what bridge should i use?

[john]

The guitar i've just started building is a neck-thru prs style guitar. Considering the fact that the neck is not angled, what type of bridge should i use in order to have the best sustain possible?

i was thinking hardtail strat bridge , but how about a tune-o-matic style with tailpiece? i know the neck needs to be angle for them, but how about recessing the bridge and tailpiece into the body(i remember someone mentioned that not too long ago.)

Im building this guitar to sustain till the cows come home any ideas?

thanks,

john.

[Brian]

String through body come's to mind but almost any hard tail will do as far as I know.

[john]

String thru body it is! ,

I could use a fender style one ( a bit clichéd ) stewmac #0179

or

stewmac #5304 which is a top loader but if you look at the pic of it there is no reason i can see that you could`nt use it as a string thru, i could radius the edges of the string holes a little to avoid any string breakage problems at the bend(because string is not meant to pass through fully.)

what do you think?

the second option is a lot cheaper and looks different to the traditional fender style.

or am i just being silly?

thanks,

john.

[john]

btw,

i wonder if anyone has ever made their own hardwood bridge with saddles from a normal steel bridge?

interesting .......

[westhemann]

you can use a tune o matic bridge combined with string thru body.and yes you can recess a tune o matic.if you do go that route i highly reccomend tone pros tune o matic.it costs more but it connects tightly(with allen screws)to the inserts which does increase sustain.and don't overlook the pickupsfor extra sustain cause that makes a BIG difference.the most sustain i ever got out of a pickup is through a dimebucker.do you want sustain for clean playing or crunch?if crunch don't forget about sustain pedals.also look at the fernandes sustainer pickup for neck.works well and has a great tone when used in pickup mode.word of caution though it doesn't sustain chords only single notes.also zoom has great distortion for metal which sustains great too.(if you haven't noticed i love sustain.)also body wood makes a difference.basswood sustains well but doesn't have great tone.

[PaulNeeds]

One of the best naturally sustaining instruments I ever played (though not owned) was the Yamaha SG2000, which had a set (?) neck and a brass (I believe) sustain plate in the body from the neck mounting to behind the bridge, and into which the bridge fixings were set, like a sandwich. This should be a relatively easy way to enhance the sustain, especially if using a laminate top under which the routing of the plate can be hidden.