Which replacement bridge for my Les Paul?

[TheGoodTexan]

I've search the web, and the Les Paul forum, and done a ton of reading, but I don't know much about which bridge to get. The stock bridge that's on it has become "wallered out" and moves around on top of the threaded screws, resulting in not being able to stay in tune.

One look at my Les Paul, and you'll notice that it's anything but traditional. It's a LP Standard body, with a LP Custom neck - from the factory that way. I've had tons of pickups in it, but settled on EMG 89s. This guitar sounds so good to me

Also, have factory installed Sperzel tuners, and replaced the stock 3-way toggle with an Ernie Ball / Music Man all metal heavy duty switch.

So I have no care about doing something traditional, simply because it's the closest to a vintage spec.

I need a bridge that is the most stable there is, that stays in solid tune. I don't remind replacing the stop bar if it helps, or comes with the bridge.

Thoughts?

 

[Wayne Alexander]

If you want to keep the type of sound you have now and stabilize the connection of the bridge to the mounting posts, get a TonePros bridge, they have setscrews in them that lock to the mounting posts. If you want a more piano-like tone, and are willing to spend a lot on a bridge, get a Callaham stainless steel one- also has locking posts, will not collapse under any amount of pressure, a little brighter, more piano like than zinc bridges like yours and the Tone Pros.

 

[mabley123]

from what ive read on the les paul forums, gear page ect.
the Pigtail ABR is The Best ABR to replace a les paul bridge with.

Im getting ready to buy a new les paul traditional nonweight relieved and will put the Pigtail bridge on it and a set of Tom Holmes H450 - H455 set.

there is an awful lot of people replacing the bridge on their 5000+ dollars les pauls with the Pigtail.

 

[TheGoodTexan]

from what ive read on the les paul forums, gear page ect.
the Pigtail ABR is The Best ABR to replace a les paul bridge with.

Im getting ready to buy a new les paul traditional nonweight relieved and will put the Pigtail bridge on it and a set of Tom Holmes H450 - H455 set.

there is an awful lot of people replacing the bridge on their 5000+ dollars les pauls with the Pigtail.

I've looked at the Pigtail, but I don't see it as anything but a vintage replica. Am I incorrect about that? I don't think that it offers any improved tuning stability. In other words, over time... I'm likely to be right back in the same position, with worn out mounting holes that wobble back and forth on the posts.

I like the idea of locking the bridge onto the posts with a set screw, so the TonePros are inviting. But I have no idea which model to get (they have several choices).

 

[PaulStrattele]

The Tonepro's Nashville Tune-O-matic is a direct replacement. Your choice of notched\un-notched and finish. I've only had mine for a couple of years so I have no idea about longevity.

 

[c.winn]

Hey man - is your rhythm pickup backwards?

I also have a TonePros Tune-O-Matic on my LP Std. Pretty sweet.

 

[TheGoodTexan]

Hey man - is your rhythm pickup backwards?

Yes and no.

The EMG 89s are dual mode pickups. There is a humbucker and a single coil in the same housing, with separate wires coming from it. You can treat each pickup within the housing completely separately, which is what I do.

The single coil within that housing is physically located on the side closest to the EMG logo. I tried it both ways, and the single coil sounds better when it's closest to the neck, under the spot where the "24th fret" would be... which is of course a node. That's why it's turned around backwards.

I keep it wired where the default for the neck is always single-coil, and the default for the bridge is always humbucker. You have to pull up on the volume knobs to switch each of them (neck to a humbucker, bridge to a single coil).

It's a really, really good sounding setup. Dead quiet. Plenty of output. All the characteristics of a good Les Paul, but with a little more variety. The single coil position in the bridge has a great acoustic quality to it.

 

[c.winn]

Yes and no.

The EMG 89s are dual mode pickups. There is a humbucker and a single coil in the same housing, with separate wires coming from it. You can treat each pickup within the housing completely separately, which is what I do.

The single coil within that housing is physically located on the side closest to the EMG logo. I tried it both ways, and the single coil sounds better when it's closest to the neck, under the spot where the "24th fret" would be... which is of course a node. That's why it's turned around backwards.

I keep it wired where the default for the neck is always single-coil, and the default for the bridge is always humbucker. You have to pull up on the volume knobs to switch each of them (neck to a humbucker, bridge to a single coil).

