Mickguard Posted April 15, 2006 Report Posted April 15, 2006 Seems like a lot of people are building LP Jrs lately, so this may be of interest. My current build is inspired by the LP Jr too.... I'm getting ready to order another compensated wraparound --I have a cheap chrome plated wraparound here (from a cheapo guitar) but I don't want to use it --the guitar is new, and the metal is already grooved from the strings on the back. Which is just going to chew up the strings. On the other hand, the wraparound I put on my other guitar (a chrome model from StewMac) seems to be holding up pretty well. So I thought I'd just go ahead and get another. But then I came across a nickel version .... And I'm wondering what the differences might be -- I'm mostly interested in which one will be more durable, that is, won't develop severe notches that are going to cause the strings to break quickly. If there's a difference. Also, I've also seen 'lightweight' wraparounds --I'm assuming that's just weight, or is it a tonal thing? You guessed it , I like compensated wraparounds. They make the most sense of any electric bridges. No moving parts! Quote
doug Posted April 16, 2006 Report Posted April 16, 2006 Gotoh 510 is a really, really nice one. Also the GB_2575-001 from Allparts is very nice. Baddass wrap arounds are real nice too. There's one a couple of my customers have sent me to add to guitars called Pig something I think and they are aluminum. The saddles on the Gotoh and Allparts ones can be changed to Graphtech saddles for better performance. Hope that helps... -Doug Quote
GuitarGuy Posted April 16, 2006 Report Posted April 16, 2006 When you get somthing that is triple plate chrome it is copper plated first to fill defects, then nickel plated for durability and then chome plated for the shine. (at least that is my understanding) Cheap hardware has a tendency to skip one or more of those steps. Edit: in case you're wondering why not just nickel plate it. Nickel does not have a very nice shine even when polished. (well not compared to chrome) Quote
custom22 Posted April 16, 2006 Report Posted April 16, 2006 ? You guessed it , I like compensated wraparounds. They make the most sense of any electric bridges. No moving parts! Oh yea. Its so much nicer to have the guitar done right the first time than having moving parts to worry about. Quote
jnewman Posted April 18, 2006 Report Posted April 18, 2006 A good chrome finish is unbelievably durable. A bad chrome finish with flake up and fall apart if you look at it wrong . Like so many things, it just depends on the quality of the work. Your questions about notching don't have much to do with the finish, but with the material under the finish. Really cheap parts will be made out of cast "pot metal" which is very, very soft. Quality guitar hardware is made from hard brass or aluminum and will stand up much better to string wear. Quote
Mickguard Posted April 18, 2006 Author Report Posted April 18, 2006 Your questions about notching don't have much to do with the finish, but with the material under the finish. Really cheap parts will be made out of cast "pot metal" which is very, very soft. Quality guitar hardware is made from hard brass or aluminum and will stand up much better to string wear. Well, that places the StewMac bridge in the realm of garbage...it's been on the guitar for less than a month and it's already all notched up...and just ate my D string... Quote
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