Where to buy quality hardware (bridge and pickups) for 4 string guitar

[newuser1]

I made a 4-string tenor guitar recently and I love it, however this was just an experiment to see if I like it. I actually love it and I can't put it down, however the hardware I used is subpar - cheap 4-string Chinese bridge, cheap tuners, and a weird looking 4 pole pickup with harness (actually a normal 6 pole pickup with 4 pole cover). Here is the 4-string guitar I made:

Custom scale guitar measurements

I've done quite a few electric guitars over the last few years (of various quality ;)), however I always used templates for the neck and body for each of the guitars. I've varied the shape of the guitar body sometimes, but I still used templates for pickups and neck pockets. I'm planning on...

www.tdpri.com

Now I want to make a better version of the guitar with slightly wider neck, and most importantly use better 4-string bridge and have two good 4-string pickups (preferably single-coil at the neck and humbucker at the bridge). For the tuners I'll just use 4 good tuners from a 6-in-line set. The wiring and pots are not affected by the number of strings, so I'm fine there.

Where can I buy good quality bridge and pickups for a 4-string guitar?

 

[crazydave911]

Boy have you hit a sore spot. Back in 2011 during the Build Challenge I found Tom (forget the website ) but he had made a custom bridge I needed for an 8 string tenor. Sadly he passed a few years later and his son didn't carry on. So I've been making my own since
The pickups and tuners are however more available. I've used rail humbuckers from GFS (which you can coil split if desired) and my latest hookup on tuners is MGB.com who may be your choice for everything as their main thing is CBG (and charge no shipping, so far). Their selection of tuners runs from simple to decent and they do sell pickups and bridges. YMMV

 

[RickyRicardo]

Check CBGitty. I've put off building a CBG for a few years but have the parts. They look pretty good.

 

[Freeman Keller]

I googled " electric ukulele bridge" and got a whole page of stuff. I'll let you sort thru them and see if anything will work

electric ukulele BRIDGE - Google Search

 

[schmee]

I'd be maybe looking at Mandolin pickups. There must be higher end ones out there..... Stew Mac, Fishman, Baggs and Seymour Duncan make them.

 

[Freeman Keller]

So much depends on the desired string spacing. It might be easiest to either cut down a fender style bridge (you might have to recrome it) or have a machinist bend and drill a plate and use saddles off the parts market.

 

[epizootics]

The easiest route is to...do it yourself. Making a four-string, Tele-style top-loader bridge is quite easy - you just need a piece of L-shaped angle bar, preferably stainless steel - it polishes to a really nice sheen that goes well with both chrome and nickel. Drill two holes for compensated saddles, four holes to hold the strings, three or four to attach it to the body...Voilà!

This one was for a bass, but that's the general idea:

Regarding pickups, any decent boutique pickup winder can make them for you. Just give them the string spacing and desired design. They usually love this sort of stuff, too - a chance to make something other than Strat sets!

 

[Lingwendil]

I asked a similar question recently in my thread over here, and ended up buying one of these-
https://mgbguitars.com/collections/pickups/products/loaded-bridge

It's very nice actually. I can't seem to find the pickup itself sold separately.

We'll see how it sounds.

 

[newuser1]

Lots of useful responses...thanks!

I looked at CBGitty and I found these bridges:

https://www.cbgitty.com/winter-sale/4-string-chrome-hard-tail-bridge-for-cigar-box-guitars-more/ - this one looks exactly like the Chines bridge I got off Aliexpress, which was of extremely poor quality. Have any of you used this bridge from CBGitty?

https://www.cbgitty.com/cigar-box-g...or-cigar-box-guitars-more-top-bottom-loading/ - this one comes with a warning that the screws it comes with are crappy

and these pickups:

https://www.cbgitty.com/guitar-inst...olume-and-tone-perfect-for-cigar-box-guitars/ - I got the same thing in different color from Aliexpress

"Electric Delta" 4-pole Electric Cigar Box Guitar Pickup with Volume and Tone by Foundry-Tone

Quality instruments, kits, parts and gear for cigar box guitars, standard acoustic & electric guitars, other homemade instruments, cigar box amplifiers and more!

www.cbgitty.com

https://www.cbgitty.com/guitar-inst...-pre-wired-with-volume-and-tone-no-soldering/ - this one is with Alnico 5 magnets, so it might be a decent choice

I asked a similar question recently in my thread over here, and ended up buying one of these-
https://mgbguitars.com/collections/pickups/products/loaded-bridge

It's very nice actually. I can't seem to find the pickup itself sold separately.

We'll see how it sounds.

I'm going to check the thread you posted for other ideas, thanks.

How is the quality of the bridge itself, does it look solid?

 

[Lingwendil]

Yeah, I think it's pretty nice quality. No worse than the usual import stuff. I'll try and get some more pics for you.