Has changing a guitar bridge ever truly made the axe sound better?

astrozombie

astrozombie

KatyPerryologist
You know the claims: sustain, better tuning etc.

What about real world experience? Anyone replaced a bridge on a guitar and found noticeable differences?


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Re: Has changing a guitar bridge ever truly made the axe sound better?

In my experience, absolutely. I had a Les Paul copy back in the early 70s. It had one of those TOM bridges with nylon saddles. I replaced it with a heavy brass Stars bridge. I actually hated the sound of the brass! Too warm. Lost all the snap.

More recent I have a bass I built that had a zinc Schaller 3D bridge. This bass has a zebrawood top and was always very mellow sounding. I replaced the bridge with an aluminum Hipshot Type A bridge. It brought the bass to life, giving it an almost acoustic guitar top end.

These days I tend to like lightweight aluminum bridges and steel saddles.

If you think about it, this is the anchor point of the strings. Depending on what the bridge is made of you will get a different sound from the strings. Softer materials will absorb more energy from the strings (i.e., vibrations) and sound different from something hard like steel.

As far as sustain, that’s mostly the product of a stiff neck. The neck also plays a big part on the tonal quality of the guitar or bass.


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Re: Has changing a guitar bridge ever truly made the axe sound better?

I like roller bridges

They give the strings a bit more play when fretting and bending
Feels smoother
Does it help the tone
Probably not
Does it hurt the tone
Probably not
 
Re: Has changing a guitar bridge ever truly made the axe sound better?

ehdwuld said:
I like roller bridges

They give the strings a bit more play when fretting and bending
Feels smoother
Does it help the tone
Probably not
Does it hurt the tone
Probably not
Click to expand...

But it could definitely make playing more comfortable
Don’t you think
I’d say the new one has smooth edges etc
That’s kind of worth it
If you’re keeping the guitar
Right


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Re: Has changing a guitar bridge ever truly made the axe sound better?

Yeah, there has been a ton of talk on this forum about positive results changing bridges, blocks, tailpieces, saddles, etc. It *does* matter what the material is, and how dense it is.
 
Re: Has changing a guitar bridge ever truly made the axe sound better?

Absolutely. Saddle material and construction matter a lot. Compare the tone of a zinc Floyd Special vs. a Floyd original. In particular I notice the material of the saddles has a big impact on how the string responds.

I just replaced a modern Mustang bridge (zinc saddles) with a vintage Mustang bridge (steel saddles.) Tonal difference is pretty immense, between the material and construction differences (I'm also not picking on zinc, it does work well in some guitars.)
 
Re: Has changing a guitar bridge ever truly made the axe sound better?

Callaham. https://www.callahamguitars.com

'nuff said.

There's less little things that affect tone than what some people think... but far more little things that affect tone than what others think.

In some cases, the resulting tone is subjective. Cheap material may actually sound better, etc...

Need to train your ear to hear the frequency spectrum... to hear the little differences.
 
Re: Has changing a guitar bridge ever truly made the axe sound better?

astrozombie said:
You know the claims: sustain, better tuning etc.

What about real world experience? Anyone replaced a bridge on a guitar and found noticeable differences?


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Click to expand...

I can't say anything about hard tails, but bridge as well as separate parts definitely make difference on trem bridges.

I once tried those softer black springs (am. deluxe Fenders apparently have them), which just ruined tone of my guitar. Seriously. I made a thread about it here.

I proceeded to put the stock Squier springs back and it fixed things right up. Tried to mix those springs for a while and finally resulted to just keep the stock ones.

Changing bridge block to full steel is prpbably the best improvement you can do on a strat. Assuming it's decent player to begin with of course
 
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Re: Has changing a guitar bridge ever truly made the axe sound better?

for sure with multiple guitars for quite a few different reasons
 
Re: Has changing a guitar bridge ever truly made the axe sound better?

Different for sure. But different can be one persons better and another persons worse ...
 
Re: Has changing a guitar bridge ever truly made the axe sound better?

Gotoh has a new design for the tune o Matic. Reviews are glowing. Was just wondering if it wasn’t other people’s bias.


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Re: Has changing a guitar bridge ever truly made the axe sound better?


Ive changed a Big Brass Block on my OFR with good results.

I have a large Brass Block on my Fender Strat.

The Floyd Rail Tail seems cool, dive only with the benefits of a hardtail. I don't like the $250 price tho.
 
Re: Has changing a guitar bridge ever truly made the axe sound better?

If I spent 500 bucks on a TOM bridge
You bet I wouldn't tell folks how stupid I was if it didn't sound better
Two reasons
Pride and resale value
If it sounded like arse
You couldn't recoup your money
If you told people
 
Re: Has changing a guitar bridge ever truly made the axe sound better?

ehdwuld said:
If I spent 500 bucks on a TOM bridge
You bet I wouldn't tell folks how stupid I was if it didn't sound better
Two reasons
Pride and resale value
If it sounded like arse
You couldn't recoup your money
If you told people
Click to expand...

So Gotoh huh


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Re: Has changing a guitar bridge ever truly made the axe sound better?

Yes to OP, from recent experience. I swapped out the 6-saddle bridge (mystery metal) of a Fender MIM Telecaster for a Gotoh 6-saddle brass one.

The result was a warmer tone and greater emphasis on the fundamental frequencies of notes.

The difference wasn't night-and-day, but pleasing enough for me to deem the ~$60 hardware cost + installation cost well worth it.
 
Re: Has changing a guitar bridge ever truly made the axe sound better?

stratguy23 said:
Yes to OP, from recent experience. I swapped out the 6-saddle bridge (mystery metal) of a Fender MIM Telecaster for a Gotoh 6-saddle brass one.

The result was a warmer tone and greater emphasis on the fundamental frequencies of notes.

The difference wasn't night-and-day, but pleasing enough for me to deem the ~$60 hardware cost + installation cost well worth it.
Click to expand...

See
 
Re: Has changing a guitar bridge ever truly made the axe sound better?

My Babicz bridges have really opened up my Fenders. More sustain and especially on the Teles much better intonation. I know the OP is a Gibson guy and I have not tried the Babicz TOMs, but what they have done for my Fenders is magical.
 
Re: Has changing a guitar bridge ever truly made the axe sound better?

I put a Callaham bridge (with new steel studs too) and tailpiece on my Gibson Gary Moore LP Standard, and it very noticeably brightened the guitar.... too much in fact. I didn't care for it at all. Too much top end and the bass was tighter, but also lessened. I took the steel tailpiece off and put the tone pro's tailpiece back on, and it was back to a more balanced sound. Still brighter than originally, which it needed a bit, but not too bright.

So yes, that one was very noticeable, but not all of it good, and the whole Callaham tamale package is pushing $500. I'll try the tailpiece on a future LP, or maybe I'll sell it.... for a loss of course.
 
Re: Has changing a guitar bridge ever truly made the axe sound better?

I have Aluminum tail pieces on my Les Pauls & 335, just like the 1959' Gibson's, rings like a Bell.
 
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