Did we already talk about rubber bridges?

Blille

Blille

Well-known member
“Reuben Cox walked into Los Angeles' famed Sound City Studios, which bore timeless records like After the Goldrush and Fleetwood Mac , stunned to hear what he describes as "the most amazing sound [he's] ever heard." Still a haven for today's creators, the studio that day saw Blake Mills and producer Tony Berg working on Andrew Bird's 2016 record Are You Serious. Right away, Cox noticed something out of place—Mills, the guitar virtuoso, was tracking with a strange 1950s electric banjo that had a wood-and-metal wedge resting against the strings. Cox was mesmerized by the beauty of the unusual sound it created.”

More: https://reverb.com/news/the-rubber-bridge-guitars-taking-over-indie-music

Never tried one myself.
 
Side note- About a hundred years ago, I saw this band called Simon Dawes, and met them afterward. The guitarist was really good, and had something really interesting going on. Super nice and extremely quiet guy, and was Blake Mills.
 
You gotta love how lo-fi or downright broken sounds are automatically classified as "vintage" by so many folks.

FWIW, I'mma pass on this.
 
This is the Hipster migration from their offset guitars infatuation, which (I think) is pretty much played out now.
Hipsters gotta keep the ball rollin' yo.
Cool is only cool for this year, and next year is always just right around the corner.
Nels and Jeff both have one now, so count on it becoming a trend.

Personally, since I build my own guitars, I mighta gotta outta try it one day.
I found it interesting, I didn't go berserkers one way or the other...just found it interesting.
Tho I own no Jazzmasters, Jaguars, Mustangs, or Firebirds.
 
Drak said:
This is the Hipster migration from their offset guitars infatuation, which (I think) is pretty much played out now.
Hipsters gotta keep the ball rollin' yo.

Tho I own no Jazzmasters, Jaguars, Mustangs, or Firebirds.
Click to expand...

Most of those were over-romanticized by guitar magazines for the last 30 years. I know of no seriously good player who uses a Jazzmaster outside of photoshoots, and even in the time they were 'new', the guitarists didn't like them (yes, they were pitched to jazz players, who avoided them).
 
Those rubber bridges give a 6-string the tone of a ukelele!
I could see how some would totally dig that.

Not for me. But it definitely has novelty appeal.
 
Mincer said:
I agree. But outside of a few lead singers, they never 'took off' among the virtuoso crowd.
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I said Hipster, not virtuoso! :p
Hipsters always have money to burn, and are constantly looking for 'the next trend', so the small builder marketplace naturally gears towards them.
They are a match made for each other...constant consumption drives markets and production.
Offset guitars were a Huge 'thing' in the past decade.
For hipsters. For the market with the money to burn and are defined by trends.
And Wilco, tho I would not call hipster, is certainly a 'North Star' to a lot of hipsters.
 
Drak said:
I said Hipster, not virtuoso! :p
Hipsters always have money to burn, and are constantly looking for 'the next trend', so the small builder marketplace naturally gears towards them.
They are a match made for each other...constant consumption drives markets and production.
Offset guitars were a Huge 'thing' in the past decade.
For hipsters. For the market with the money to burn and are defined by trends.
And Wilco, tho I would not call hipster, is certainly a 'North Star' to a lot of hipsters.
Click to expand...

Totally agree with this. Ergonomically, a Jazzmaster can be a nightmare. Weird switching and really terrible tremolo. But, hey...tradition!
 
Mincer said:
Totally agree with this. Ergonomically, a Jazzmaster can be a nightmare. Weird switching and really terrible tremolo. But, hey...tradition!
Click to expand...

I think you hit the nail on the head here; the traditional Fender offsets are pretty clunky because of the weird trems and overly complicated electronics. The stripped down Squier offsets that have come out recently with hard tail bridges make a lot more sense.
 
I don't get the offset hate?
I don't own one because I like & play Gibson-type guitars but I have always thought Jazzmasters and Jaguars were the best looking and most comfortable Fender guitars?
Years ago I played in a band with a guy who played a Jazzmaster. We put a bright humbucker under the bridge pickup cover and it sounded great to me. Blended well with the SG I played at the time. When I switched to an ES-335 it looked great because both our guitars were tobacco burst, so we were visually coordinated but not too matchy-matchy.
But yeah, if I had to get one I'd prefer the newer versions without the odd wiring.
 
Just ran across this as I check out Paste Studios' YT channel occasionally.
Solo (female) singer-songwriter seems to be the target niche market for these rubber bridges.
She talks about it a little around the 7:00 min. mark.
She loves it, says it works perfectly for her gig.

 
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