best replacement bridge for Epiphone les paul>

[Jessie Sammler]

Re: best replacement bridge for Epiphone les paul>

"laugh it up...fuzzball!" Intonation is all about string-length from saddle to nut.

Gotta agree with Zerb....if the hardware don't get it right........try different gauges of strings.

Zerb, I hope you understand I'm laughing at the "build quality of the bridge" remark; I totally get the joke. It's like saying, "I'll take my guitar with the frets in the wrong place and fix it by replacing them with stainless steel frets."

 

[L.W. Badger]

Re: best replacement bridge for Epiphone les paul>

THERE's the problem! You're using the wrong strings! Ernie Ball Super Slinkys....try those (in 10 ga)

 

[tmmblues]

Re: best replacement bridge for Epiphone les paul>

I've replaced the saddles on my Epi LP with tusk and it makes a big difference versus the ragged metal originals saddles. Eventually I'll replace the original Epi bridge with a nickel bridge to match the G57/G57+pup covers and TP6 tailpiece that are both nickel. No wonder BB King uses the fine tuning TP6 tailpiece on Lucille (I also lifted the idea of using a varitone switch from him for the LP, only wish my chops were as good). The compensated nut sounds interesting and it may be worth trying one out. Perhaps the Firebird project would be a good test of a compensated nut since the Firebird platform is inherently unstable in design.

 

[L.W. Badger]

Re: best replacement bridge for Epiphone les paul>

Tusks = bone (actually Baleen, but who cares...right!) Tusk saddles is something I've never heard about..........even with the knowledge of Piezo transducer saddles in acoustics.............I want Tusk saddles now! (I'm such a gear-slut!)

 

[tenniso]

Re: best replacement bridge for Epiphone les paul>

THERE's the problem! You're using the wrong strings! Ernie Ball Super Slinkys....try those (in 10 ga)

way too light and slinky. i am used to playing acoustic with .12s. i beat the crap out of my strings.

 

[Zerberus]

Re: best replacement bridge for Epiphone les paul>

I have a BF guitar and love it, but it absolutely uses a tempered intonation setup and very specific offsets, both in setup and everyday tuning. The only thing snake oil about it is the claim that it makes the guitar play in tune perfectly everywhere on the neck; that's just silly. It can be really cool, though, if you understand how it works and know what to expect. However, it might be difficult or impossible to do a BF or Earvana setup on a guitar that won't intonate using standard guitar tuning.

This isn´t really the place to go into it, but the BF system has large flaws in some of the basic assumptions and calculations made, and then proceeds to solve the problems created by them. Ones that don´t really exist. It appears that only by luck did he stumble on an actual "semi flaw" and somehow manage to improve that in teh process. But when haphazardly applied in such a manner it gives give some minimal improvement in a niche range of the instrument but renders it almost useless for the rest of it´s keys. Improving intonation in half the keys and chords while making it even worse in the other half isnt really an improvement IMO

I´ve not once played a guitar with the Buzz Feiten system installed that I felt comfortable all over the fretboard on. If that basic and most simple connection between me and the guitar isn´t there.... :beerchug:

Zerb, I hope you understand I'm laughing at the "build quality of the bridge" remark; I totally get the joke. It's like saying, "I'll take my guitar with the frets in the wrong place and fix it by replacing them with stainless steel frets."

Yo, I figured as much

Tusks = bone (actually Baleen, but who cares...right!) Tusk saddles is something I've never heard about..........even with the knowledge of Piezo transducer saddles in acoustics.............I want Tusk saddles now! (I'm such a gear-slut!)

I think he probably means Graphtech´s "Tusq", which is synthetic Ivory, not real tusk

way too light and slinky. i am used to playing acoustic with .12s. i beat the crap out of my strings.

Side note becasue some suggested it earlier: raising or lowering string guage within the same brand and type actually does almost nothing to intonation. One of the more common misconceptions is that heavier strings move the saddles further back. In reality it´s that heavier strings are often downtuned, and THAT causes the saddle to be moved further back

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: best replacement bridge for Epiphone les paul>

Depends on how the guitar won't intonate, which direction the saddles need to be adjusted farther than the bridge will allow. The Earvana may in fact correct the problem.
I have Earvana nuts on about 10 of my guitars (2 of them Epi LPs) and they all intonate fine. That nut is a tremendous improvement. I just don't understand why it isn't standard on all guitars.

I can understand replacing the Epi bridge even if there were no intonation problems. There is a lot of slop in the studs of the stock bridge, the Gotoh is much more stable.

 

[Jessie Sammler]

Re: best replacement bridge for Epiphone les paul>

This isn´t really the place to go into it, but the BF system has large flaws in some of the basic assumptions and calculations made, and then proceeds to solve the problems created by them. Ones that don´t really exist. It appears that only by luck did he stumble on an actual "semi flaw" and somehow manage to improve that in teh process. But when haphazardly applied in such a manner it gives give some minimal improvement in a niche range of the instrument but renders it almost useless for the rest of it´s keys. Improving intonation in half the keys and chords while making it even worse in the other half isnt really an improvement IMO

I´ve not once played a guitar with the Buzz Feiten system installed that I felt comfortable all over the fretboard on. If that basic and most simple connection between me and the guitar isn´t there.... :beerchug:

I've seen the intonation charts, and I think I have a basic understanding of what it does better and what it does worse. For some reason, my tone-deaf ears find the effect quite pleasing. :bigthumb: It seems more piano-like, if that's possible. Chords resonate better and have better sustain. To be honest, though, I don't know how much is the BFT system and how much is the luthier who did the mod; I have an unusual amount of confidence in him.