Do You Prefer The 3 Steel Saddles Or 3 Brass?

I like the vintage style (brass). I think they just did it right back then. Not saying the newer isn't better because it is, technically. I just tend to like the old school things. Color me lame I guess!

 

steel. the way leo intended them to be. 5/16" smooth, cold rolled unintonated, unotched, steel. ala early Broadcasters


brass is Ok too



intonated is cool if the guitar needs it. some do, some dont.

 

I myself favor the brass. It adds just the right amount of girth the low strings.

 

Depends on the pickup. I prefer brass for SD Broadcaster. The brass saddles do roll off some highs.

 

Aluminum on E/A, rest brass...Rutters

 

I choose brass because it looks good. I'm another one with cloth ears who can't hear the difference.

 

I like steel for my vintage-pickup Tele and brass for my higher output-pickup Tele. The difference is in the twang factor. Steel has a little more than brass.

 

I like steel seems to have a quicker attack and more twang.

Hard to tell the difference on a bandstand with a drummer and whole band playing but you can hear a slight difference at bedroom volumes.

 

Depends- I like both, but often the difference in sound is slight. Quality is a different matter. As long as they're well made from good stock, they'll do. Well made is what's important, and in good working order.

 

My tele has 6 steel saddles, thats how i bought it and i bought it because i like how it sounds, so i have no reason to change it. If (sorry, when) i do my partscaster (or kitcaster) i will most likely go with 3 brass saddles.

 

Then there's the Glendale Twang set ...Aluminum for the E/A, brass for the others.

FWIW, I switched from steel to Twang and the difference was very noticeable. And they're compensated so tuning improvedk too.

 

I designed, make, and use these on my Tele because I wanted a softer attack and a sweeter tone. I have always loved my Tele, but I didn't like the shrill top end.

 

I'm surprised nobody said this yet, but I put brass saddles on my '72 custom RI with a maple fretboard, and love it. I put steel saddles on my MIM parts Croppercaster with a rosewood fretboard, and love it. Maybe mixing the brass/maple and the steel/rosewood pays dividends?

 

Steel saddles with to grooves each when tele is equipped with B-bender. Brass in anything else althou it really doesn't matter - just a habit.

 

Brass for me. They're the only way I've found to get rid of the earwax-melting shrillness of steel saddles (although I'd like to try John Page's saddles, they are lovely).

 

Two brass, one steel. (for low E and A).

 

Maybe you have a good point there, or maybe you're just like me. I like almost everything if it's done well.

If you are up for a project, swap the saddles and let us know how brass/rosewood and steel/maple work out.

I have Glendale steel/brass/brass on one and 6 cheapo steel on another. Both maple. Love them both. One's a little brighter than the other. There are so many differences between the two, I can't point to the saddles as the difference maker.

 

Arlo West uses brass from top E to D- then steel on the bottom twostrings. Have just today made the same for a customer who wanted some brass saddles. I like my Wilkinson brass saddles ( see GuitarFetish)on my Tele with vintage p/ups. Love it, so does my luthier who does final set-ups, maybe it's a sound thing for various pickups. I don't know.

 

E and A ist steel and the rest is brass , sounds perfect for me

 

My favorite non-standard Tele bridges are the G&L ASAT Classic bridges. They have six separate brass saddles.