Best Tele compensated Bridge?

Will S-T

New member
Joe Barden, standard Wilkinson or the swivel type one, any others?

I want a three saddle bridge hence the choices above.

Thanks,
Will.
 
Re: Best Tele compensated Bridge?

i have a callaham tele bridge with compensated brass saddles and i really like it
 
Re: Best Tele compensated Bridge?

I have a Wilkinson. Best $30 bridge, period. Sure the boutique ones are nice, but I could never get my head around putting a $180 bridge on a $400 guitar (my MIM Nashville). The Wilkinson is great - a really nice piece of engineering. Leo woulda liked it.
 
Re: Best Tele compensated Bridge?

I have a Wilkinson. Best $30 bridge, period. Sure the boutique ones are nice, but I could never get my head around putting a $180 bridge on a $400 guitar (my MIM Nashville). The Wilkinson is great - a really nice piece of engineering. Leo woulda liked it.

+1. I can only comment on the Wilkinson, but it is a superb bridge...
 
Re: Best Tele compensated Bridge?

all wilkinson bridges are impressively sturdy & well built to be honest. another +1 from me.
 
Re: Best Tele compensated Bridge?

No, I'm talking about this one here at GuitarFetish. The saddles are a bit different than the one at Stew Mac. However, I've noticed lately that some of the boutique guys are picking up on Wilkinson's idea of frontwards/backwards bevels on the saddles in place of simply angle-drillng the intonation screw hole through the saddle. Speaking as an engineeer, I think Wilkinson's bevels are bit more elegant.
 
Re: Best Tele compensated Bridge?

I have a Wilkinson. Best $30 bridge, period. Sure the boutique ones are nice, but I could never get my head around putting a $180 bridge on a $400 guitar (my MIM Nashville). The Wilkinson is great - a really nice piece of engineering. Leo woulda liked it.

Definitely check eBay if you're going to get the Wilkinson, as some places sell them for about $50 and I was able to get mine under $30 on eBay. It's definitely a solid bridge.
 
Re: Best Tele compensated Bridge?

I think Im in the minority but I don't care for the Wilkenson, it works great but I dislike the idea of the moving parts and such...

Just use your stock bridge plate and get a set of compensated saddles from Stew-Mac...I have that set up on both of my Tele's and it works just fine! If you don't have a bridge at all yet just get a Fender bridge from Ebay and the saddles from Stew-Mac...good to go!
 
Re: Best Tele compensated Bridge?

I'm in the ultra minority here. My favorite compensated Tele bridge is the Am Std bridge. Six steel saddles and I have zero tone problems....
 
Re: Best Tele compensated Bridge?

I've been wanting to try that Wilkinson. The only down side I see is that it looks like the saddles have less mass. Some say the straight string pull is an advantage compared to angled saddles. I have the "fully compensated" Wilkinson on a couple of teles, and it has a nice warm tone.

I have tried several 3 saddle bridges -- Callaham, Glendale, Barden, Allparts -- and my preference these days is the $9 Fender saddle with StewMac compensated brass saddles, although you do need to source the bridge anchor screws.

However, it also depends on the tone you want. The Callaham to me is a little bright; same with Glendale, but he has a lot of choices so you can dial in your tone. The Barden has a thicker plate, and I get the feeling it is likely a good match with Barden pickups.
 
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Re: Best Tele compensated Bridge?

I think Im in the minority but I don't care for the Wilkenson, it works great but I dislike the idea of the moving parts and such...

Just use your stock bridge plate and get a set of compensated saddles from Stew-Mac...I have that set up on both of my Tele's and it works just fine! If you don't have a bridge at all yet just get a Fender bridge from Ebay and the saddles from Stew-Mac...good to go!

You're not looking close enough - the Wilkinson I'm talking about has three normal barrels. They're compensated with alternating frontwards & backwards bevels machined on top. This bridge is not the fancier, uber-adjustable Wilkinson that Stew Mac sells. It's is a very vintage-vibe kind of bridge.

There's minimal benefit to shopping around for it on eBay - GuitarFetish sells it for $30 every day of the week.
 
Re: Best Tele compensated Bridge?

Great info guys!

As I have no bridge yet I'll go with Wilkinson non adjustable
brass saddle unit.

Do all these bridges really cure the intonation problems?
 
Re: Best Tele compensated Bridge?

Howdy,

I'm with The Guy Who invented Fire. My Flamed Mahogany Tele from USACG has a Fender '52 RI bridge w/ compensated Brass saddles from Stew-Mac. The intonation isn't perfect, but is perfect below the 12th fret; above the 12th fret it's easily good enough for rock & roll, as they say.
My tech told me that with Teles it's "hit or miss" with respect to intonation and various saddles. He said mine would get an A- in that regard. I'm satisfied. Good luck!

Eggman
 
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