Recommendations for a tele-bridge?

[finntele1000]

I have built few guitars and the last one was a tele-partscaster which turned out to be a real guitar compared to my other commercial- and luthier made guitars. I installed a Wilkinson (sung-il) compensated bridge to the last project and it is a - very good bridge intonation-wise at least. Now I'm wondering what more could I get by buying for example a Callaham or a Barden bridge. I know perfectly well that I'm using prefabricated parts etc. and I'm not going to go into the body-woodpickup-talk.
But would it be worthwhile to buy one?

[Superewza]

To be brutally honest i doubt you'd notice a difference between a high end bridge and a Wilkinson.

[bluebilly]

Get the Wilkinson. They are VERY well made and you can get into one for $20 if you look hard enough.

[Smokestack]

Believe me on this: No one in the audience can tell the difference, nor can the microphone. For 6 decades, the fender "pat" bridge has served many pros very well, indeed.

Save your money for a good set of pups, or better tubes/speaker on your amplifier....THOSE THINGS MAKE A WAY-HUGE DIFFERENCE IN YOUR TONE!!!! A "bling" bridge? Not so much. :)

[boris bubbanov]

I watched the guys change their pickups over and over, at an average of almost $ 200 a set and somehow a significant number remained "unsatisfied". Something was up.

Was it just psychological, just a neurosis or something?

Or was another key component in their guitar not getting the job done? The neck, or maybe the neck join? Loose or crappy tuners, perhaps? Something wrong with the amp? Did the cable get damaged while they stepped away for a cigarette?

Hey, I have those AV52 style plates (smoothed flat on the bottom side) on some projects; some whole and some cut in half. For some guitars they work and on others they clearly do not.

I don't know how to explain why some cars that require premium fuel seem to run OK on regular while others "pull codes" or run badly. I can't find the words to explain why some cars need a platinum spark plug while others get by with copper plugs.

But there's something about certain premium bridge assemblies that sets certain guitars on fire, and I don't care how loud you play or how distracted you pretend to be, if you are capable of hearing subtle differences between guitars then you probably will hear the difference.

I'm in a sort of middle ground where sometimes I can pick up many of these differences and sometimes I cannot. I don't know whether to envy or have sympathy for the guys who pick up EVERY blessed thing down to the battery life but I do know, I have NO envy for the guys who can barely tell the difference between a Telecaster and a Strat without opening their eyes. Sounds like a dull existence to me.

[kenfolk]

i like the saddles on the wilkinson better than the barden

[Ronsonic]

Hi Boris, you make some good points. One of the things that I've noticed working with this stuff over the years is that once the quality of a component gets past a certain point, the differences are ones of taste more so than better or worse. Or are "better or worse" depending on how they conform to the mental template the player has for that particular guitar type. "That bridge sucks" usually means "that bridge doesn't sound like what I happen to think of when I see that body shape."

One thing that really got my attention in this forum was one of Gil's Strat builds - Gotoh bridge and tuners. As much as his labor must cost and as excellent as his workmanship, I'm not thinking cost was the major issue.

As for the constant pickup quest of some people. I've learned that using the knobs on the guitar goes a very long way toward happiness in pickup and amp selection. At some point you've got to just settle on the instrument and learn how to work what you've got.

[motor_city_tele]

http://www.azguitarparts.com/id6.html

I bought 6 of the wilkinson style among many other items. everything shipped promptly and the quality is great. Like the cactus says - we sell parts cheap.

tootles - jb

[scud133]

the Callaham with the compensated saddles sure looks nice... never played one though



and it's pricey.

I will say that swapping the bridge & tailpiece on my Les Paul for a Gotoh one made a significant difference on that guitar

[Smokestack]

Yeah Boris, you do make good-thinking statements. There IS something about my heavy-knurl knobs that just does something for me. If it makes a guy happier to have the high-end stuff, then I guess that could filter down to his enthusiasm towards playing...which makes better music. And that's what it's about.

For instance, I just bought a new truck, and don't you know that the first thing I thought about when I brought it home was putting a 2" lift and some ranchero suspension parts on it. It does just fine like it is, but....?
Ah... then I remembered, "Smokey, you really oughta go ahead and try lollar's vintage '52's...then go ahead and mount that B-5 sittin in the drawer...."

Yeah, GAS gives its blessings to our up-grades....needed or not. It's fun.

[lerxst6]

I've played 1 tele with a Callaham bridge (the vintage one that sells for $115). The bridge felt awesome, played really well.

I too am struggling with "do i spend $115 or get another for $20 or $30?" for the tele I'm building. I will likely get it, mainly because my thought is that I'll build 1 tele in my life, so I'm not looking to cut too many corners on it.

Conversely, I have an American Standard Tele that is 100% stock, and I'd never consider "upgrading" it with another bridge. I wouldn't change a single thing about that guitar.

[voided3]

If you want an ashtray, the Wilkinson will do the job, but to throw in another possibility, the Gotoh modern bridge (6-saddle, all chromed brass) is an extremely nice bridge, too. You can get them from Warmoth for $44. I put one on a parts Tele that used to have a Fender three saddle bridge and it was a nice improvement tonally (slightly) and intonation-wise (WAY better). It uses the same four mount holes as an ashtray, too.

[Ricky D.]

Originally Posted by scud133

the Callaham with the compensated saddles sure looks nice... never played one though



and it's pricey.

...

I got one of those for my Squier Std Tele. No particular object in mind, just seduced by the appearance and the hype. With the OV pickups I already had in it, it was Hyper-twang. Not what I wanted. Put the original bridge back on and sold the Callaham. Lesson learned: Know what you want to accomplish before you spend money on mods.

[tcr45]

Whichever you go with, I highly recommend getting one with shaved sides (assuming you can live w/o the ashtray). Your knuckles will thank you.

[Nick JD]

I've used the $14.95 brass Stew Mac saddles on a few. They sound great.



A new set of strings will make as much tonal difference as a change in saddle material.

In chasing tone lies the path to madness, mainly because the path is circular .