Bridge upgrade for my m-75 bluesbird

[AfterGlo]

I have a 73 M75 that I love and abuse regularly in local clubs. I am something of a punk player at heart - though we are mostly classic rock - and i tend to hammer the strings, so breaking strings has always been part of my experience. Lately, however, I am more frequently breaking 4th, 2nd and 1st strings - sometimes when I'm hammering and sometimes when I'm playing with a light touch. They almost always break at the saddle. I've also had a few instances recently where I've pulled a string off the saddle, which is not something I'd experienced in the past.

So, given that I love playing as I do and will always be hard on my strings for the benefit of a show, do you have any recommendations for upgrading the bridge and/or saddles to help reduce these problems? Again, this has become a much more frequent occurrence lately and it is really with this guitar only, so I think there's something going on and it might be a good time to consider upgrading if there are good options available.

 

[danerectal]

I'd think about looking at the saddles to see if you just need to file some winding-wear out of the groove of the saddle. I can't think of anything that would be a direct replacement in the after-market selection so I'm probably not of much use on the problem.

 

[SFIV1967]

Maybe something like this might help?
http://www.graphtech.com/products.html?SubCategoryID=34
http://www.graphtech.com/products.html?SubCategoryID=27

Ralf

 

[AfterGlo]

Thanks very much. I asked around among some local musicians And found a guy who installed these saddles to reduce breakage and has had good results. He installed them on a Hamer and said the saddles needed to be shaped quite a bit to fit his original bridge. I may go this route and will let you know how it goes if I do.

 

[mojo]

I'm considering doing some bridge experimentation myself. I think my M-75 is my idea of an almost perfect jazz guitar, a great blues guitar, but doesn't have the sustain with the stock bridge to do a lot of rock stuff and would be better for blues with more sustain. I'm thinking of trying out a Compton bridge, or maybe one of the brass bridges from GFS. That track might work well for you also. The cool thing for me is that I can swap back and forth - put the wood bridge back on for jazz stuff and swap to the metal for rock or blues. Anyone else try out any changes to an M-75 bridge with any useful input?

 

[mojo]

I'll add another question - are the Guild bridges interchangeable with Gibson? In other words, is the stud spacing the same and similar sized studs?

 

[mojo]

One other issue I've realized with mulling over something like a Compton bridge is possible intonation issues as the Compton is not adjustable at all - its usually used on guitars with the wooden "footer" that can slide around on the guitar body to adjust. I'm hoping someone else has already been down this road and has some suggestions.

 

[mojo]

I'm thinking now maybe trying a Callaham steel ABR bridge - I'll plan soon to try taking my ABR off my Les Paul and see if it fits on the M-75. Another possibility is a vintage Hagstrom Adjustomatic - anyone have any input you can give me on these? Anyone know what they're made of or if they would fit on an M-75 properly?

 

[danerectal]

I'm almost positive that all of the vintage Guilds that carry a TOM have had the original Muller cups taken out and filled, then the body drilled for the TOM cups. I feel like I've heard that the problem is not limited to the post spacing, but also in compatibility of radii.

 

[mojo]

Looks like that is an issue - the Guild spacing is a bit wider than the Gibson. I guess the Callaham is out. I may still give the Compton a try. Anybody try one of the Hagstrom/Guild Adjustomatic bridges on one of these? Anyone know what metal they're made of?

 

[mojo]

Think I'm gonna try out one of the vintage Hagstrom/Guild Adjustomatics. I'll post after I get it in and have a chance to try it out. I think the Compton would probably sound better, but I've seen posts discussing problems with intonation on guitars where you can't adjust the stud position.

 

[danerectal]

I'll be interested to hear about the Hagstrom myself. Good luck on the transition.

 

[hansmoust]

I'm considering doing some bridge experimentation myself. I think my M-75 is my idea of an almost perfect jazz guitar, a great blues guitar, but doesn't have the sustain with the stock bridge to do a lot of rock stuff and would be better for blues with more sustain. I'm thinking of trying out a Compton bridge, or maybe one of the brass bridges from GFS. That track might work well for you also. The cool thing for me is that I can swap back and forth - put the wood bridge back on for jazz stuff and swap to the metal for rock or blues. Anyone else try out any changes to an M-75 bridge with any useful input?

Hello Mojo,

Thought that your question would have been answered by now, but it's still open and it sounds like you don't realize that the original 'feet' of the bridge on your '67 M-75 are not attached to the body. You should be able to slide the bridge around just like a 'regular' wooden bridge with a wooden base. So basically the post spacing of the bridge is not relevant, as long as you use the original 'feet'. The only thing you should check is the current height of the original bridge and make sure you don't buy a replacement bridge that is too 'tall' for your M-75. If that's the case you will end up with a higher 'action' than what you have right now and you may not be able to lower it!

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore.nl

 

[SFIV1967]

Thanks Hans! Great info! I also had no idea that the feet on the Aristocrat bodies are not fixed. But makes sense now. I found a picture that shows those brass feet, so the only function is height adjustment, and yes, looks like the wooden bridge saddle height is pretty low, so adding a adjustomatic bridge increases the saddle height quite a bit.

Ralf

 

[AfterGlo]

Wow - this thread took off i my absence! As one poster suggested - I ended up spending time cleaning up the rollers on my 73 M75 (fixed bridge) and am hoping this will reduce the breakage, as I couldn't find an option that would replace my stock rollers and it appears other bridge options would probably require some drilling, which I wont do to this guitar.

 

[mojo]

Time for me to find a facepalm icon to insert here. Thanks Hans! You're correct - I had no idea the feet just sat on the body. I have one of the Adjustomatics on the way - I'll let you know how it works.