Vibrato Bridges

[Lazarus1140]

No doubt this has been hashed out a hundred times before on the forum, but I want the latest and greatest opinions.


I use the whammy bar .... not to excess, but enought that I miss it on a guitar that lacks one. I am considering building a Jazzcaster but have not decided on a bridge. I will never block it so that is one feature that is not important to me. I have used both the vintage and two-point Wilkinsons and I really like the feel of the latter. By the way, I am not a dive-bomber.

Which "tremolo" bridge, in your personal experience, do you believe most reliable returns to tune and best couples the strings to the body ... provides the most sustain, and so on?

My vintage sounded better than the two point, but they were on different guitars so there's no way to actually compare.

 

[Rockstar216]

Re: Vibrato Bridges

Look at Gotoh the 510 series they have 6 screw and 2 point pivot trems. As for sustain you might want a brass block over steel.

 

[Myaccount876]

Re: Vibrato Bridges

Well I like a Floyd for everything vibrato-arm related because of its extremely rugged construction/solid tuning stability, but I doubt it is something you'd go for on a jazzcaster. In that case, I'd go with the vintage 6-screw strat bridge and make sure it is set up PERFECTLY. Strat bridges IME are the next best thing from a locking vibrato when set up properly.

 

[Jocelyn]

Re: Vibrato Bridges

I have not tried it but I think the Supervee Bladerunner, is what you might consider. I know what you mean when you say you dont use it much but kind of miss it if it is not there on a guitar, it is the same with me. I prefer the Vintage bridge tonally speaking and kind of like the feel too. But I like two point trems a lot too.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Vibrato Bridges

The G&L Dual Fulcrum or DFS (same thing, but with steel block and saddles) vibratos are the best I've found so far in the two-point area.

 

[jimijames]

Re: Vibrato Bridges

Having only played an OFR, a bigsby, and a 6-point tremolo (to any significant degree at least), I can tell you the block makes a huge difference in sound. I couldn't gel with the OFR at all until I got a 37mm brass big block on there, but when I did it made all the difference.

My 6-point highway 1 strat was pretty good to begin with though, but IIRC I got a callaham bridge some time later and that gave some depth to the string vibration. I mean, even now I play the guitar acoustically most of the time because it's loud enough to hear unless my roommate is testing his short area shape charges.

IME, it's a lot easier to keep a tremolo in tune if you only use it to drop pitch, vs. drop and raise. If you like to do jeff beck stuff with the whammy bar, you're going to need an unreasonably good setup, and/or a floyd rose or similar system. If you only need 1/2 step max in either direction, then a bigsby is a good option. It won't take you into EVH/Vai/Satriani territory but it's good (great even) for adding texture and shimmer to sounds.

I get why people try to reinvent the tremolo, but so far as I've experienced, you can have classic sound (6-point and bigsby), or crazy pitch-bending (floyd). If you can have both (maybe the aim of the stetsbar and all of those strat tremolos that are out there, I don't know) that's cool, but EVH got one of the best sounds you've ever heard with a beat up strat with a bastardized bridge pickup and an OFR. So, there's that.

 

[LReese]

Re: Vibrato Bridges

Look at Gotoh the 510 series they have 6 screw and 2 point pivot trems. As for sustain you might want a brass block over steel.

Its a great vibrato bridge! Only thing i can add is that I have the 6 screw and 2 post and they both sound the same to me.

oh - only achilles heel is you might need to scrape a little in the cavity to allow clearance for the arm - no biggie, usually just the thickness of the finish accumulated in the cavity.

Some like the Zinc block version in a bright guitar, I only have the steel version.

 

[LReese]

Re: Vibrato Bridges

Well I like a Floyd for everything vibrato-arm related because of its extremely rugged construction/solid tuning stability, but I doubt it is something you'd go for on a jazzcaster. In that case, I'd go with the vintage 6-screw strat bridge and make sure it is set up PERFECTLY. Strat bridges IME are the next best thing from a locking vibrato when set up properly.

As a Geezer, I'd be inclined to consider a Floyd with the new non-fine tuner version and locking tuners (and an appropriate block - not sure I'd go with brass though).

 

[uOpt]

Re: Vibrato Bridges

Which "tremolo" bridge, in your personal experience, do you believe most reliable returns to tune and best couples the strings to the body ... provides the most sustain, and so on?

My vintage sounded better than the two point, but they were on different guitars so there's no way to actually compare.

The tuning stability is much more dependent on the nut and how the strings are anchored at the tuner than the actual bridge. The only way to screw that up is the bridge can move in it's mounting screws (and stay in a new position different from when you tuned).

I'm pretty firm in the 6-point camp. I honestly can't say that I find zinc blocks to be that terrible. They have more of a mids drive but they aren't really worse.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Vibrato Bridges

In my opinion, a Jazzmaster or Jaguar with anything other than the notorious floating vibrato bridge/tailpiece combination will sound kinda "wrong". The enharmonic metallic overtones and the random pinging noises are part of the deal.

 

[jon the art guy]

Re: Vibrato Bridges

Build it hardtail and buy a stetsbar for hardtails. Lots of connection to the body (5 screws, directly screwed in), and what seems to be a very sound, very in-tune full floating trem with an octave up or down. You'll also have the dubious honor of having the ugliest bridge out of anyone you know. Possibly the most expensive too.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: Vibrato Bridges

No doubt this has been hashed out a hundred times before on the forum, but I want the latest and greatest opinions.


I use the whammy bar .... not to excess, but enought that I miss it on a guitar that lacks one. I am considering building a Jazzcaster but have not decided on a bridge. I will never block it so that is one feature that is not important to me. I have used both the vintage and two-point Wilkinsons and I really like the feel of the latter. By the way, I am not a dive-bomber.

Which "tremolo" bridge, in your personal experience, do you believe most reliable returns to tune and best couples the strings to the body ... provides the most sustain, and so on?

My vintage sounded better than the two point, but they were on different guitars so there's no way to actually compare.

Floyd + Tremelno

You get the tuning stability, rock solid always returning to pitch after use . . . plus you can lock the floyd down for increased sustain on demand, or set it just to dive.

 

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: Vibrato Bridges

I have used both the two point Wilks and the vintage style 6 point Wilks. Both are excellent and both sound good. The six point is the one for best possible tone and mild usage. The two point is better if you really use the trem a bunch and over a wider range of up and down. You can imitate slide with it. Both will stay in tune perfectly if properly set up.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Vibrato Bridges

I like JM/Jag vibratos, I like Bigsbys and I like 6 hole Strat vibratos too that said return to pitch will always, always...always depend on set up.

If you go with a Jag unit don't skimp get the Fender and IMHO you'll do yourself well to get a Mustang bridge and a buzz stop.

With Bigsbys a 7/8 or 1 inch spring (depending on scale length and string gauge) is a MUST in my opinion and the little nylon washer can (and should) be used to fine tune the action.

Strat style bridges, none finer IMHO than a Callaham BUT I MUCH prefer mine with Raw Vintage springs.

 

[Lazarus1140]

Re: Vibrato Bridges

Well it won't be a true JM, Jag or even a Jazzcaster. I intend to mount a couple of Filtertron style pickups.
Does the bridge pivot or rock on a regular JM?

 

[Lazarus1140]

Re: Vibrato Bridges

If I ever do a hardtail it will be the Schaller Hannes.

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Vibrato Bridges

Then there's the Kahler units.