Guitar Fetish Tele roller bridge?

[wabashslim]

I've given my opinions, good & (mostly) bad concerning various GFS purchases over the years so I know what they're about, generally. Right now I'm looking at their roller bridge that's sold apart from their X-trem gadget. My avatar Warmoth guitar doesn't seem to appreciate all the usual Bigsby tuning fixes, especially since putting in the Reverend light spring which only makes the zero-point less stable. I've tried Rutters & Fender notched steel saddles and some aluminum ones, shimmed the neck & raised the saddles high, GraphTech nut, no string trees & locking tuners - still not quite acceptable. Anyone tried these GFS bridges or something similar? They look pretty solid and I can live with any slight tone change.

 

[BorderRadio]

Some 15 years ago I used that kind of bridge on my Gretsch Pro Jet with a B7 Bigsby. I hated it, tone wise and vibrato wise. But apparently it’s pretty good for most people, and it was better than the stock TOM/AOM. My break angle was too steep and that was the problem. You want a shallow break angle, not a steep one. I believe I got it from GFS back then...I dunno, but yeah, decent roller, even fancy builders like Trussart have no problem slapping them on thousand dollar guitars

 

[Zepfan]

I was going to say that BorderRadio or Blowtorch could help, but one of them beat me to it.

 

[RomanS]

I had one of those for about 10 minutes on my B16 Thinline Tele - hated it, strings popped out of the rollers every time I did some finger picking, or used a bit more attack with a pick; sitar-like overtones aplenty, too!
Replaced it with a Compton bar bridge, never looked back.

Friends don't let friends use roller bridges!

 

[RomanS]

BTW, are you talking about the B5-equipped Tele on your avatar?
Get a Biggsfix, or remove the sleeve from the axle on the tension bar of the B5, or put a washer between the body and the Bigsby on every mounting screw - anything to decrease that extreme break angle between the Bigsby tension bar and the saddles...

 

[Deeve]

@wabashslim - heck, that roller looks like just the thing that might make Bigsby life a little better

Peace - Deeve

 

[BorderRadio]

I had one of those for about 10 minutes on my B16 Thinline Tele - hated it, strings popped out of the rollers every time I did some finger picking, or used a bit more attack with a pick; sitar-like overtones aplenty, too!
Replaced it with a Compton bar bridge, never looked back.

Friends don't let friends use roller bridges!

Unless, UNLESS it’s a ABM 2400, right? No? All good, I rather have a bar bridge anyways...

 

[wabashslim]

I had one of those for about 10 minutes on my B16 Thinline Tele - hated it, strings popped out of the rollers every time I did some finger picking, or used a bit more attack with a pick; sitar-like overtones aplenty, too!
Replaced it with a Compton bar bridge, never looked back.

A Compton on a Tele? Fascinating...is it setting on the studs of a baseplate like the GFS above? How's the radius match up? My neck's a 10"-16".

This roller bridge looks just like the "Wilkinson" I put on my Les Paul Studio with a B5 & Vibramate. Big improvement over the ToM. I would hope for the same results on the Tele.

I have an aluminum Compton on my Ibanez jazzbox. Works OK, not as much noticeable difference as on my Gretsch 5120. I tried it on the Les Paul, didn't work worth a crap! Buzzy or dead strings, wouldn't intonate. Didn't bother trying to analyze why.

 

[wabashslim]

BTW, are you talking about the B5-equipped Tele on your avatar?
Get a Biggsfix, or remove the sleeve from the axle on the tension bar of the B5, or put a washer between the body and the Bigsby on every mounting screw - anything to decrease that extreme break angle between the Bigsby tension bar and the saddles...

I first used a Tele Vibramate but the lack of break angle killed some sustain & created some dead notes, improved somewhat by removing the Vmate. Today I took the B5 off, reduced the shim and put on the Fender grooved steel saddles and intonated. I believe I'll remove the sleeve before replacing the Bigsby but IME I need that break angle. I know there's going to be a compromise so I'm inclined to try this roller bridge for grins. It won't be my first bad guitar-related purchase.

