-
I've been sort of looking unsuccessfully for an all-brass (i.e. brass baseplate and brass saddles) traditional ashtray replacement with six separate, individually adjustable (for intonation, that is) saddles.
Any pointers? TIA!
-
07-27-2016 10:35 AM
-
-
Yes, but with an ashtray design so as to accommodate an ashtray cover.
-
Oh.. never seen one of those.. do you need a brass cover too?
If you want to go nuts (who doesnt) a lot of nickel plated and chrome plated bridges are made of brass..
Soak it in vinegar will take off nickel off eventually.. muriatic for chome.
Take this with a grain of salt as I have never tried it
maybe get a 10$ bridge of ebay to test.
Thanks
Drew
-
Armadillo Guitar | Custom Guitar Knobs & Parts for the Telecaster
Try emailing these guys. The web site is short on details, but they might custom make it.
-
How about an Fender American Vintage Tele bridge and bridge cover? If you're looking for an upgrade check with Glendale Guitars, they make a variety of bridge plate with different cuts and have intoned saddles.
-
The "modern" flat flange Telecaster bridge came out in 1983, IIRC, with the introduction of the Elite series. That's also when the "Strat-like" six bridge saddles for the Telecaster were featured on the Tele bridge plate. Since that time, it's been traditional or modern. The traditional bridge plate is the ashtray with three bridge pieces; the modern is flat with a lip at the butt end and three or six bridge pieces.
If you want a traditional ashtray--and if you have a four hole (mounting screw) body you are going to want an ashtray; the modern bridge plates mount with three screws--then you will want a Callaham, Glendale, Barton, or some other system of three compensated, brass bridge saddles.
I am using the Barton saddles, but the Glendale saddles are even better. The point is: these compensated brass bridge saddles give you spot on intonation with three pieces that fit with the traditional ashtray. I just intonated the bridge on my new Tele build and the intonation is remarkably on the money--with only three bridge pieces. It is great.
I highly recommend these saddles.
-
@BigDaddyLoveHandles Thanks, I may be wanting to place a custom order one day, but not at this point.
@MaxTwang Fender American Vintage would still be the three-barrel design, right?
@SamBooka Actually, the idea that the ashtray cover itself might be desirable in brass occurred to me (for the first time) immediately after my last post. In fact, this would be NICE, I guess. Funny that you should be the first to reply to this thread, considering that you are the hum specialist here. In fact, my original idea in placing an ashtray cover on my MIM Tele was to get rid of its nonexistent-shielding-related noise (which goes away once you place your hand on the strings, so I inferred that with may hand resting on an ashtray cover it would go away even more effectively; could this have been a reason for inventing the cover in the first place?). Then I found out that I actually quite like this playing position, so I'm considering extrapolating the idea to another guitar. No, I wont't be soaking any metal parts in vinegar any time soon, thanks!
@Greetone Thanks, I will be looking into these "compensated" barrels. I've heard about them before but couldn't quite make head or tail of what this is all about. Negligence on my part.
-
On the Barton set the barrels are drilled at angles going through the intonation screws:
-
But this still involves a fixed length ratio between any two strings on the same barrel?
(Sorry if I'm just too thick to grasp the concept...)
-
Fender AVRI is 3 barrels, as is Glendale. But Glendale has the barrels at the proper angle for intonation, I highly recommend Glendale.
G&L has a 6-saddle bridge for the ASAT Classic.
-
Glendale and Barton achieve intonation accuracy the same way:
Boring through the brass saddle at an angle actually works. Sure, you cannot adjust each string individually, but the results achieved are super accurate. Heck, I get super accurate results with a compensated wood bridge on my archtops, and they aren't individually adjustable, at all.
-
OK, Greentone, I understand now that the principle is rather simple, thanks! For some reason, I had been under the erroneous impression that these compensated barrels included some kind of sophisticated mechanics below the surface.
The principle I had in mind is not totally undheard-of, though. There is even a current version made by Fender (see below, but this one is not made of brass). Also, the only reason to make a three-barrel compensated design I can think of right now would be to retain the traditional esthetics of the bridge. Which I find looks cool, BTW. But, considering that my fancied bridge would be masked by an ashtray cover anyway, I would probably prefer a fully adjustable mechanism.
6-Saddle Vintage-Style Telecaster Bridge Assembly | Bridge Assemblies & Components Guitar & Bass Parts | Fender®
-
Cool! I was unaware that a six saddle ashtray from Fender existed. Well...you can certainly dial in the intonation that way, too.
-
Just my opinion here:
3 barrel compensated bridges way beat 6 saddle versions, at least in my experience. I've used different versions, steel, all brass, brass plus low E/A aluminum ... from Glendale, Rutters, CJ tooling. All of them felt better than the 6 slot American tele bridges I've tried, and the 6 barrel G&L ASAT Classic bridge I tried for years to get along with.
