Metropoulos Forum

Anyone know, Do they sound like ass? Can you still get vintage Fender bite with a set of these? and do they actually help stabillity?

Doug H wrote:Anyone know, Do they sound like ass? Can you still get vintage Fender bite with a set of these? and do they actually help stabillity?

Sorry to say that I dont know about the Fender roller saddles specifically, but I DO have a Schaller rollersaddle Tune-O-Matic on a Charvel Surfcaster, and its excellent. That guitar always had issues staying in tune, and replacing the tuners and that sloppy-ass stock bridge cured the problem completely, and if anything the tone improved. The stock bridge just had WAY too much slop and parts movement, and even though the Schaller has rollers, its way more precision made than the stock hardware.
Fender might be a different story, though. The stock bridge usually doesnt have much slop to it, but it DOES have tuning issues if you're using the trem. In that sense, roller saddles might be the ticket.
Whether it changes the tone is anyones guess, but if the roller saddles are high quality, I doubt it would be much of an issue, especially considering the improvement in the guitar staying in tune, whether using the trem or not.

so it doesn't sound like they're tone killers then, just maybe different

i've read that the ball bearings fall out a lot during string changes, not sure if there's much truth to that

spaceace76 wrote:i've read that the ball bearings fall out a lot during string changes, not sure if there's much truth to that

I think you might be talking about a roller nut... a buddy of mine has a Strat with a roller nut and he's had to replace it twice for that exact reason.
Fender is pretty good with covering that sort of thing, though. They sent him the 2 replacement roller nuts free of charge.

spaceace76 wrote:i've read that the ball bearings fall out a lot during string changes, not sure if there's much truth to that

If you're referring to the roller nut, I've never had that problem. For the bridge, I'd avoid roller anything. There's not enough movement at the bridge to justify it. Just make sure that the saddles are nice and smooth.

fillmore nyc wrote:I think you might be talking about a roller nut

yes, I am. sorry bout that!

I'd assume that the roller saddles, or ones with the guide 'groove' like on Floyds, would, if nothing else, allieviate a bit of angle/pitch. If your string is seeing TOO much angle as it comes up to the Fender bent steel saddle, then the slotted saddles might work.

I think the sound would be similar, though the more the angle is at the saddle, then probably more energy would be released, maybe coming off as volume and attack.

I've seen some "it's a tonekiller" posts googling the topic. I guess that's to be expected one way or another.

I think the Fender roller nut is called an LSR.
As for the aftermarket roller nuts, I used to use them and like them for stability. (I have several left.)

Someone or even eBay has a newer style that fits like an LSR.
After watching this video posted here on the forum, well, I must say I was impressed.
Kudos to this guy

Using Fender LSR nut with Sperzel locking tuners on an 87 Strat for some time now. No noticible difference in tone...but I'm not Eric Johnson and my ears ring all the time The tuner posts are staggered height so I don't have to use the string trees. This set up has worked great for me for a long time. I have never lost any bearings. I used to lubricate with Teflon once in while, and once a year or so had to take the nut off and apart to soak everything in naptha to clean. Now I don't lubricate the thing. I just blow the dust out with canned air once in a while. I also removed the little rubber dampers behind the bearings after they wore out. They are suppose to suppress overtones. Didn't notice any difference without them and the nut stays clean without them.