American Professional bridge

OMG what a mess of different Tele bridges & replacement & interchangeability nightmares. I have an American Pro that i wanted to change to a 6 saddle bridge. It turns out there is nothing available that would fit. Why not have the same dimensions, string holes & screw holes on all 3 models. Now we have 3 different incompatible bridges: Vintage, American Standard & American Pro.

 

This is true. The new American Pro is a modder's nightmare. It does share string hole locations with the older Americans and American Standards and Deluxes. But that through location really only works for "slammed" guitars with Strat style saddles. For strummers and shredders, not for full on finger picking which honestly, is the whole attraction of the St. Leo Tele or Nocaster or Broadcaster. You've seen these guitars with the saddles jacked up high and the bridge pickup mostly above the bridge plate (only 40% of the mass of the pickup below the plate in some cases). You simply cannot do this to American Standards and you cannot do it to American Pros even though they entice you with the 3 brass barrels. They get you halfway there, and then you're stranded.

Now, are all my Teles jacked up sky high? Actually no. Guitars have a way of beginning to feel too tight as you elevate the saddles and monkey with the set up. My problem with the American Pro is, they all feel tight to me and usually the saddles are quite low. You can't lower the saddles any further, usually, unless you remove brass off the undersides and use shorter screws. Or convert to 24.75 or something. So you end up not playing it or selling it or something.

I still haven't modded any of my Americans to an American Pro bridge.

 

I’ve always been a fan of putting Gotoh 6 saddle bridges on Telecasters. I recently took a trip into Denmark Street to pickup either an AM Professional or AM Performer, however; I then realised the issue with the AM Pro bridges… you can’t just drop in a Gotoh 6 saddle bridge, it’s impossible, so the AM Pro was off the table, I then tried the AM Performer Hum and thought it was a pretty cool guitar and is compatible with the Gotoh 6, however; the jumbo frets felt like speedbumps! I ended up going home with a used Roadworn Hot Rod Telecaster. No regrets.

 

NO! The string through holes are in the wrong place. Trust me I have one and I'm going through hell with it.

 

Faraway memories… At the time I was thinking to convert to vintage an American Standard. Eventually, I decided the best course was to sell it and get a banged-up AVRI ;D

Sorry for your problems!!

 

It's all good. It's just annoying that Fender sells that stuff without stating the issue. Or at least when I bought it. As far as I can tell, the string holes are the same amount of space in front of the mounting holes as they would be if it was an ashtray and the mounting holes are in the rear.
I have a pine body I'm putting together and ran into this issue. To remedy it I slotted the string through holes and found some hobby brass piping to direct the holes toward the bridge. The only problem with this that I can see is getting the strings through the guitar could be fiddly. If that is the case, I'll take the bridge to work and drill top load holes in it with a cnc and be done with it.

 

A way down the road it won't be an oddball.

 

My AmPro is all I've ever wanted from a Tele. OK, different strokes for different folks but for me it's the dog's. Never even counted screw holes or looked at break angles, just played the thing and loved the sound and feel.

 

I've been researching my first tele and noted this distinction. As someone who would prefer a more modern 6 saddle bridge, I have even more reservations about picking up this guy if a replacement isn't available. Huge bummer as it checks most boxes (I'd love this with double binding and a Nashville pup/switch combo)

 

This thread has been rattling around in the back of my brain for weeks now. I had the hots for an American Professional - but now that I've seen the bridge / the bridge has been pointed out to me, I cannot "un-see" it.

Here are some screen grabs I took from Sweetwater. First, the Vintera 50s Modified, then the American Professional:



The American Professional looks wider. See how it almost goes to the edge of the cutout in the pickguard? If you put a 0th and 7th string on the American Professional, they would about align up with the edge of the bridge. They would be over the edge of the bridge on the Vintera. I think the four mounting screws on the bottom have the same spacing, and the strings have the same spacing. There is also "room" at the edge of the pickup on the American Professional, and almost none on the Vintera. No butt crack on the AP for sure!

Now that I see that, it bugs me. Why? Oh, crikey, I don't know. It just looks like there is too much real estate on the bridge. If you put your finger along the edge to align your picking, you would have to adjust. That bridge just seems a bit too wide now that I look at it.

Yeah, I would still take one - but this detail is now etched into my OCD brain.

Oddly, when I looked up the American Ultra, that bridge seems just between these two in size - three screws below the string through holes though, and no side on the brige plate.

 

Personally I prefer the modern 6-saddle bridge Six saddles, heavy weight, more screws, what's not to like?