Telecaster bridges

[Talmir]

I own a HW1 telecaster (2007 model) that I´m ecstatic with.. with a couple of changes of course :P (Changed the neck pickup to a Alneco 2 SD humbucker) and now I am thinking about changing out the bridge. It comes with the 3 barrel bridges, but I dont like the feel of it, so I´m thinking about putting a six saddle bridge on it.

Any recommendations for me on which one to get? I saw a nice one on fenders website http://www.fender.com/products//sear...tno=0990810000 but a quick cursory glance yielded no online stores that sell it and are willing to ship to iceland.

Any guru´s know of a good one?

[Talmir]

Found it here :
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/produ...Kit?sku=361339

Anyone know a better replacement?

[woodman]

what kind of saddles does your three-piece have? you might get what you want just by upgrading to better ones, and still have the tonal advantage (IMO) of the three-saddle setup.

[Robin Nahum]

Originally Posted by Talmir

....now I am thinking about changing out the bridge. It comes with the 3 barrel bridges, but I dont like the feel of it, so I´m thinking about putting a six saddle bridge on it....

Can you say a bit more about not liking the feel of your current bridge?

Although modern American Teles come with a six saddle bridge, many players feel that the original design with two strings per saddle gives a better tone and would see swapping to a six as a retrograde step.

[craigfowler]

+1

I'm about to switch out a nice-ish Gotoh six-saddle bridge for the cheapy $9 Fender bridge with a set of good saddles. I have a set of Callaham and a set of Glendales sitting in a box, so I'm going to experiment There's nothing wrong with the Gotoh bridge - it looks well made, intonates nicely, has good height adjustment...it just doesn't have much life to it. No boing, twang, or zing.

Seriously, you'll come out ahead by ordering the saddles Glendale has on sale right now instead of that bridge. And if (which is unlikely) you don't like them, you'll be able to resell them for almost what you paid.

[bender-freak]

i liked the sound of my Hiway1 pretty well stock (3 saddles), then on a day when i was bored, i changed strings and swapped out the stock saddles for a set of titanium saddles i had laying around....made an already good sounding guitar into an excellent sounding guitar IMO...

i am one that prefers the vintage 3 saddle bridges over the modern 6 saddle ...i like the "look" better...and i think there is a fairly signifcant change from brass to titanium....will admit i won't go out and spend the $65+ for the titaniums; i used these cause i had 2 sets of them laying around in my parts bin...

[Hiflyer]

Originally Posted by Talmir

Found it here :
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/produ...Kit?sku=361339

Anyone know a better replacement?

You can put a modern MIM bridge (standard Telecaster) if you can find one, as it's a direct replacement for vintage bridge.

[Talmir]

The thing I dont like about it is mainly the intonation issues (it has standard chrome bridge on it right now) Which may be fixed by getting compensated saddles for it.. Might get brass ones (Where could I find good ones?), If I lose tone I wouldnt like moving over to a six saddle bridge..

to be honest, I dont really know what I want.. All I know is that the current saddles are giving me intonation problems (I like them spot on) and I´d like to change them out :S

Any tips, ideas, suggestions or plain old cursing-the-young-guitar-idiot is good :) I come here ´cause here´s the knowledge.

[bargoedboy]

if the intonation is a problem , try the compensated saddles they work really well , but a couple of years back i had a `73 tele which would not intonate between the E and A string get one right the other was way out , i eventually sorted it by changing the gauge of the E string (going heavier) was perfect after that . worth a try sometimes , but i would definitely stick with 3 brass saddles over anything else . part of the sound for me .

[Tim73]

I appreciate that you said 6 saddles but these guys mix sets and look the business. You could keep the bridge and just change the saddles.

http://www.glendaleguitars.com/saddles.htm

[yegbert]

Originally Posted by bargoedboy

if the intonation is a problem , try the compensated saddles they work really well...

+1. Lots of choices, you can pay as little as $9.95 (plus shipping) or as much as $99.99 a set. To name a few in alphabetical order: Barden, Callaham, Glendale, Graphtech, RS Guitarworks, Stewmac, Wilkinson.

Originally Posted by Hiflyer

You can put a modern MIM bridge (standard Telecaster) if you can find one, as it's a direct replacement for vintage bridge.

Here's one of those, here's another; watch the TDPRI garage sale and you might find one real cheap. Gotoh makes a similar one. Either of those two are a direct swap for your Hwy 1 vintage style bridge.

[bluescube]

GFS has Wilkinson compensated bridges for around $30 or so

[FraKo]

http://www.thomann.de/it/goeldo_tlv1...onicbridge.htm

I guess ordering from Iceland will be easy for you

I got a perfect intonation