Pros and cons of Roller Bridges?

[karpathion]

I'm talking the TOM style bridge, with roller saddles. Or the Wilkinson style.

As far as pros and cons go, I would say an obvious pro would be less chance of string breakage. Not that's a problem for me, but it is a plus.

Looking at the design of the bridge, the first con I see is that the string spacing is set in stone. I don't believe it's adjustable. It's not like getting new saddles and cutting them to your guitars specs, you have to go with what's there.

Then, I wonder about comfort. Does it feel any different from a regular TOM?
Do you have to change your hand placement for the correct palm mutes, like a Tom compared to a Floyd? I don't think a slight palm adjustment would be much to get used to, I'd just like to know if there is a slightly different feel to them.

Maybe some of you guys have some experience with 'em.

[ImmortalSix]

Re: Pros and cons of Roller Bridges?

Who the fawk changes their string spacing? Am I missing something?

Pros:
SO MUCH SMOOTHER on the palm. I palm-mute a LOT, so this was huge for me.
Stays in tune better
No more broken strings
Behind the bridge bends!

Cons:
<NULL>


I have this one, from Wilkinson. It's made of brass.

[formula73]

Re: Pros and cons of Roller Bridges?

I dig em. The only reason all my TOM geets don't have them is because I'm a snob sometimes, ergo, ABRs on the ones that need them, Nashvilles on the ones that need them, but I may just put one on my red LP, anyway.

[karpathion]

Re: Pros and cons of Roller Bridges?

Who the fawk changes their string spacing? Am I missing something?

Pros:
SO MUCH SMOOTHER on the palm. I palm-mute a LOT, so this was huge for me.
Stays in tune better
No more broken strings
Behind the bridge bends!

Cons:
<NULL>


I have this one, from Wilkinson. It's made of brass.

I'm not saying changing the spacing on a guitar. I'm saying some guitars have different spacing. If the spacing on the roller bridge doesn't match your axe, what do you do? You would have to make sure the bridge matches your guitar.
I have a Gibson explorer and an LTD explorer. They have a slightly different spacing at the bridge.

[formula73]

Re: Pros and cons of Roller Bridges?

Tbh, I've never felt a noticeable difference with even Gibson vs Fender string spacing. It's very small.

[ImmortalSix]

Re: Pros and cons of Roller Bridges?

I'm not saying changing the spacing on a guitar. I'm saying some guitars have different spacing. If the spacing on the roller bridge doesn't match your axe, what do you do? You would have to make sure the bridge matches your guitar.
I have a Gibson explorer and an LTD explorer. They have a slightly different spacing at the bridge.

Oh.

I understand exactly what you're saying.

Plan A would be "buy the right bridge," but in honesty, as a player, I would NEVER in a million years thin about the details of string spacing, or be able to perceive it in any way.

[Ashurbanipal]

Re: Pros and cons of Roller Bridges?

The Schaller STM roller bridge enables you to adjust string spacing. You can see in the pic that the rollers are on threaded posts, which facilitates this.

[Will S-T]

Re: Pros and cons of Roller Bridges?

That's whats on my LP copy along with all the Schaller gear including pickups.

The bridge is 14" radius and the abilty to control string spacing
is very usefull for ergonomics as will as string placement over pickup poles.

[ItsaBass]

Re: Pros and cons of Roller Bridges?

Who the fawk changes their string spacing? Am I missing something?

You wouldn't necessarily be changing it all the time, but I file in the desired string location for the wound strings on any new Nashville TOM bridge. ( I find that the plain strings eat their way in just fine rather quickly, and then I polish the rough edges after they have dug themselves in a bit.)

And some of my saddles have a few different slots from trying different locations over the years. Easy on the plain strings, but no so much on the wound ones.

[crusty philtrum]

Re: Pros and cons of Roller Bridges?

Tone killers. Should only be used when absolutely neccesary (Bigsby, headless guitars where the tuners are behind the bridge, etc).

I replaced a TOM on a 335 replica with one of those Schaller roller bridges once .... immediately i noticed the loss of tone and reverted back to a regular TOM.

No doubt this will be an unpopular viewpoint but my view is made with my ears, not my eyes. If you can't hear the difference, well good luck to you, you'll be able to save a lot of money on expensive amps, pickups and boutique pedals. In fact you should avoid such expensive items if you are planning on throwing away tone before it even gets to the pickups.

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Re: Pros and cons of Roller Bridges?

I know Gretsch is a bige user of these roller bridges.
I would love to try 'em out too.
Must be a God-sent for Bigsby users.