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Questions about Tune-o-matic bridges..


u6crash

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Sometimes you see these bridges with a slight angle and sometimes they are strictly parallel to the frets. Is putting these at an angle more in line with reducing the string spread or allowing for a different combination of intonation?

 

Up until this morning I was under the impression that all of these had a fixed radius, usually 12" but sometimes 14". This means that to have consistent action you would need to have a fretboard of the same radius.

 

Today I did find this bridge from Warmoth. It's a modified Mustang bridge with height adjustable saddles. Is Warmoth the only distributor of such a beast? While other TOM bridges would require a neck angle (or recessed area for the bridge), my guess is that this one is low that it doesn't require that. Although it is designed for the Mustang/Jag/Jazzmaster tremolo system, can anyone think of a reason it couldn't be use with a stoptail or anchoring the strings through the body?

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Up until this morning I was under the impression that all of these had a fixed radius, usually 12" but sometimes 14". This means that to have consistent action you would need to have a fretboard of the same radius.

 

 

Yes, but the individual saddles could be filed, if needed for an idea setup. I've never filed on one, just lowered or raised the bridge because my radius is matched.

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There are actually 3 different TOM bridge thicknesses(neck to tailpiece). The thickest is usually mounted parallel to the frets , the middle size is angled slightly, the thinnest is angled the most. It is all done to accomodate intonation.

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526041.jpg

 

This is the closest example I could find, and maybe there is a slight angle there now that I look closer. It's difficult to tell for me.

 

It doesn't look like there is an angle here either:

h2-main.jpg

 

I believe I once read that the Carvin TOM is low enough in height that it does require the neck to be installed at an angle or have the bridge recessed. However, Carvin does angle the bridge on most of their models:

 

cs4-main.jpg

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There are actually 3 different TOM bridge thicknesses(neck to tailpiece). The thickest is usually mounted parallel to the frets , the middle size is angled slightly, the thinnest is angled the most. It is all done to accomodate intonation.

 

Yep. Gibson's "harmonica" bridge is installed parallel to the frets but it has a very wide range of saddle travel.

 

Here's mine.

 

DSCN2500.jpg

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