Metropoulos Forum

i had bought some nickel ones for ABR-1's on ebay that were nice but i can't find some anymore and i haven't seen some Gibson nickel saddles parts , just chrome or gold as written on teh package.

why is it so difficult to find Gibson parts ?

in France it's nearly impossible to buy most Gibson parts and you can wait months sometimes to get just some Gibson vintage reissue strings !!!!!
unbelieveable to have such a poor service in Europe (i don't know for USA but i'm not quiet sure it's much better ! LOL).
Gibson say the shop don't Order some and teh shops say they are waiting for months if not years to get parts from Gibson !

i had bought a new Angus Young SG signature new in a shop several years ago for 2600 euros ( can you believe that , 3300 to 3500 $ at that time !!!!!) and the ABR- 1 left post/ insert screwed in teh wood has his thread damage so it was hard to turn teh thumbwheel.
i told that to teh shop i bought it from as it was under guarantee (one of the two nicest guitar shops in Paris) and i never could get it !!!!
i went there say, every 3 months for nearly two years !!!
i finaly emailed Gibson about it and tehy asked me so many things and to send them a picture of teh unmounted bridge , blah blah blah , i got so pissed off i gave up !!!
can you believe that for a 25 cent screw (when i paid 2600 euros = +/- 3400 $$ at that time ) !! LOL
if i can avoid to pay 50 or 100 $ for that it would be great as well !

electricskychurch, Pigtail is the answer, it is eons ahead of any Gibson hardware and relatively inexpensive for the fantastic level of quality and the depth of research that Steve has put into these parts. They are works of art in metal and the bonus is they even sound better than they look, I am serious as a heart attack, these parts are even superior to the original Gibson fifties parts. The metallurgy and specs and machining, to CNC specs is really awesome. For any parts, Gibson related in the future, I would only use Pigtail parts







Check it out. The aluminum ABR-1 and stop tailpiece and combined with his steel studs, have turned my 1952/56 Goldtop in to a tone monster, the neck pickup is the Holy Grail of P-90 tone!!
yngwie308

thanks for your answer and for the pictures .
i have been thinking about buying some pigtail but i tried a lightweight Gotoh to begin with.
i was not convinced with teh tone i had on one of my les paul 59' ri's.
the 97' one is already a bright sounding guitar (i put T-Tops in it) with teh stock zinc stop bar.
with the lightweight one, it got brighter , with less body to teh tone.
it could be better with my 96' les paul 59' ri, beeing darker sounding.
it really depends on the guitar you put it on.

Take these:

http://www.crazyparts.de/000000949a112f ... adf915.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

and not so much shipping, since the company is located in Germany.

Larry

thanks.
did the original ones (and actual gibson hsitoric ones ) were brass and nickel plated ?

yes, originals were brass

Another Pigtail devotee here. I changed all the hardware on my R8 Historic Makeover to Pigtail, and where it was already a wonderful guitar, it now rings with a clear yet woody, throaty tone that sounds sooo vintage-like it's unreal. The ABR alone was a huge improvement over the stock Gibson with its crappy and poor fitting saddles. It only stands to reason that a sloppy bridge impedes your overall sound, so why skimp on that?

The steel tailpiece studs are also a huge improvment, and be sure to use the full length ones! The tailpiece I can understand if some people don't like. Lots of people prefer the Gibson lightweight tailpiece, actually. I like the Pigtail tailpiece too, a little more air around the notes, but not as loud and less body, which may or may not work well with your guitar.

The ABR and tailpiece studs are a no-brainer IMHO, though.