It's a really, really good sounding setup. Dead quiet. Plenty of output. All the characteristics of a good Les Paul, but with a little more variety. The single coil position in the bridge has a great acoustic quality to it.

Wow. That sounds awesome - what a great package of tonal options without compromising a dual humbucker look/setup.

Is your control cavity all EMG pots/wiring?

Do you have a battery pack? A quick google search seemed to indicate that those pickups are active.

I feel like I've never given EMGs their due. Your 89s sound really versatile.

 

[TheGoodTexan]

Is your control cavity all EMG pots/wiring?

Yes. EMG pickups require a different value pots that standard pickups.

Do you have a battery pack? A quick google search seemed to indicate that those pickups are active.

Yes, there is a 9v battery in the control cavity. The pickups are indeed active.

I feel like I've never given EMGs their due. Your 89s sound really versatile.

My experience is that the overwhelming majority of electric guitar players have an uniformed opinion of EMG pickups. Most guys who are considering replacement pickups quickly dismiss EMG as sounding "sterile", and attribute that to active pickups requiring a 9v battery... but they have no issues with plugging their guitar with passive pickups directly into an active pedal (or 10) before going to the amplifier.

The other thing is that most people associate EMG pickups with the metal genre, especially when they seem EMG pups loaded in a Les Paul.

Both of these are falsehoods in my opinion.

I first started using EMG pickups when I got a house gig that had TV monitors everywhere and had an AM radio tower next door. I was playing my old faithful Tele, with regular ole single-coils in a very traditional manner, and it was picking up more noise than I could deal with. So I tried several of the go-to "noise canceling" Tele pickups out there, from Duncan to Dimarzio to Fender, even had a set of Bardens. None of them sounded like what you think a traditional Telecaster sound should sound like.

At the music store one day I saw a set of EMG-T pickups in the used counter for $70, wiring, pots, switch and all. I thoughts what the heck? And got'em. Installed them that day, and used them that night. They sounded glorious... like a nice set of Tele singlecoils should, but totally noise and hiss free. Dead quiet. And you don't ground them to the strings (bridge), so even when you take your hands off the strings and let go of the guitar - there is no ground hum that creeps in - still dead quiet.

I liked the Tele neck pickup so much that I started looking for them used on eBay, and found several - for CHEAP! Like, $20. I put the EMG Tele neck pickup in a Strat that I had, and it sounded even better. So I loaded that guitar with EMGs too. EMG will even tell you that their AlNiCo Tele neck pickup is the best sounding one that they make - they use that same basic coil in a few other pickups too.

So I realized that people were dumping EMG pickups for really cheap all over the place, so I started collecting them. Now I've got boxes of them, and other EMG accessories that they make. Most of it I've never used yet.

A friend of mine wanted the Duncan pickups that were in my Les Paul, and since I hadn't played that Les Paul in years at the time, I sold them to him... thinking that I'd just put some of my extra EMG pups in it to try out. That's when I started fooling around with the 89s, and really like what I was hearing. It's not a metal guitar at all, although I guess if you pumped it through a MesaBoogie Dual Rectifier you'd get a modern sound from it. But I use it mostly with my old Alamo amp, which is an open back 1x12 tube combo... maybe 15w. It gets everything from Cream to ZZ Top to AC/DC and EVH, but cleans up nice too. I used it last year for a show I was part of that did a bunch of classic Christmas tunes, and I was almost entirely clean the whole time, bouncing around between the neck and middle positions on the 3-way toggle, and using various combinations of humbucker and singlecoil.

 

[c.winn]

You're seriously selling me on a set of EMGs here. I didn't need this kind of G.A.S., as I'm not sure I'd want to put them in my only LP, but I'd love to hear them in a LP style guitar.

Hmmm.....I could pick up a cheap Epi, refinish it, and load it with EMGs.......

Now I'm gassing for a new LP & EMGs......yer killin' me here, Tex......

 

[TheGoodTexan]

What type of players/bands/genres do you listen to?

I'll try to record a clip of me playing the LP in that style. The clip will most likely also demonstrate how out-of-tune the guitar gets... back to the original intent of this thread.

 

[ME262]

+1 on the Tonepros.