd Rose guitars, but are also becoming a popular aftermarket upgrade. Tremolo Bridges vs Fixed BridgesWe’ve talked about the different major types of bridges, of which the synchronized tremolo and fixed bridges were two of the types and perhaps the most common types of electric guitars. When purchasing a new guitar, it is an important decision to make: tremolo bridge, or fixed bridge?For beginning or relatively unskilled guitarists, and even skilled guitarists new to electrics, the fixed bridge is a good bet. It’s the electric guitar bridge which is the most similar to the fixed bridge that is typically found on an acoustic guitar.
The relatively low maintenance required and the uncomplicated mechanism of the bridge makes guitars with fixed bridges a good choice for novices. Besides, you are probably not going to use it much in the beginning anyway.For guitarists who are advancing in skill or are comfortable around a fixed bridge electric, a tremolo bridge guitar shouldn’t be too much to handle. The introduction of the whammy bar gives a new technique to master, which is fantastic for the relatively experienced guitarist hungry for more skill. The tremolo bar opens up the opportunity to start mastering those Van Halen solos and Steve Vai riffs.The tuning issues and relative complexity of string changes on a synchronized tremolo bridge should be easily handled by skilled guitarists but with a bit of persistence to anyone else who is keen on a whammy bar. A tremolo guitar is easy to recommend for guitarists who know their way around an electric guitar. Locking Bridges vs Non-Locking Tremolo BridgesAn example of a locking tremolo bridge system is the Floyd Rose bridge.
A locking tremolo bridge is essentially any tremolo bridge that clamps down, or locks, the strings in place. The locking nuts eliminate the sliding of the string on the nut and the changing tension on the machine heads. The advantage to using a locking tremolo bridge is that they sustain their tune a lot longer than a non-locking tremolo bridge.
To get similarly consistent tuning, you would ordinarily have to look at fixed bridge guitars but a locking tremolo gives you the best of both worlds.A non-locking tremolo bridge utilizes no locking system to hold down the strings, and as such, it loses its tuning much faster especially with frequent use of the whammy bar. Nowadays, the non-locking tremolo bridge is losing popularity due to the advantages of the locking tremolo guitar bridge over it. However, a lot of experienced guitarists still use guitars with non-locking bridges.Despite the clear advantages of a locking tremolo bridge, there are still reasons why you might prefer a non-locking tremolo bridge over it.
Guitars with non-locking tremolo bridges are generally cheaper than their counterparts and are easier to maintain because they have fewer parts. You might be wondering how well Fender holds up to their major counterpart in the guitar game when it comes to their bridge types. How do Fixed bridges and Tremolo bridges stack up the Tune-O-Matic?The fixed bridges on the Telecaster are similar to the Tune-O-Matic bridges on the Gibson. However, the Gibson has the added advantage of being able to adjust the height of the bridge, but from the get-go, they tend to be higher than the fixed bridges on the Telecaster which some guitarists might not like. Older Telecasters had only three saddles, although the newer models have a full six, so there shouldn’t be much of an issue unless purchasing vintage. Some players prefer the Tune-O-Matic for musical styles that incorporate a lot of palm muting, as it is more comfortable to achieve.
The fixed bridges are however more appropriate for the guitarist looking for a stable, reliable bridge type.Pitting the Stratocaster tremolo bridge against the Tune-O-Matic is like comparing apples and oranges. It mostly boils down to what type of music you’re playing, and whether or not you can let go of the whammy bar. The Tune-O-Matic is easier to maintain and has relatively good sustain, but if you’re going to be needing a lot of pitch shifting in your musical styles, the tremolo might not be something you can let slide. Going for the tremolo bridge means introducing the tuning instability that comes with them, but it’s one of those cons that comes with the territory. It usually also has to do with the preference to a Strat Or a Les Paul, but that’s a different story altogether.Electric guitar bridges differ quite considerably from one another, yet they all share similarities with each bridge picking up something from the last. It is important to learn about these bridges and understand them so that you can understand the advantages and disadvantages of each electric guitar bridge type. This will not only inform you better ahead of your next purchase but will give you a better understanding of the sound and technique of each guitar.Ultimately, each bridge has its merits and your skill level and musical preferences have more of a say in which bridge type you end up with.
There is no greatest bridge, but rather one for each player and their tastes. Related Questions What are the types of acoustic guitar bridges?Acoustic guitar bridges are more easily delineated. There are two major types of acoustic guitar bridge: fixed, and floating. A fixed bridge is a panel of wood attached to the body, with a non-adjustable string saddles.
A floating bridge has the strings run through a tail piece at the end, and the pitch can be altered by adjusting the saddle.Can electric guitar bridges be replaced?Electric guitar bridges rarely get damaged due to their metal build, but sometimes they may need replacing. Electric bridges can be replaced, and replacements can be found easily online or at your local guitar store. Bridge replacement can be a fairly straight forward task, especially if you are replacing a similar model or type. However, it can get a bit more challenging if they are not a match, and a lot more challenging if you are opting for a completely different bridge. Upgrading your tremolo from a classic Strat to a Floyde Rose Bridge will require routing the body.How to adjust electric guitar string saddles?String saddles are adjusted with an Allen (or hex) key. Locate the hex screws on each saddle, and turn the wrench clockwise to lift, and counter-clockwise to lower.
Certain guitar models have saddles with two hex screws each, and each screw should be turned equally to maintain stability. Adjusting your saddles alters your guitar action and intonation. The main groups of electric guitar bodies can be divided into three:.Hollow Body Instruments.Semi Hollow Body.Solid Body InstrumentsThe shape and design of electric guitars developed and evolved in the last hundred years and today you can choose which you would fit your preferred style of music, fashion or guitar icon.With all these different shapes and styles one can get a bit confused. Whether you are planning on buying or building your next guitar we’ll try and sort things out to get a clear view of what these guitars are all about.