Members golias Posted January 21, 2010 Members Share Posted January 21, 2010 There is no magic tone-fairy dust in a three-barrel bridge. It is, quite simply, the cheapest, nastiest thing Leo could come up with that would work (sort of). The tele was designed to be easily fabricated by semi-skilled labor from easily produced parts, including stamped (as opposed to machined) metal parts like bridges, etc. I have owned six teles, with "traditional" as well as modern bridges, and I am totally convinced that Leo's original three-saddle design was a monstrosity. It is terribly fiddly, unstable, and not only almost impossible to intonate properly but also highly prone to problems with string height, etc. I have replaced the "traditional" bridges with modern, six-saddle bridges and have detected virtually NO diminution of tone -- the only noticeable difference is that chords are actually in tune all the way up the neck. I think the almost fanatical devotion to the original bridge design is simply a symptom of the almost hysterical conservatism that permeates the world of guitars, where the apotheosis of guitar design was supposedly reached before 1960, and everything since has been a decline. If the rest of the world behaved this way, we'd still be waiting for the tubes in our computers to warm up whilst replacing the ice blocks in our iceboxes to cool our beer...... As somebody who frequently performs on a headless guitar, I refuse to be lectured on slavish devotion to traditionalism or conservatism by somebody who feels the need to own multiple Telecasters, no matter how many saddles are on the bridges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bsman Posted January 21, 2010 Members Share Posted January 21, 2010 As somebody who frequently performs on a headless guitar, I refuse to be lectured on slavish devotion to traditionalism or conservatism by somebody who feels the need to own multiple Telecasters, no matter how many saddles are on the bridges. Well harrumph! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members golias Posted January 21, 2010 Members Share Posted January 21, 2010 My tele originally had a three saddle bridge, it seemed stable and wasn't any harder to intonate... I ended up putting on a bigsby. Now it has something like a TOM bridge I love Bigsbys on Teles. When I bought my Highway One, I genuinely had plans to put one on it... but I like it too much as-is to ever mess with it. I pick up my JF-2 when I'm in the mood to get all warbley. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sxyryan Posted January 21, 2010 Members Share Posted January 21, 2010 I love Bigsbys on Teles. When I bought my Highway One, I genuinely had plans to put one on it... but I like it too much as-is to ever mess with it. I pick up my JF-2 when I'm in the mood to get all warbley. +1... Vibramate has a kit for teles now. I'm half tempted for my Palo Escrito Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Belva Posted January 21, 2010 Members Share Posted January 21, 2010 I too prefer 6 saddle teles. GFS has one that is a drop in replacement for the vintage tele bridge. The Wilkenson compensated does help. I just like having 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 55gibby Posted January 21, 2010 Members Share Posted January 21, 2010 I love Bigsbys on Teles. When I bought my Highway One, I genuinely had plans to put one on it... but I like it too much as-is to ever mess with it. I pick up my JF-2 when I'm in the mood to get all warbley. The original bridge was a piece of {censored}e. I got it as a free-bee in a box of stuff a guy gave me. I wanted to put on a six saddle bridge. When I went to the guitar store, the guy had a Bigsby on sale for a couple of dollars more than the standard bridge... bigsby B-5 it was. The bigsby had a dramatic effect on the tone, for the better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Angry Tele Posted January 21, 2010 Members Share Posted January 21, 2010 wow some of you people really confuse personal, anecdotal evidence as universal truths. weird. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members csm Posted January 21, 2010 Members Share Posted January 21, 2010 i've been playing a 3-saddle Tele very happily for the last dozen years, I string it and tune it absolutely normally (with a 10-52 set) and I can't say I've ever worried about intonation for a second. Mind you -- I AM tone-deaf ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members CanIBDom Posted January 21, 2010 Members Share Posted January 21, 2010 What's more important with the three-barrel brass bridges: the brass or the three-barrel design? I can see the brass making a difference but I'm not sure how the three barrels factor in, other than providing extra mojo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sxyryan Posted January 21, 2010 Members Share Posted January 21, 2010 What's more important with the three-barrel brass bridges: the brass or the three-barrel design? I can see the brass making a difference but I'm not sure how the three barrels factor in, other than providing extra mojo. Maybe less moving parts? I honestly don't know, I've never done a direct comparison on tone with 6 vs 3 saddle. I prefer the look of a tele with 3 saddle bridges, and my Tele intonates very very close. Actually closer than is possible to get with my Epi Les Paul or Firebird. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bsman Posted January 21, 2010 Members Share Posted January 21, 2010 wow some of you people really confuse personal, anecdotal evidence as universal truths. weird. That's because there is a paucity of quantitative, peer-reviewed studies analyzing oscilloscope tracings of the potential variables affecting telecaster tones. I believe if you write up a decent proposal and submit it to the department of redundancy department you should be able to get that funded... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members headless Posted January 21, 2010 Members Share Posted January 21, 2010 I use a wound 3rd on all my electrics, but I put regular 10s on this guitar because I don't want my GF to get fatigued super quick. The G is definitely the worst of them, though. This may have something to do with your intolerance for the unwound G-string's oft-reported intonation problems. I have read (not much personal experience) that the core of the wound G-sting is has a smaller diameter than would an unwound (for a given string set). This smaller diameter string-core has less of the "end effect" stiffness that contributes to the G-string intonation problem. So the wound G-string on your other guitars is less troublesome--intonation wise--than the unwound on the Tele-type guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Oldskool Texas Posted January 21, 2010 Members Share Posted January 21, 2010 I can see the brass making a difference but I'm not sure how the three barrels factor in, other than providing extra mojo. I believe the theory is that two strings bearing down on each barrel somehow increases the force of contact between the adjusting screws and the base plate. Not sayin' I buy it, but that's what I hear... