Bridges

[Simon Barden]

Another thumbs up for the Wilkinson Strat bridges. Getting a steel block at that price is a real bargain. It's just a shame that Wilkinson use a staggered string hole arrangement, as you can't then use them as a cheap steel block source to retrofit to existing Fender bridges.

[Guvna19]

Another thumbs up for the Wilkinson Strat bridges. Getting a steel block at that price is a real bargain. It's just a shame that Wilkinson use a staggered string hole arrangement, as you can't then use them as a cheap steel block source to retrofit to existing Fender bridges.

Good to hear, my Wilkinson bridge just arrived from Northwest Guitars UK, realsparts were out of stock for too long.
Its going on my white strat -- one of these days, still saving for pups so no hurry

hope its a winner
cheers
Guvna

[Sonic Mountain]

I used the Wilkinson tele bridge on the Sonicaster, mostly because I thought I wanted the cover, but I don't like playing with it on. I have no complaints. It allows for string through, which I'll get around to eventually. It is the regular 3 screw adjustment for intonation. I have been really lucky with both TL-1 kits I've built. They seems to intone without much trouble or compromise. Brass saddles seem to help with that tele 'jangle' as well.

I used the Babicz Narrow Strat on my Washburn referb and it is awesome. Beautiful to work with, with very fine tuning of adjustment available with locking screws to make sure it stays where you put it. Just a really quality piece of gear.

[fender3x]

I've replaced the bridges on a couple of basses with higher mass ebay bridges. Biggest downside is that at their lowest, they are still higher than the standard bridges. This has led to needing to shim the necks on two basses so far.

I have grown very skeptical about high mass bridges. My G&L with it's high mass bridge has a bit better sustain than my P-bass with it's stamped metal bridge. But I have come to the conclusion that the reason is a set screw on the side of the bridge that completely immobilizes the saddles. Leo designed both bridges, and the P-bass bridge was already ingenious for its time--and even for now its a pretty good bridge. Leo combined bridge and tail piece into one compact unit that could be cheaply produced, but could also adjust height and intonation for each string individually. Most bridges at the time were much more expensive to make and were not as adjustable. I think there were very few substantive improvements to this design until the G&L Saddle-Lock Bridge. String tension immobilizes most saddles from vibrating vertically. The set screw in the side of the G&L SLB is a very simple way of immobilizing the saddles laterally. I have only seen one or two other bridges--even fancy high mass ones--that do this, even though it probably makes virtually all the difference.

Don't believe me? Here's an experiment that I tried with my p-bass that you can try with any p or j and most mm basses. I took a C-clamp and clamped the saddles together so that they could not move. I started getting the same kind of sustain out of my p-bass that I was getting out of the G&L.

This will make me rich! I thought. I could design something cheap and easy to install on any fender or MM bass that would improve sustain without going to the trouble of getting a high-mass bridge...surely everyone would want one!

...and then I noticed something...

Although my p-bass did not have quite the sustain of the G&L, it actually had pretty good sustain. So did my PBG bass with a tun-o-matic and home-made trapeze.

In fact, they all have so much sustain that a lot of left and right hand technique is needed to kill the sustain. James Jamerson and Carol Kaye both used foam under the strings of their p-bass's because they had too much sustain.

...which is when I realized that even if anyone believed me about the benefits of my c-clamp-derived in invention, it was really not necessary, and was not going to make me wealthy.

That's why I play the blues.

[fender3x]

...although I have to admit that I keep thinking about replacing the bridge on my because the high mass ones look way cooler...

[Dedman]

...which is when I realized that even if anyone believed me about the benefits of my c-clamp-derived in invention, it was really not necessary, and was not going to make me wealthy.

That's why I play the blues.

hmmmmmmmmmmmm

[fender3x]

That's dead on.