I want a new bridge

[benji657]

hey,

im thinking of replacing my trem, as i intend to use it now.

but the stock one(an MIM) sucks. :smack: , so im looking into a reliable (affordable) bridge.

callaham's are not the cheapest, i know. i don't think they even have it here in korea...? also, i imagine they'll charge at least 20% more.

so, any recommendations for a bridge that will go into a standard MIM strat?

thanks! :burnout:

benji

 

[Hellion]

Re: I want a new bridge

I know you stated that cost is an issue, but you might look into having a Floyd put in. If you don't want to do that (and they DO make the guitar sound kinda brittle at times), get a catalog from Stewart MacDonald or someplace like that and check it out.

Another thought is keep the MIM bridge on and replace your saddles with GraphTech. That'll make a significant improvement in itself, and probably won't cost you as much as a new tailpiece.

 

[benji657]

Re: I want a new bridge

Hellion, im not thinking about a floyd. wouldn't i have to do some routing if i were to go the floyd route?

bump..

benji

 

[dani]

Re: I want a new bridge

Another thought is keep the MIM bridge on and replace your saddles with GraphTech. That'll make a significant improvement in itself, and probably won't cost you as much as a new tailpiece.

good call! btw, callaham ships worldwide. i bought a callaham trem from singapore and shipping was less than $20 iirc.

 

[dani]

Re: I want a new bridge

Hellion, im not thinking about a floyd. wouldn't i have to do some routing if i were to go the floyd route?

bump..

benji

yes. some routing and drilling will be in order.

 

[dani]

Re: I want a new bridge

is yours a vintage or 2-post trem? gotoh/wilkinson makes pretty good trems. one vintage style and the other 2-post type.

 

[NecroPolo]

Re: I want a new bridge

gotoh +1. the best quality/price ratio. schaller is the total winner but their stuff is rather expensive.

 

[benji657]

Re: I want a new bridge

hm...6point trem and 2- 1/16 string spacing..what should i do?

 

[dani]

Re: I want a new bridge

do you have a budget? gotoh/wilkinson nickel vintage style trem cost $94.34 from stewmac. i believe gotoh products should be cheaper in korea. think about it. gotoh is manufactured in japan. what you are paying aside from cost is shipping from japan to usa, profit margin and shipping from usa to korea. alternatively, callaham makes the best vintage trem around. but its costly.

btw, what do you dislike about the mim trem? you can actually change the sustain block to callaham's steel sustain block as well as graphtech saddles.

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: I want a new bridge

Go with the Gotoh/Wilkinson unit. It's a vintage style trem that's been modified for heavy trem use. Once you have it set up correctly, your nut is cut properly, and you have decent tuners, you should have very little tuning problems.

 

[benji657]

Re: I want a new bridge

but my string spacing is 2 -1/16. the wilkinson/gotoh models on stewmac are 2- 1/8 :blackeye:

 

[dani]

Re: I want a new bridge

if you are replacing the whole bridge, the minute difference in string spread won't make much of a difference. fender original vintage trem has a string spread of 2-3/16. most importantly, the bridge mounting post must fit. to be on the safe side, you can email callaham and tell them you have a mim strat bridge and you would like to change the sustain block. they should be able to help you. as for saddles, if you are thinking of replacing the saddles to either the graphtechs or ferraglide, i reckon you should measure your saddles as well. btw, callaham also make saddles.

 

[dani]

Re: I want a new bridge

have a look here, they sell all sorts of fender original trems as well as aftermarket trems for strat.

http://guitarpartsresource.com/guitar_index.htm

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: I want a new bridge

I'd go for a Fender Custom Shop '62 Reissue. It'll drop right in without alterations and sounds exactly like the bridge/vibrato in my original '63 Strat. I use these in all of my Fender MIJ Strat guitars...much better than the Japanese or Mexican stock bridges! PM me if you need one. Lew

 

[rspst14]

Re: I want a new bridge

I like the LR Baggs X-bridge systems. The Baggs 6 point bridge should drop right in, and it'll give you the option of having a piezo pickup system for acoustic sounds. I think mine was about $70, probably cheaper than a Callaham.

Ryan

 

[benji657]

Re: I want a new bridge

hm..so far, i like the fender 62 reissue..

benji

 

[Imp]

Re: I want a new bridge

what exactly don't you like about the MIM one man? it might be something you can adjust out?

 

[benji657]

Re: I want a new bridge

what exactly don't you like about the MIM one man? it might be something you can adjust out?

i need to replace the saddles as well. but i don't want to go graphtech.
also, the mim standards have an inferior block compared to higher class tremolo bridges.

when i had my trem blocked, i never cared much about it. but since i plan to use the trem regularly now..

benji

 

[benji657]

Re: I want a new bridge

maybe i should leave the saddles for now and replace the sustain block..