Tail-Piece stud material???

[jalguitarman]

Hello all,

I am getting ready to order the new bridge for my Bernie Marsden SE and I am considering whether I should use Brass or Steel tail-piece studs? The studs the guitar came with are steel and I feel fairly certain the inserts are brass as they are made of a non-magnetic material. I Know a lot of these bridges come with brass. I know that the steel studs are contributing to the tone of this guitar but the bridge is likely Zinc. The new bridge will be nickel plated aluminum with brass saddles, so I know that is a game changer. I understand the tonal differences between steel and brass, but not sure how that will interact with the Aluminum bridge. I can get the brass locking studs that Schroder offers (which look to be top notch) or I found some locking steel studs on Ebay that look like quality studs. They look better than the tone pros stuff. Which ones should I get? Any advice? Thank you as always.

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: Tail-Piece stud material???

Here's an area where "best" is going to be very debatable. Guys on the Les Paul discuss studs often, without much concensus.

Your best bet is to get both and evaluate them carefully to determine which one you like best. No other opinion matters. You may find brass works better for this song and steel is better for song B. There might be a "Eureka!" moment...and maybe no moment at all.

No help, I know. Just use your ears.

Bill

 

[Darg1911]

Re: Tail-Piece stud material???

The inserts may be brass, or very likely white metal (pot metal). Sometimes called zamac which is supposed to use a higher quality zinc alloy but still a pot metal. I know that Faber touts their carbon steel replacement bushings (threaded inserts) as tone upgrades. I cant recall ever pulling a bushing to replace it so I have no opinion on any possible differences in tone from different bushing/insert materials. I know you didn't ask about replacing the bushings/inserts. You mentioned them though, so just adding my half a pennies worth.

For studs, I agree with Bill. One material may work better for you than the other. I'd probably just lean toward steel but I don't get too picky about that sort of thing. My playing is my weak point, not the stud material.

 

[JeffB]

Re: Tail-Piece stud material???

What will work best is, as said..debatable and highly dependent on the individual guitar and what it "needs" to your ears.

That said, there is a difference in sound. On my Les Paul for example, I ended up buying alum tp and steel studs and then swapped everything back and forth. I ended preferring the zinc tailpiece with steel studs...It kept the beef while adding clarity over zinc tp and original studs. Alum tp and brass studs just sounded like muddy fizz and thinned the guitar out, alum tp and steel studs had even more high end content (in a bad way)