Tuneomatic bridge suggestions for Epiphone Casino

[Jack Clayton]

I just bought an Epiphone Casino. It's an old 90's model from the Peerless era, and I think I'm in love.

That said, there's a ton of buzz coming from the bridge. Is it possible it just needs a setup, or should I be looking into an aftermarket tuneomatic? If so, what would you folks recommend?

 

[tubegeek]

I just bought an Epiphone Casino. It's an old 90's model from the Peerless era, and I think I'm in love.

That said, there's a ton of buzz coming from the bridge. Is it possible it just needs a setup, or should I be looking into an aftermarket tuneomatic? If so, what would you folks recommend?

Does it have the retaining wire on the bridge? Sometimes you can de-buzz them by bending them tighter.

Sometimes a little clear nail polish can help too.

 

[schmee]

Gotoh seem pretty good to me. Not a big fan of TOM's in general and have discovered bar bridges and Tru-Arc Serpentune from the Gretsch boys. I really like both.

 

[Jack Clayton]

Gotoh seem pretty good to me. Not a big fan of TOM's in general and have discovered bar bridges and Tru-Arc Serpentune from the Gretsch boys. I really like both.

Thanks. I'll check those out and see if they'll be a fit for the casino.

 

[Jack Clayton]

Does it have the retaining wire on the bridge? Sometimes you can de-buzz them by bending them tighter.

Sometimes a little clear nail polish can help too.

I don't think I saw a wire yesterday, but I'll check again when I get off work. I've heard of the nail polish trick. Might try it as a bandaid solution but, if I can spend twenty or thirty bucks on new hardware that will solve it more long-term, I'm comfortable doing that.

 

[jhundt]

those tuneomatics are the worst bridges ever - in ny own humble opinion based on my own experience.

my suggestion is this:
http://www.comptonbridges.com/

 

[RadioFM74]

I just bought an Epiphone Casino. It's an old 90's model from the Peerless era, and I think I'm in love.

That said, there's a ton of buzz coming from the bridge. Is it possible it just needs a setup, or should I be looking into an aftermarket tuneomatic? If so, what would you folks recommend?

You're right to be in love ;D Stock bridge on mine rattled as well. A Gotoh Tunomatic Nashville (mod. GE103B-N) fixed it. 24€

Check the measures before you order – no idea if they were the same on 90s Casinos as on mine.

Here's the product page: https://g-gotoh.com/product/ge103b/?lang=en

Hope this helps!

 

[Jack Clayton]

those tuneomatics are the worst bridges ever - in ny own humble opinion based on my own experience.

my suggestion is this:
http://www.comptonbridges.com/

Wow. That's wild looking. A bit cost prohibitive for the time being, but might be a good long-term investment. Thanks for the tip.

 

[tubegeek]

I ended up swapping my buzzy cheapo for a Gotoh ultimately - forgot to mention that.

 

[Jack Clayton]

Sounds like a gotoh might be the right solution for now. Especially considering the price is right.

 

[guitarbuilder]

Well tunematics from Gibson are abr-1 style, nashville style, and Metric style with the slotted adjusting studs which can be really cheesy. The pics of a Casino show an ABR-1 type. The Gotohs are a good bridge for the money and you can get a Gibson one as well.


https://www.stewmac.com/parts-and-h...MIhc2orvKn7AIVAdvACh0E7wrFEAQYAiABEgKq_fD_BwE


https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...ickel?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organicpla

 

[Freeman Keller]

What Marty says. There are three different stud designs with different threading (some metric, some Imperial). There are different thicnkess of bridges and adjusters. Carefully measure what you have and spend some time looking at the dimensions on spec sheets. Because the ABR-1 was used on the classic Gibbies some people who have more recent models plug the holes and convert - I think thats kind of dumb idea.

I like ToM's but they do take some effort to install and set up.

 

[RadioFM74]

What Marty says. There are three different stud designs with different threading (some metric, some Imperial). There are different thicnkess of bridges and adjusters. Carefully measure what you have and spend some time looking at the dimensions on spec sheets. Because the ABR-1 was used on the classic Gibbies some people who have more recent models plug the holes and convert - I think thats kind of dumb idea.

I like ToM's but they do take some effort to install and set up.

Having gone through all that, that's why I included the exact model number. The one I bought was drop-in for my 2019 Made in China Casino.

 

[jhundt]

Wow. That's wild looking. A bit cost prohibitive for the time being, but might be a good long-term investment. Thanks for the tip.

I didn't look at the price, so I can't say. I bought a stainless-steel saddle from him when he first started out - maybe the first one sold in Europe - and it is a simple thing of beauty.

Tuneomatics are too busy trying to solve intonation demands, there are way too many parts and they make more problems than they solve (once again, just my opinion and experience).

Remember this, regarding the price: if you sell the guitar, you can put the old tuneomatic back on and use the Compton on your next guitar

 

[Jack Clayton]

I didn't look at the price, so I can't say. I bought a stainless-steel saddle from him when he first started out - maybe the first one sold in Europe - and it is a simple thing of beauty.

Tuneomatics are too busy trying to solve intonation demands, there are way too many parts and they make more problems than they solve (once again, just my opinion and experience).

Remember this, regarding the price: if you sell the guitar, you can put the old tuneomatic back on and use the Compton on your next guitar

I do like the more minimalist approach to a bridge. And yeah, I'm not too worried about resale value. I'll definitely be hanging onto the stock parts in case I resell, but I like this guitar so much, I doubt I will.

 

[JuneauMike]

So to offer a contrarian view (and because I am a huge John Lennon fan) I finally replaced my bridge with one that had nylon saddles. I was blissfully unaware that the original Casinos had nylon saddles until someone pointed it out, then I started looking back on pictures and ... hmm, well there it is. It works great and helped make the guitar feel more solid and less wild sounding. That and aftermarket pickups, of course. Ha.

I actually did a thread on this but I'm too lazy to go find it again.

 

[JRapp]

So to offer a contrarian view (and because I am a huge John Lennon fan) I finally replaced my bridge with one that had nylon saddles. I was blissfully unaware that the original Casinos had nylon saddles until someone pointed it out, then I started looking back on pictures and ... hmm, well there it is. It works great and helped make the guitar feel more solid and less wild sounding. That and aftermarket pickups, of course. Ha.

I actually did a thread on this but I'm too lazy to go find it again.

Absolutely---depending on the guitar, I use nylon, ABS, brass, and Graphtech saddles. If you want straight life 60s Gibson tone---nylon.

 

[JuneauMike]

Absolutely---depending on the guitar, I use nylon, ABS, brass, and Graphtech saddles. If you want straight life 60s Gibson tone---nylon.

Well I just wanted to sound like John Lennon playing rhythm guitar. I still don't (ha ha), but my nylon saddles did change the tone in a good way. I think at some point those nylon Gibson saddles got a bad rap. I don't know why.

Here's my thread. Not sure that it offers much light to the OP.
https://www.tdpri.com/threads/epiphone-casino-replacement-bridge-spec-questions.1008559/

 

[teleforumnoob]

Wow. That's wild looking. A bit cost prohibitive for the time being, but might be a good long-term investment. Thanks for the tip.

Especially if your guitar has a Bigsby, a Compton is a no brainer. I have them on my G5120 and my White Falcon. Just make sure to measure carefully the post spacing when communicating with Wayne.
Of course with any bar bridge on a fixed post there is a chance that there may be intonation issues. Wayne has that worked out to a T on most Gretsch models but you might be taking a chance with an Epiphone.

 

[TNO]

Gotoh ABR-1 has always worked well for me.