Never tried an all brass bridge plate. Don't think I will, have had such good luck with these two:
Glendale steel
Callaham steel
The Callaham is a little bit thicker, changes things up a bit in terms of sustain. Which can be exactly what you want with certain tele p/us and body/neck setups. The Glendale is classic tele twang. Other bridges do a great job also, but these are my choices if I get the choice.
-
That's cool, and you may well have a valid point. I would be perfectly willing to reconsider my preconceived notions, given a little more background on what you mean by "beat" and "feel". Just these two words.
Originally Posted by mad dog
Actually, my problem is rather simple. I like what I have installed on my guitar right now, but I cannot use an ashtray cover on it:
-
Why do you want to put the ashtray on?
-
My tele has a bridge like the picture below. Each saddle has a movable piece that allows you to intonate each string individually but still still give you the look of traditional brass saddles.
-
Just be sure that you aren't trying to switch from a three-screw mounting bridge plate to a four-screw mounting bridge plate. Most of the "modern" flat plates are three-screw jobs, with a different length from the mounting screws to the pickup--the bridge plate is longer than on the old ashtray style.
The modern and traditional bridge plates aren't just substitutes for each other. It's a little more complicated than that. You can, however, fill the mounting holes for one in the body and start over, if you like.
FWIW, most people don't get along with ashtray covers on Telecasters. They prevent you from palm muting the strings, which for most players is pretty key. On my first three Telecasters the cover never came out of the case. On my '52 reissue I put it on for a picture once--that was it. Back into the case it went.
I think Albert Collins was the only player I ever saw who actually used the ashtray cover on the guitar.
-
Palindrome:
My opinion could well be irrelevant in this case. The bridge pictured is the modern style, quite different from the two vintage style bridges I mentioned. Not sure the holes in the Glendale or Callaham bridge would line up on your tele.
I should have thought that through before chiming in. I have no idea if any modern style tele bridge comes with an ashtray cover.
That said, my comment and "beat" and "feel" related mainly to the 6 barrel bridge I had on my G&L ASAT classic vs the 3 barrel kind. Which once again probably do not apply to you, as that G&L ASAT Classic bridge was the older, vintage style bridge, though with 6 saddles. Those saddles moved around (changing string spacing) and wore unevenly. They were an endless problem, until I finally upgraded to a Glendale 3 saddle bridge. Uneven wear is most likely not an issue with the bridge you picture, though the slots can move around some.
MD
-
FWIW, the six saddles on my '83 moved around endlessly, too. It bugged me. When I picked aggressively I could hear mechanical noise as the saddles would slide around on the flat chrome bridge plate. Call me picky, but the greater string angle across the three brass saddles on the traditional bridge never gave me this hassle.
-
Originally Posted by Greentone
Originally Posted by Greentone
Ken: The irony is that Albert used a Fender six saddle ashtray bridge but you never saw it because he used his snazzy bridge cover with psychedelic mylar overlay.
You just need to let the brass corrode gracefully over time and everything kind of gets fused together! See below, heh. Originally Posted by Greentone
Brass bridge plate? The 1970s REWL:
Last edited by Hammertone; 07-27-2016 at 03:08 PM.
-
I know that the OP is wanting a six saddle solution, but I thought that I would throw these out there since there is some decent three saddle talk here. These are what I am using on my current build. Hope that they intonate correctly!
-
Thanks everybody, I don't think compatibility should be an issue since I was able to replace the original six-saddle bridge on my Yamaha 1511MS (the Mike Stern signature model) with the current Kluson without a hitch. The original Yamaha bridge was crap IMO (unlike almost everything else about this wonderful guitar), and I immediately proceeded to attach it to some MIM Fender body, also without problems.
Here's a picture of the original Yamaha bridge (the pic is not showing my specific guitar, though).
OK, the point about the saddles moving around is well taken. My Kluson also does that, although not to an annoying extent as far as I am concerned. Perhaps it'll get worse with time, who knows. However, now that you mention it, I do pinch the six saddles together between my thumb and index finger at times, almost subconsciously.
Why do I want to put the ashtray cover on? Well, for a combination of reasons that aren't too important really. Firstly, my preliminary experience with the cover on another Tele has been that I actually find it quite comfortable to rest my hand on. Second, in an attempt to go for a specific appearance of the guitar (I'd be interested in seeing the combination of ashtray cover on bridge + full-size neck humbucker cover: take a look at the guitar above, perhaps you'll see what I mean). And third, the bridge pickup sounds fine but looks old and rotten anyway, so hiding it would be no loss.
-
Because this! Hooray for Mylar!: Originally Posted by palindrome
Last edited by Hammertone; 07-27-2016 at 04:57 PM.
Reply With Quote
Samick Jz4 update/upgrade
Yesterday, 03:41 PM in Guitar, Amps & Gizmos