GUITAR MYTH BUSTING | Expensive Gibson Bridges Sound Any Different? | Guitar Tweakz

#gibson #guitarmods
Vintage Gibson enthusiasts say the tune-o-matic bridge has to be brass and the tail piece has to be aluminium (USA: aluminum) to sound right. Some others will go crazy when they hear a statement like this and say only the pickups matter.
So... which is it now?

The parts I used (Thomann affiliate links):

Backing track by @SashaIvantic
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Timestamps:
0:00 Introduction
0:44 Intro Song
1:49 The bridges I compare
3:53 The rest of the rig
4:55 Round 1 | Bridge comparison | Clean
7:19 Round 2 | Bridge comparison | Overdriven
8:27 The Tail pieces I compare
9:08 Round 3 | Tail piece comparison | Clean
10:00 Round 4 | Tail piece comparison | Overdriven
11:12 My impressions

Gear used in this video:
(the Bitly links are Thomann affiliate links)

Other gear I use in my videos:

-Gibson Les Paul CM 2015 - heavily modified "Junior"
-Barocsi Troublecaster - Custom built T-style
-Barocsi "Frankenstrat"

The speech mic:
Audio Interface:

Check out the Thomann Music channel for some wicked guitar videos:

Cheers,
Kris

[eddiejr]

Kris…I have to say the one thing that made THE most difference in my guitars was using steel threaded inserts on my bolt-on neck guitars…they resonate more, they sound louder and there is more sustain because the inserts pull the neck down into the pocket way tighter than wood screws could ever do…kinda off topic, but worth mentioning!!!

[Sinar-P]

I preferred the Custom shop. To me it had a balance between the three. The tail piece I couldn't tell.

[sidewaysrain]

I know for a fact that original 59 Les Paul saddles not only the bridge was brass but the saddles themselves when they came to a point was flat and much broader than modern saddles. Meaning the surface area in which the string arrested without grooves was probably two three times is wide! Yes original 59 saddles had no grooves from the factory.

[agriff]

The all zamac(zinc alloy) bridge and tailpiece had the harshest transients but the least harmonic content. The Gibson Historic ABR-1 has more balanced tone with both tailpieces, although more pleasing with the aluminum than the zinc. The winner: The machined brass ABM with the aluminum tail[piece has the smoothest tone with more harmonic overtones, that combination really lets your guitar sing!! Great video, as always, Rock on Brother!

[brianrudolph]

I totally agree with your assessment of the brass sounding mellower. It's clear.

[craiger]

I liked the custom shop bridge and couldn't hear the tailpiece difference. I have a 79 Les Paul made in Kalamazoo. One piece body, T tops, etc. It weighs 5 kilos (11 lbs 3 oz)! But it sounds amazing, and even though it no doubt has zinc parts... I would never change it it, because I already love it.

[henrydavis]

this is the best bridge comparison video I've seen. You can really hear the differences between them. helped me

[DimKAt]

I think there are differences in every swap Kris made but it's more of a preference thing rather than better or worse. I'm not sure if I could hear the differences in a band situation though.

[arnolddealiii]

I agree with your assessment. Brass was darker and warmer sounding, Zinc bridge and Saddles had the most top end to my ears, while the zinc with brass saddles was somewhere in the middle. I personally like more top end on a guitar and think it helps cut a bit better, but maybe the playing experience would change my mind. That said I like the Zinc saddles. As for the Stop Tail piece I heard no audible difference. I would go with aluminum as its lighter weight also. In fact if you could find an aluminum ABR-1 I'd go with that too. I put an aluminum bridge block on a stratocaster, the guitar was a half pound lighter if felt like. Also I think aluminum will sound better than brass or zinc, again I like brighter sound. Lastly try 480 cold rolled steel. Callaham guitar components are machined from 480 cold rolled steel and they sound fantastic for brighter sounds, and sustain for much longer.

[mattier]

You should do the flame maple mod, where you buy longer abr1 threaded bridge posts and drop them all the way down onto the mahogany. Many on the posts are not very far into the maple. No drilling involved. I found it made a huge difference

[thsense]

i have a full aluminum tailpiece and a full aluminum bridge with brass saddles on my most played les paul customs and the sustain, clarity, and richness of the tone jumped out immediately. the note almost becomes bell like. when playing with crunch, it sounds super layered and dynamic. massive difference from the typical pot metal gibson bridge and tailpiece. plus the weight savings is also noticeable.

