Best brige for the longest sustain?

I'm young. I don't have the experience than most people have on the forum. That being said, I'm planning on building a set neck, long tenon, slab body LP style guitar with a single pickup. I'm leaning towards either a wrap around aluminum LP Jr. Style bridge (with a P90 or Filtertron) or a classic tele style bridge (string through, stainless steel with a tele pickup of course). The goal is to build a sustain king, with either a mahogany or ash body (undecided). Would anyone care to help me out on which bridge would help obtain the seemingly endless sustain I thirst? Thanks in advance!

The fewer moving parts and the harder it is fastened to the body, the more sustain you will get. Ideally, every string would be anchored to the guitar separately (one bridge per string) and no moving parts at all. The bridge should have a VERY VERY high break angle to keep any vibration from escaping behind the saddle.

Sustain is reduced by the vibration of the string escaping from the string and causing any other part of the guitar to vibrate.

Thank you very much for the input! Working off of your information, this would fare well then correct? http://www.warmoth.com/Hardware/bridges/2TekBridges.aspx

I am very gibson oriented, but lately I have been taking a liking to a hardtail strat bridge- top loader on my builds lately. There is more contact area with the body since the steel plate takes up more real estate than a gibson wrap around with the two studs. I have no proof that it is any better, but I like how it sounds. You can't go wrong with a LP junior set up though. I've been working on a LP JR meets Cabronita Especial that I started a year or so ago. It has a peavey patriot neck and an african mahogany body. With 2 ferrite single coil peavey humbucker sized pickups and just a switch, I'm getting excited to try it out. I just need to put the bridge on a drill a few holes.

Thank you very much for the input! Working off of your information, this would fare well then correct? http://www.warmoth.com/Hardware/bridges/2TekBridges.aspx

O_O one of my favorite things about my slab body LP (epiphone special II 2 p90's set neck) is how light weight it is

I've been making my own from 1/8" thick Aluminum angle and 5/16" thick brass rod using the 3 saddle design and they sustain really really well. I would concur that the fewer parts and the tighter the fit to the body (sanding the bottom of the bridge, tight screws...) works.

Here is a really early one I did with 1/4" brass rod:
http://mojotronics.com/images/bridges/bridge_side2.jpg

Here's one of the latest ones with bigger bras rod:
http://mojotronics.com/images/Guitar_builds/2012_TDPRI_Challenge/5_13_2/good_7.jpg
http://mojotronics.com/images/Guitar_builds/2012_TDPRI_Challenge/5_13_2/IMG_0773.JPG

I found that the size/weight of the saddles on these makes very little difference. Making a bridge is pretty easy.

Mojotron, your bridges look just perfect! I'm gonna "borrow" that design sooner or later..

My 'longest-lasting-sustain' guitar is an old ('78 I think) Washburn Eagle. It's got a very solid hard-tail bridge and strings thru body. It's also got a neck-thru which may add to the sustain?

That certainly is quite a exquisite piece of work Mojotron. Thanks for your help

Mojotron, your bridges look just perfect! I'm gonna "borrow" that design sooner or later..

That certainly is quite a exquisite piece of work Mojotron. Thanks for your help

Thanks! Ya - those take about an hour to make, cost about $2 and are pretty easy to make if you have a hacksaw, some files and a drill press. And, they're my favorite bridge. I've gone with thicker rod on the later ones so that there is no screw sticking up - much easier for palm muting (less bleeding too :oops:). These bridges sustain as well as any guitar I have played. The only one I have that is a little better is a Parker Fly.

I've had sustain problems with most bridges I've tried, but the Gotoh six saddle modern bridge was not too bad once I flattened out the bottom of the base. BTW, the worst bridges I have used were unblocked Floyd derivatives - but ya don't see 'em too much over here.

I recently finished a '72 Deluxe style axe with a top loader hard tail bridge. Not sure whether its that or the Curtis Novak wide range humbuckers but the thing sounds amazing and sustains forever. FWIW.......

The fewer moving parts and the harder it is fastened to the body, the more sustain you will get. Ideally, every string would be anchored to the guitar separately (one bridge per string) and no moving parts at all. The bridge should have a VERY VERY high break angle to keep any vibration from escaping behind the saddle.

Sustain is reduced by the vibration of the string escaping from the string and causing any other part of the guitar to vibrate.
I agree, and more importantly, so does 2Tek: http://www.the2tek.com/engine/inspect.asp?Item=3

http://pic50.picturetrail.com/VOL413/8228026/15380566/398445277.jpg

http://pic50.picturetrail.com/VOL413/8228026/15380566/398445280.jpg

It has fantastic sustain!

@mojotron,where do you get the saddle adj screws?

@mojotron,where do you get the saddle adj screws?

I find them at hardware stores - they are just black steel "set screws". I have more luck finding them at more service oriented stores - other than HD and Lowes, but I have seen them there. I use #4-40 set screws (http://www.amazon.com/Black-Oxide-Alloy-Socket-Length/dp/B003R7JCG6/ref=sr_1_1?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1342715583&sr=1-1&keywords=4-40+set+screws)

lower your pickup. By increasing the distance between the string and the pickup the string wil be less influenced by the magnetic field of the pickup and loose less energy. Allowing it to vibrate longer and so it will increase sustain.

These are hard to get positioned just right. Not impossible mind you, but difficult for the not-so experienced builder.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_a_lPYxx9zRo/TF-m2l_pvQI/AAAAAAAAAgc/lXlyQZIIoVk/s1600/bridge.jpg

These are probably a better idea, being adjustable and all. Accurate intonation will make you smile :mrgreen:.
http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTM9e8ygFhqeyS6b12cGWYiMQYw12YHq EZPTIVGIAcrrQX7K_BxKhKqIpLY
And they're called "Badass" bridges. How perfect is that?

Accurate intonation will make you smile :mrgreen:.

http://www.lespaulforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=178930

Ok so I decided on a mahogany neck, ash body (a pretty heavy slab I must say), and a single p90. The bridge is still undecided. SOOOOOO many choices. Those Glendale half tele bridges seem cool. Since it has more contact with the body, would that mean more sustain than the wrap around? I was actually looking at a compensated LP junior bridge similar to the on on the Lespaulforum link. I would flatten the base of the tele bridge if I do choose it.

http://www.stewmac.com/tsarchive/ts0147.html

http://www.lespaulforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=178930

That feller looks like he's going to do very well out of that.

A good quality unit, installed and setup properly is what you need.
Avoid the cheapo pot metal imports and you should be ok.