 

[RomanS]

A Compton on a Tele? Fascinating...is it setting on the studs of a baseplate like the GFS above? How's the radius match up? My neck's a 10"-16".

This roller bridge looks just like the "Wilkinson" I put on my Les Paul Studio with a B5 & Vibramate. Big improvement over the ToM. I would hope for the same results on the Tele.

I have an aluminum Compton on my Ibanez jazzbox. Works OK, not as much noticeable difference as on my Gretsch 5120. I tried it on the Les Paul, didn't work worth a crap! Buzzy or dead strings, wouldn't intonate. Didn't bother trying to analyze why.

No baseplate, since I use it with a B16, not a B5. It's on a Warmoth body that I ordered drilled for TOM studs. 10-16" radius neck, too!

 

[wabashslim]

Well, see, that's doing things the right way - not my way. Really though, how's the Compton's action & sound compared to the stock bridge?

 

[RomanS]

Depends on what you mean by stock bridge...
The B16 comes with a floating aluminum bridge - mine was bought used, without that bridge, so I can only compare to the roller bridge, and a TOM I had on there briefly - the Compton definitely improved sustain & attack, plus, no more problems with strings skipping out of saddles.
Now, compared to a 3-saddle ashtray bridge used with a B5 (I also own a Tele like that), it sounds quite different, much more Gretsch-y, even with regular Tele pickups, but that's to be expected with a B16, no matter what bridge.

 

[Rigel7]

I bought the whole kit a few years back for a build I was doing, which kind of got aborted at the time and which I've since returned to with a new plan. My project isn't Tele-based, but I thought I'd order the whole lot in case I wanted to reuse it for a Tele later (looking back, I don't understand my logic either...).

Anyhoo, in regards to what you're asking:
I didn't care for the plate. I prefer a thinner, vintage style one. However, I understand why it's so thick in this case. I didn't get on well with the bridge. For what I was doing I was able to change direction and use a Mustang bridge instead. However, that won't work with the plate. I suppose if it was going on a Tele I'd figure out how to make it do.

At the time, I recall liking the actual bar system, especially the way you string it. Bigsbys are a headache to string. The only issue I found was you HAD to use the taller spring. With the shorter one the tip of the bar was right into the face of the guitar. Because the project was shelved I didn't get to spend much time with it, but it's very soon to be put to use on a new one, so I can report back to you then if you'd like?

EDIT: Oh, I see now it's solely the bridge you're interested in.

 

[wabashslim]

OK, now I see the problem with this GFS bridge which I now recall others mentioning. The bridge itself is too far forward of the 4 plate mounting screws, making it impossible to intonate unless new mounting holes are drilled and doing that may require opening up the pickup rout to the rear a bit. I know there's a thread about this somewhere.

 

[wabashslim]

I bought the whole kit a few years back for a build I was doing, which kind of got aborted at the time and which I've since returned to with a new plan. My project isn't Tele-based, but I thought I'd order the whole lot in case I wanted to reuse it for a Tele later (looking back, I don't understand my logic either...).

Anyhoo, in regards to what you're asking:
I didn't care for the plate. I prefer a thinner, vintage style one. However, I understand why it's so thick in this case. I didn't get on well with the bridge.

Which kit are you talking about? The GFS or the B16 or something else?

 

[Rigel7]

Which kit are you talking about? The GFS or the B16 or something else?

The GFS kit, with bar, bridge, and plate.

 

[boris bubbanov]

Yeah, the consensus was, it is an undercooked cluster. Definitely not recommended.

 

[unixfish]

Yeah, the consensus was, it is an undercooked cluster. Definitely not recommended.

Nice to know, since it looks kinda cool, but not my thing, but kinda cool.

 

[wabashslim]

I found a post of a guy having to drill & tap new stud holes to move the bridge back, but just that one post. No one else has mentioned that issue whether they liked the bridge/assembly or not, but I know I saw a thread on the subject some time back. Maybe another forum. Anyway for the time being I'm going to do some pickup swapping instead and dismiss the GFS roller bridge without prejudice.