[garyslash]

Thank you so much for this comparison, Kris. Great. Maybe I can contribute a bit to this topc. I own a 2001 Gibson Les Paul R8 and I have tried just about every ABR1 bridge which are on the market (Faber, Callaham, different Gibson biridges, ABM, Kissmystrings) and may different soptailpieces. I agree with themitsos' opinion that in a band situation you might not hear much of a difference. But this has never been the point to me. What I would lieke to achieve is to get the best (I know his is very subjective) possible sound out of my guitar. Sound differences can be clearly heard. If you decide to change the ABR you have to be aware that they differ not only in materials and of course soundwise but also in dimensions ever so slightly. This means that you have to readjust intonation, stringheight, pickup height etc. Most of the new bridges differ from old, "vintage" ones to a considerable extent. Materials are different as are the shapes of the individual saddles. Old ones are more massive and have a flatter top. The new ones have "sharper" tops. Faber and Kissmystrings ABR1 are the ones that get closest to the vintage ones. Anyway, I think it's worthwhile experimenting with different bridges and stoptailpieces and it's a lot of fun.

[ChuckChrome]

Great playing in so many different styles. Well done!

[joanarling]

I play an ES335 copy which came with a really cheap bridge. The 100% brass bridge made quite the difference, perhaps a semi-hollow is more sensitive to the change. As has been said elsewhere, it will hardly be noticeable in a band context, but it sure sounds better at home.

[Foxtrot]

It quite sonic in the combo of brass and aluminum that mitigates the most prominent of treble and most wide of bass. The midrange seems to hang relatively tight regardless.

[TommySG]

I’ve always thought a lot of this stuff was smoke & mirrors, however on one of my Gibson SG’s when I strummed it unplugged, it sounded sorta dead… not very resonant. I installed one of the Lightning Bar tailpieces which have the string come out of the tailpiece at an angle so it avoids hitting the edge of the bridge which happens a lot on guitars not set up properly.
Secondly I swapped the bridge itself on over to a Schaller roller style bridge which you may see more frequently on a Bigsby set up. Well the guitar came right to life and is extremely resonant now, that being said it made me a believer.

[theodorthiele]

I think it's a super interesting topic, and something I love geeking out about. With of course the dream being that someone could get a non-custom "cheap" Les Paul, and swap all the hardware and electronics to get something better than a custom shop because the hardware is more "vintage correct".

A question to your specific test: Did you also swap the studs / thumb wheel / tail piece studs + bushings ? I have heard mention that it's actually an as big contributor as the tailpiece and bridge themselves - which kinda makes sense since that's what connects the strings to the body wood - but I haven't seen any testing done where those tiny little invisible parts are included. From what I can tell, the original is brass for bridge studs+thumb wheel, and steel for tailpiece studs and bushings - but Gibson uses whatever Zinc alloy for both.

[alanst.]

Hi, Kris! It's always refreshing to see you with your trusty LP and I just love your riffs and attitude! Great that you came up with this comparison for us to be able to draw own conclusions without having to do the testing ourselves. Here I must say I prefer the brighter sounding cheap zinc alloy to the custom shop brass bridge, although I can't feel your player's experience. But it may be completely different with a brighter rig or when playing mostly clean of course... The bridge sonical difference seemed almost negligible to me as well as the weight reduction in such a mass... Cheers

[frantisca]

Hey Kris: quite an effort you made to record this video with all those changes. Your beautiful LP sounds gorgeous ! Regarding the swaps, here is my feeling:
The zinc alloy is the weakest of them all. Definitely not at the level of the 2 others.
The regular CS with brass saddles: you start to hear vibrating the overtones and better sustain, a little mellower sound.
The ABM all brass: rings the most and best sustain. Like it better for the chords, but to me the CS is the best compromise when played lead.
The Aluminium tailpiece vs the alloy: very subtle difference, but still maybe a fuller tone... So I would go for CS bridge and Aluminium Tailpiece.
Personally, I have tried several: Standard, CS, TonePros and Faber (German made). This last one has brass saddles, Aluminium lightweight tailpiece and the parts are anchored to the posts for stability and more sustain. Superior quality, like TonePros. My 2¢...

[noternunstoned]

Over wrapping causes a "looser" feel to the string breakpoint, not a big deal, but you notice the strings sound louder (a high pitched harp sound) when you strum them behind the saddles.
I think these frequencies come through to the the overall sound slightly.