New ABR-1 TOM?

F

fretburner

Well-known member
Is this what Faber USA calls a "New" ABR-1 bridge?

Looks slimmer than a Nashville.

Previous owner painted the thing and there's 1 missing intonation screw.

The bridge is already "sagging" and so the radius is off. I can have a machinist straighten this though. But I'm afraid some aftermarket intonation screws might not fit the graphtec saddles I have in stock.

I'm looking for a replacement TOM... seems like Klusons are the cheapest with brass saddles.

I might upgrade the tailpiece with Kluson aluminum as well.

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man, that looks rough! strings, bridge, and tail piece. my lp has graphtech saddles which i love but its also the graphtech resomax bridge so there wasnt any fitment issues. i havent tried the kluson hardware but their tuners work fine
 
jeremy said:
man, that looks rough! strings, bridge, and tail piece. my lp has graphtech saddles which i love but its also the graphtech resomax bridge so there wasnt any fitment issues. i havent tried the kluson hardware but their tuners work fine
Click to expand...
Previous owner as into the "punk" scene so he fracked up the beautiful tobacco burst and painted the top and neck black using whatever paint and used a paint brush... Yes, didn't even bother to buy a spray can.

It appears he wanted to paint the hardware as well. The bridge was stuck in there I had to remove the threads first coz it won't wiggle out even with the strings off. Probably some residual paint in the bridge slot. Intonation screws don't work anymore, etc.

I am definitely buying a graphtec nut for this LP deluxe, but the resomax bridge is almost 2x the Kluson zinc with brass saddles.

Historically, the bridge and tailpieces on LPs are zinc alloy right?

I'm also looking at those Kluson Aluminum tailpieces

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GuitarStv said:
Geeze, I thought I was hard on hardware . . . did that guy sweat battery acid or something?
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It hasn't been touched for years. When it was played, it was played heavy like a "punk rocker" would... Or so the seller said.

It's an original 79 tobacco burst btw.

I'm going to have the top refinished to match the original, but the repainted back I will no longer refinish since it's all worn out and silky smooth to my hands.

The neck btw is the THINNEST Gibson neck ever!

I'll swap the pups out with PG13s and the orig 78 Gibson mini humbuckers I will put in my 60s tribute (where the PG13s are in and used to be P90s)

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Mincer said:
I was just thinking, all of that could use a date with a sandblaster!
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I was tempted to use a chemical paint remover, but I can't remove the intonation screws!

I was thinking of recycling the bridge to avoid fitment issues and just replace the saddles with graphtec and replace the intonation screws.

Sadly, I will have to replace the full bridge now.

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fretburner said:
I was tempted to use a chemical paint remover, but I can't remove the intonation screws!

I was thinking of recycling the bridge to avoid fitment issues and just replace the saddles with graphtec and replace the intonation screws.

Sadly, I will have to replace the full bridge now.

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Click to expand...

It’s just a standard schaller-made tom. Bridges wear out. Don’t sweat it. If you want to stick with the nashville-style posts, Gotoh makes a fantastic, beefy replacement that drops right on. Unlike schaller, I’ve never seen one of those sag.

Personally, I like Faber Tone Lok stuff with their conversion post inserts but I know the look isn’t for everybody.

There’s also this guy: I’ve got one of his bridges on an old MIJ Vox and it’s pretty beefy.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1753696841...7IbJ5F6ToG&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
 
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formula73 said:
It’s just a standard schaller-made tom. Bridges wear out. Don’t sweat it. If you want to stick with the nashville-style posts, Gotoh makes a fantastic, beefy replacement that drops right on. Unlike schaller, I’ve never seen one of those sag.

Personally, I like Faber Tone Lok stuff with their conversion post inserts but I know the look isn’t for everybody.

There’s also this guy: I’ve got one of his bridges on an old MIJ Vox and it’s pretty beefy.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1753696841...7IbJ5F6ToG&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
Click to expand...
Big fan of Gotoh hardware, but the ones I see in tubesandmore and other sites are 4mm threads.

I measured the inserts and the threaded part is 5mm. The smooth part above the thumb wheel which slots through the bridge is the 4mm part.

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fretburner said:
Big fan of Gotoh hardware, but the ones I see in tubesandmore and other sites are 4mm threads.

I measured the inserts and the threaded part is 5mm. The smooth part above the thumb wheel which slots through the bridge is the 4mm part.

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Click to expand...

I don’t think we’re talking about the same thing.
 
hamerfan said:
Why not Faber

https://faberusa.com/product-category/faber-tone-lock/master-kit/gibson-guitars/nashville-bridge/
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I have checked out their website quite a bit, and all are expensive.

I don't mind having a zinc bridge since zinc/zamak, I believe, was Gibson's original material.

Faber will be an upgrade for sure, but I haven't decided yet if I want an upgrade.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, tubes and more seems to have a zamak bridge which are to Gibson specs.

Any opinions on those?

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Some of the nice folks here might still have a old Gibson one in their drawer (including me). Just put an ad in the Trading Post section and ask.
 
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