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members drunkinminer Posted January 21, 2010 Members Share Posted January 21, 2010 mine intonate just fine. I use both Glendale and stock 52RI. Compensated is not a scam lol thats pretty funny. Glendales not only intonate better, they have thier own unique sound due to the way the saddles couple againts each other. If youd ever tried them youd hear it. Well I say this to you then. What did Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Carl Perkins, Syd Barret do before Compensated saddles? Oh yeah that's right they did pretty great "without" them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bsman Posted January 21, 2010 Members Share Posted January 21, 2010 Well I say this to you then. What did Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Carl Perkins, Syd Barret do before Compensated saddles? Oh yeah that's right they did pretty great "without" them. Who knows how much greater they'd have been with a modern bridge... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members doc oc Posted January 21, 2010 Members Share Posted January 21, 2010 All you have to do is adjust the string height screws. What is the problem?If one string is sharper than the other at 12th, lower it or raise the other one a tiny bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members headless Posted January 21, 2010 Members Share Posted January 21, 2010 All you have to do is adjust the string height screws. What is the problem?If one string is sharper than the other at 12th, lower it or raise the other one a tiny bit. Actually, that's the first time I've ever heard that solution stated. Makes sense to me, but I haven't tried it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mel Cooley Posted January 21, 2010 Members Share Posted January 21, 2010 Easy-intonation is over rated. Check out the millions of recordings with James Burton. Or Jimmy Bryant, or Danny Gatton. Hear any intonation issues? NO! The guitar, which requires a tempered tuning, is never fully in tune anyway. Find the points where each string is intonated perfectly and place the saddle in the middle. If you're still bugged then use a strobe tuner and tune to the 7th fret harmonic for the E A D and G strings. Tune the B string almost one cent sharp by the 12th fret harmonic and the light E string open. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Angry Tele Posted January 21, 2010 Members Share Posted January 21, 2010 Well I say this to you then. What did Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Carl Perkins, Syd Barret do before Compensated saddles? Oh yeah that's right they did pretty great "without" them. who cares? I use both, they use both, some use neither, some like Gibsons...I think what makes Glendale's good is not so much in the intonation but the way they are made and maybe the coupling. As an aside, that Esquire Jeff Beck used everyone cream thier jeans overs he did not care for and gave it away. He was all about his heavy ass humbucker Tele. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wyatt Posted January 21, 2010 Members Share Posted January 21, 2010 God, how the hell do all those classical guitarists and flat pickers get by without adjustable bridges?...they must sound like ass...oh wait, they don't. John Williams, Doc Watson, Django Reinhardt, for example did fine. Every single artist to record before 1948 did just fine. Many artist since do just fine. Every acoustic player does just fine. And Tele players are fine as well. youi know how they get by? They develop an ear and adjust their finger pressure. And Mel Cooley is rightuitar isn't an exact instrument. Unless you're playing with compensated frets, or at least a Buzz Feiten system, then you can't intonate across an entire octave on a fretboard anyway. Intonate to the open string/12 fret and the 1st positron chords are all out of tune. Intonate to the 1st position chords and open strings are all out of tune. Regardless of whatever bridge you have, there is a 99% chance a guitar is going to sound out of tune accompanying a piano not matter how long you rack your brains over it. So, quit sweating the small stuff. All you are doing is making excuses for things practice will fix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sxyryan Posted January 21, 2010 Members Share Posted January 21, 2010 If you want to get really technical, depending on the scale/key/mode your playing in, you have to adjust single notes to be in tune. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members StevenJM Posted January 22, 2010 Members Share Posted January 22, 2010 After this experience, I cannot figure out why the {censored} anyone is making 3-saddle bridges anymore. It's like making a car with a clutch that purposely slips, or a TV with intentionally messed up colors. ...or an acoustic guitar :poke: i can't believe they still make those too... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members doc oc Posted January 22, 2010 Members Share Posted January 22, 2010 Actually, that's the first time I've ever heard that solution stated. Makes sense to me, but I haven't tried it. I thought this is how everyone intonated them.It's how I do mine at least. The angle of the barrel is what determines the relationship between the strings and serves as a fine tuning if you will. The differences in action are trivial at best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Oldskool Texas Posted January 22, 2010 Members Share Posted January 22, 2010 All you have to do is adjust the string height screws. Exactly - While I set my saddle heights to correspond with the radius of the fretboard, incremental adjustments for intonation don't disrupt that curvature or affect the action enough to matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members CanIBDom Posted January 22, 2010 Members Share Posted January 22, 2010 God, how the hell do all those classical guitarists and flat pickers get by without adjustable bridges?...they must sound like ass...oh wait, they don't. John Williams, Doc Watson, Django Reinhardt, for example did fine. Every single artist to record before 1948 did just fine. Many artist since do just fine. Every acoustic player does just fine. And Tele players are fine as well. youi know how they get by? They develop an ear and adjust their finger pressure. You've never heard me play acoustic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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