Tuneomatic bridge question

[rspst14]

Hey guys...my new Hamer is the first guitar I've had with a fixed bridge, so I'm hoping someone can tell me the purpose of the raising or lowering the tailpiece. Am I correct in assuming that this is done to increase or decrease the angle at which the strings reach the bridge? If so, what is the advantage/disadvantage of having a greater angle, and approximately how should it be adjusted for the average player? Thanks.

Ryan

 

[Artie]

Re: Tuneomatic bridge question

I think its also to simply raise and lower the action of the strings. Someone like SRV would use fairly large strings and hit them hard, so he might want the action raised higher than someone like me, that tends to use lower gauge strings and plays lightly.

 

[tone4days]

Re: Tuneomatic bridge question

you have to be careful in having too much down pressure on the TOM if the angle to the tail piece is too severe ... the little posts that hold the TOM to the body can actually buckle / bend under the tension .. i've seen a pic of this in one of Dan Erlewine's books about guitar repair and it looks nasty to try to repair

good luck
t4d

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Tuneomatic bridge question

I like my tailpeice off the body about 1/4"...I've experimented and found I got more sustain with the stop peice up a bit...This also lessens the overall tension exerted on the bridge and the string tension..You also need to make sure that your strings do not contact the rear of your bridge while they head out of the tailpeice and up and over the rear of the bridge or you'll lose tone and sustain..Experiment and see what works for you and don't get too caught up in screwing the stop peice all the way to the body..I've tryed all that and prefer the stop peice up a bit...YMMV?
John

 

[rspst14]

Re: Tuneomatic bridge question

Sounds good, thanks for the help guys.

Ryan

 

[Blueline]

Re: Tuneomatic bridge question

by moving the tailpiece up and down you can increase tension (sustain) and decrease the angle of break over the bridge (to lessen string breakage)
i keep my bass end closer to the body and my treble end higher up so i break less hihg E strings and keep my low end fuller

just my deal

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Tuneomatic bridge question

by moving the tailpiece up and down you can increase tension (sustain) and decrease the angle of break over the bridge (to lessen string breakage)
i keep my bass end closer to the body and my treble end higher up so i break less hihg E strings and keep my low end fuller

just my deal

Yes it's basically dealing with physics and it's effects on tone.. fftopic:

 

[rspst14]

Re: Tuneomatic bridge question

One last question...in Dan Erlewine's book, he mentions that he likes the idea of stringing up a Tuneomatic so that the strings wrap around and come over the top of the tailpiece. Has anyone tried stringing a Tuneomatic this way, and does it really offer any advantage over the standard stringing method? Thanks.

Ryan

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Tuneomatic bridge question

One last question...in Dan Erlewine's book, he mentions that he likes the idea of stringing up a Tuneomatic so that the strings wrap around and come over the top of the tailpiece. Has anyone tried stringing a Tuneomatic this way, and does it really offer any advantage over the standard stringing method? Thanks.

Ryan

Cosmetically it looks tacky and it makes the string tension loose and weird to me...I didn't get along with it at all.

John

 

[Wattage]

Re: Tuneomatic bridge question

I have my Standard wrapped. It lets you get the tailpiece down lower with out increasing the angle of the strings going over the TOM. It's different but I can't quantify the differences other than the string tension is a little lower.

 

[some_dude]

Re: Tuneomatic bridge question

One last question...in Dan Erlewine's book, he mentions that he likes the idea of stringing up a Tuneomatic so that the strings wrap around and come over the top of the tailpiece. Has anyone tried stringing a Tuneomatic this way, and does it really offer any advantage over the standard stringing method? Thanks.

Ryan

I do it. I like it because I have more string behind the saddles to rest my hand on, which gives me more control over my palm mutes.

I don't know if it makes a big difference to sustain or not, all I really cared about was getting better/thicker palm mutes.

 

[Mr Wolf]

Re: Tuneomatic bridge question

Zakk Wylde has that on his guitars. Im going to try it myself in the next string change after reading this!

 

[dystrust]

Re: Tuneomatic bridge question

I like the way my guitars sound with the bar all the way down. As far as wrapping around the tailpiece, that depends on the guitar. My old '77 Custom sounded great with the wrap-around. I thought my Explorer sounded awful that way, and it didn't make much of a difference on my Standard.

 

[Kent S.]

Re: Tuneomatic bridge question

by moving the tailpiece up and down you can increase tension (sustain) and decrease the angle of break over the bridge (to lessen string breakage)
i keep my bass end closer to the body and my treble end higher up so i break less hihg E strings and keep my low end fuller

just my deal

I do that same exact thing on one that I have, helps to tighten up the low E a bit (short scale guitar), so say they hear a difference in harmonics too, because of the extra tension ... could be?

 

[dr.barlo]

Re: Tuneomatic bridge question

I have mine wrapped as well. So the tail is almost flush!

B