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opinions on bridges


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We're always happy to give advice...but remember who's guitar this is!! What do you like to play? What have been some of your favorite guitars? Those are the questions that you should be asking...as it determines the bridge.

Another factor often overlooked is "string angle". Some bridges have the saddles sit high enough off the body to require the neck to be angled back. This could influence your bridge selection. TOM's require a neck angle (think les paul). If you don't play divebomb solos, you may be better off with a fixed bridge, of which there are countless styles. Also, will you want a "string through" guitar or a top loading guitar. That varies bridge to bridge as well.

But the very last determinate of part selection should be price...don't spend the time and energy building a guitar that will be held back by inferior parts.. You'll wish you spent the extra few bucks on nicer parts after it's finished. And besides, almost everything on a guitar can be moved to the next one if you really don't like something about it.

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i know what you mean. im set on a TOM, and i'm making a neck angle. but there are a few different kinds of TOMs. stew mac has the tone pros, which are really expensive, they also have the nashville ones, which are a bit cheaper, but then they have ones that are$17.11 this price looks really good, but i dont know what the difference between the cheap ones and the expensive ones are, the specs are all the same!

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Yeah, whats been said so far has been what I would have posted. On my custom, I have a TOM. I started off with a trem on a strat, but never once used it, so I thught whats the point in buying a guitar/having one made with something on that I wont use. TOM look good too in my opinion. Plus I didn't want anything that was string through, so this really only left TOM (as i didnt want a trem so that ruled out floyed rose or other double locking trems). That was my justification anyway.

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That photo of that $17.00 one is a Gotoh and its a fantastic bridge. There's nylon bushings to keep the screws taught and rattle free, and the saddle slots are great. You want to stay away from the Korean and other low cost ones that have big "V" grooves for the strings. They cut the strings and because of the way they're machined, its very hard to file a nice smooth roundover in there as a repair. Plus with the deep "V" groove the saddle is a lot taller than the string, and it's sharp so it will be uncomfortable against your palm. So the Gotoh is great, and the price is even better!

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Anyone got a link to a good article on bridges and their effects on teh sound? Do they even effect the sound that much? I dont use a trem at all so my choice would be a TOM but I also quite like this one hipshot hardtail .

Ive kind of got it into my head that the more directly or larger area that is conected to the wood the beter it will sound? Neck throughs have more sustain cause of a larger more solid conection right? So shouldnt a bridge be the same?

help a neewbie in need of enlightenment ;-)

cheers,

chris

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Ive kind of got it into my head that the more directly or larger area that is conected to the wood the beter it will sound? Neck throughs have more sustain cause of a larger more solid conection right? So shouldnt a bridge be the same?

help a neewbie in need of enlightenment ;-)

cheers,

chris

that makes sense to me...

we can be noobies in need of enlightenment together!

:D

or neewbie

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Assuming a fixed bridge is what you want, and since this is your first project, the TOM is a great idea. I got my gotoh TOM bridge and stoppiece from Warmoth for cheap, and they are great pieces of hardware.

The only thing that would make me not go with a TOM is that it needs the neck angle. If you want a great bridge and no neck angle, I would go with the Hipshot bridges. They dont need a neck angle, they are easier to install than a TOM (on account of the fact that you dont need to drill post holes), and they feel good on your hand. Also, since they are a fixed bridge and are string thru body, their sustain is great.

Here is a link to their site. Hipshot Products

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