Callaham Telecaster Bridge?

[jimijames]

So, I have a telecaster with a 3-saddle ashtray bridge, 4 mounting screws, etc.

I have a strat with a callaham block and the difference between that and the one it came with was well worth the $60 or so it cost.

But the callaham telecaster bridge is $125, whereas the bridge I have on there now was all of $15, shipped.

Does anybody have experience with the callaham telecaster stuff? How much of an improvement did you notice? I'm curious but I'm not sure I'm $125 curious. I mean, none of the legendary telecaster tones I'm trying to rip off came from a telecaster with a callaham bridge, but my experience with their strat stuff has induced strong want for their telecaster bridge.

 

[Lazarus1140]

Re: Callaham Telecaster Bridge?

This is not the experience you asked for, but it's all I have. I had installed a Wilkinson bridge with compensated brass saddles on my Hwy 1 Tele. I wasn't 100% satisfied. That is, I had no problem with any aspect of the sound ... I was only dissatisfied with my inability to fine tune the intonation.

I bought Callaham saddles and the Wilky base plate would not accept the diameter of the Callaham adjustment screws. I didn't want to drill out my baseplate so I never tried the saddles. However, I will say that I thing the Wilkinson saddles look better than the Callaham saddles.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Callaham Telecaster Bridge?

The Callaham bridge is thicker to beef up the attack and overall tone as well as cut down on feedback.

It's a great bridge but it does have an impact on the tone.

I love the Strat bridge but not the Tele.


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[jimijames]

Re: Callaham Telecaster Bridge?

I guess it would be important to give the context too - this is a 2-piece swamp ash telecaster with a 1" maple/rosewood neck and a jerry donahue bridge.

I'm not a vintage purist by any means, I was just curious if their telecaster bridge gave the same level of "wow holy crap all bridges should be built like this" improvement as their strat tremolo does. Which, it seems like the answer to that is no.

That's good, because it allows me to enjoy my $15 brass ashtray bridge. FWIW I'm probably going to put a wilkinson compensated saddle on the D/G string pair, but other than that the bridge intonates surprisingly well.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Callaham Telecaster Bridge?

I guess in the end if all just depends...

Personally I have issues with a stock Strat bridge so fir me going to Bills bridge was a huge improvement but since I like a stock Tele bridge when I tried a Callaham Tele bridge all I could think is that the instrument had lost something.


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[ItsaBass]

Re: Callaham Telecaster Bridge?

I guess in the end if all just depends...

Personally I have issues with a stock Strat bridge so fir me going to Bills bridge was a huge improvement but since I like a stock Tele bridge when I tried a Callaham Tele bridge all I could think is that the instrument had lost something.


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Yup. IME, a lot of the character of on old Tele comes from that "imperfect" bridge. The thin bridge seldom lies perfectly flush with the body, and this leads to weird microphonics and feedback, especially when you turn up loud. Both Rutters and Callaham make nice stuff in terms of quality, but the old-school Tele bridge is ruined by their treatment IMO. If you want the old-school Tele character, where the guitar seems like it is always on the verge of going a bit out of control, then the best bridge you can get is the standard Fender vintage Tele bridge.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Callaham Telecaster Bridge?

I have an older callaham tele bridge an I like it a lot but Ive never had another bridge on that guitar so couldn't tell ya the difference compared to anything else. its a well crafted, very solid unit, that's for sure

 

[Powdered Toast Man]

Re: Callaham Telecaster Bridge?

Well, there's two schools of thought when it comes to bridges.
1) MORE MASS! Thicker, heavier is better because more mass means more transfer of vibrations to the body wood and therefore better tone? The Leo Quan Badass bridges popularized this notion in the 70's forward.
2) Lighter is better. Higher mass bridges are a tone sink and can suck the high end jangle out of the tone. If you look at vintage instruments from the 50's they actually had very light bridges on them. Telecasters, even LP Jr's had a simple zinc wraparound that was loosely hooked onto the posts.

I have noticed in Telecasters that the bridge has a significant impact on the tone of the bridge pickup. For example, I found some pickups like modern style plate bridges while others work better in the simple Fender stamped 3-saddle bridge.

 

[trevorus]

Re: Callaham Telecaster Bridge?

Do it, do it, do it!

Brass saddles if you want warmer, I did steel for more bite. The compensated straight ones are the best. I love mine, and wouldn't trade it for anything. Don't pay any attention to these naysayers!

 

[frankfalbo]

Re: Callaham Telecaster Bridge?

Also remember a Tele bridge is within the magnetic field of the pickup. Most electric guitar bridges primarily change the mechanical sound. (notice I didn't say acoustic because it does alter the amplified sound) But the Tele bridge influences the sound of the pickup, both by interacting with the magnetic field (where the alloy and thickness matter) and also if it's not anchored down by two front screws (most aren't) then its kind of like a diving board. It can vibrate and thus it's vibrating the pickup mechanically.

All this to say that I'm with TGWIF and others who've said its "different" and not necessarily in a good way, if you're in pursuit of vintage Tele tone, warts and all.

If you're looking for an improvement in performance, knowing that it is deviating from what it's like to play a real vintage Tele/Esq/Broadcaster, then yeah its a really well made bridge delivering rock solid performance and I highly recommend it from that vantage point.

 

[jimijames]

Re: Callaham Telecaster Bridge?

Thanks for all the input guys - as much as anything else cost is a factor, because of how much more expensive the callaham unit is. From the feedback I'm getting, I may have an easier time justifying a $116 xotic ep booster vs. a $125 bridge because of how drastic the improvement is. Even the guys who don't like the bridge talk about it like it's a marginal change. "Lost something" doesn't mean "became completely different than it was before"

I'm not particularly concerned about vintage accuracy - keep in mind this guitar has a telecaster deluxe pickguard and a 1" U-shaped maple/rosewood neck with a 9.5" straight radius and locking tuners (albeit gotoh vintage style locking tuners). That being said often times "vintage correct" does sound better to my ears, especially with pickups. I have "dark" fingers, or a "dark" technique, or something. The guitar has a JD-3 bridge with a 500k volume and a .022uf cap (50s style wiring), and even at full volume on my baby will (18w single channel 1974x clone with a V30 and a greenback), it's only "bright" above 7 or 8 on the tone control.

I really like the callaham bridge from the perspective of design/sustain/volume though. I guess I'll sit and ruminate on it for a while. In the meantime I'll probably go by GC and give that xotic ep booster a spin. Thank you again everybody for your feedback - it's really helpful and greatly appreciated.

 

[Stratman]

Re: Callaham Telecaster Bridge?

The Callaham bridge is thicker to beef up the attack and overall tone as well as cut down on feedback.

It's a great bridge but it does have an impact on the tone.

I love the Strat bridge but not the Tele.


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Wow, we agree twice in a month…. Must be the spring air!

 

[Stratman]

Re: Callaham Telecaster Bridge?

The Callaham bridge is thicker to beef up the attack and overall tone as well as cut down on feedback.

It's a great bridge but it does have an impact on the tone.

I love the Strat bridge but not the Tele.


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Wow, we agree twice in a month…. Must be the spring air!

 

[Scott_F]

Re: Callaham Telecaster Bridge?

I ordered the Callaham set for my Tele build. I'm happy to report back if USA eventually ships my body and neck.


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[Farkus]

Re: Callaham Telecaster Bridge?

I have the Callaham Tele bridge on an AS Tele primarily because I didn't like the Strat saddles on the newer Tele bridges. I do agree that the tone isn't 'vintage' per se. But it sounds great all the same. I got the compensated brass saddles and my Tele has thicker sound but still has a lot of cut. I like it!


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