Metropoulos Forum

If we are talking pure 100% best for tone bridges on a strat type guitar which ones are the ones??? No trim here only bridges unless a trem bridge would beat a non trem bridge to the finish line....

This: http://www.callahamguitars.com/bridges.htm

+ 1000 on the callaham. it brought my old strat back to life. more sustain, punch and authority. it sounds so much bigger that I almost couldn't believe it

5150loveeddie wrote:INo trim here only bridges unless a trem bridge would beat a non trem bridge to the finish line....

IMHO, I don't think that a tremolo bridge is better than a hardtail bridge (or vice versa), they're just different in sound and feel. If you compare a hardtail strat with a strat with a tremolo (assuming that they're made out of the same wood), I think you'll get a little bit of compression, a softer feel and maybe a bit more sizzle with the tremolo bridge. It's a matter of taste.

To me, there is no comparison between ANY trem, and a (good) hardtail. The bottom line is transmission of string vibration to the body wood, and the less moving / screwed / attachable parts the bridge has, the better than transmission of vibration is gonna be. IMO, the best bridge available is either a compensated ridge wraparound like an SG Junior:

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bridges,_ta ... ridge.html

or a wraparound that can be intonated:

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bridges,_ta ... ridge.html

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bridges,_ta ... piece.html

and maybe the best one of all, and my personal favorite:

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bridges,_ta ... ridge.html

The aluminum wraptail gives a great woodiness to the tone, especially if used with TonePros studs, and of course is lightweight, like all the Gibson Historic stuff being sold these days.

Just my opinion, but these have worked best for me on anything I've built.

The initial post asked for a bridge on a strat style guitar.

A wraparound bridge on a strat, that would be something new!

mayrandp wrote:The initial post asked for a bridge on a strat style guitar.

A wraparound bridge on a strat, that would be something new!

Yeah, I guess I was thinking he's gonna build the guitar up from something like a Warmoth, or a homemade body. I've built 2 "Strats" with wrap bridges, and they kill. Even better than the traditional Fender hardtail.

Hey JF, is it for your guitar that you're going to make out of your piece of cherry wood?

mayrandp wrote:Hey JF, is it for your guitar that you're going to make out of your piece of cherry wood?

Yep, I'm starting to shop around/ask around for the hardware.... The main thing here is for maximum tone, no compromises, so if we have to cut off a trim type bridge well that guitar won't have a trim on it, next one will ...

I'm in a no rush situation as my cherry piece just got in a kiln and it will be there for a month at least then I will have to stabelize for another month or more before cutting the body, Warmoth might do the job as per Fill suggestions....

A question for fillmore nyc, do you get more transmission of vibration to the body/better tone with string thru body or with a wraparound?

mayrandp wrote:A question for fillmore nyc, do you get more transmission of vibration to the body/better tone with string thru body or with a wraparound?

IMO, the wraparound is better, but a string thru hardtail works well too. I guess to quantify it, if a wraptail is a "10", a string thru Strat type hardtail is an 8.5, as would be a tune-o-matic / string-thru body set up. On that scale, a stock Fender trem would be a 6, and a Floyd would be a 4.5. (just my opinion).
Ya know, its really what your wanna hear, but to me, I think the difference between a good wraptail and ANY other bridge is definitely audible. The difference to my ear is that a wraptail has no real "dead spots", OR hot spots. It sustains very evenly. On the other end of the scale, a Floyd (or *gasp* a Kahler ) are very inconsistent where they'll sustain, and where the note will die off too early, besides the fact that they have tone thinner than Donald Trumps hair.
Wraptails just sustain forever, and ring longer than a Jehovahs Witness waiting at your door for you to answer it.

(Im in one of those moods tonight) / / /

LOL funny, tone thinner then DT hair that really nails it visually...

So a Wraptail hey?.....that one right? http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bridges,_ta ... ridge.html

My man your in for a ride that will take months to accomplish, but it will be fucking GREAT.....

Fill I like your knowlegde dude, everything you say conker with what I've found elsewhere AND MUCH more from your side, thx man.....

5150loveeddie wrote: So a Wraptail hey?.....that one right? http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bridges,_ta ... ridge.html

Fill I like your knowlegde dude, everything you say conker with what I've found elsewhere AND MUCH more from your side, thx man.....

My pleasure... anytime, bro.

(Yep... that wraptail would be my first choice).

Nice........

Ok lets continue, what about the nut? Not the nuts, the nut, locking one? non locking one?. Saw the ones at Warmoth with bearings, etc...

Looking for max tone here again.......

5150loveeddie wrote:Nice........

Ok lets continue, what about the nut? Not the nuts, the nut, locking one? non locking one?. Saw the ones at Warmoth with bearings, etc...

Looking for max tone here again.......

Well, you gotta remember that after you fret any note, the nut is out of the picture, so it really only applies to open strings. I remember when I was a kid, I was DYING to put a brass nut on my Strat, thinking it was "the answer" to all problems guitar.
The guy that used to do work like that for me (an older gentleman, much wiser than myself) explained about the open vs fretted strings, and the whole world just made a little more sense from that point forward.
Im a traditionalist when it comes to string nuts (and most things involving guitar construction) cause traditional works!! I use bone exclusively, and the "vintage bone" nuts sold by Stewart-MacDonald work great for me.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Nuts,_saddl ... _Nuts.html

BTW, unless Im misunderstanding something, a locking nut wouldnt be used at all unless you are using a trem ( ) that fine-tunes at the bridge. Also, I've never used a nut with bearings, so I cant really comment on that one.

A string nut is one of the most important parts on the guitar as far as set-up and playability, but does not really significantly contribute to your overall tone, unless again, you're talking about open notes. They are also important in the case of string bending and tuning, in that they should be well cut and polished in the slots so there's no string hang ups (those little annoying "clinks" when tuning wound strings ), causing tuning problems.
In any case, bone nuts work excellent, and dont need a substitute. (meaning brass, steel, corian, etc.)