Compton Bridge

[Norrissey]

In the past few months I have put a Compton Bridge on my '97 X-170 and on my '75 Starfire II and I've been super pleased with the results. Each string plays super clear and clean but with a warm, thick tone. Obviously sound/tone is subjective and hard to describe and pin down but I would recommend Compton Bridges to anyone who is not entirely happy with their current bridge or who wants to tweak the sound of their arch top. They look good too! I am not affiliated, just a happy customer

 

[GAD]

Nice. I love Compton bridges. What metal did you choose?

 

[Norrissey]

What metal did you choose?

Solid brass for the X-170 and solid stainless steel for the Starfire II (the Starfire has chrome parts so I matched that with the stainless) Both sound great. I couldn't tell you for sure if the the bridges sound different because the guitars/pickups are obviously different (SD-1s vs HB-1s) but the impact on the sound quality is similar. @GAD curious if you have ever tried a hollow Compton bridge? I think they called them "tone chambered"

 

[freddyfingers]

Have used a bunch of them on various archtops. Always made an improvement. Looking to eventually put one on the starfire that came with the bigsby bridge. First i need to get a base, then another Compton. To me, in most cases the intonation was fine, which allowed we to get rid of the tune a matics some guitars come with.

 

[GAD]

Solid brass for the X-170 and solid stainless steel for the Starfire II (the Starfire has chrome parts so I matched that with the stainless) Both sound great. I couldn't tell you for sure if the the bridges sound different because the guitars/pickups are obviously different (SD-1s vs HB-1s) but the impact on the sound quality is similar. @GAD curious if you have ever tried a hollow Compton bridge? I think they called them "tone chambered"

I have not.

For a while I wanted to try a Ti bridge but could never justify the cost.

 

[Walter Broes]

If I'm getting a one-piece bridge that's not adjustable for intonation, it'll be a Tru-Arc Serpentune that's pre-set for a plain G string set.



I've tried straight-line saddles on 24 3/4" scale guitars, and in a two-guitar band, multi-guitar track dense mix or a guitar/keyboard settting, they don't cut it for me.

 

[teleharmonium]

If I'm getting a one-piece bridge that's not adjustable for intonation, it'll be a Tru-Arc Serpentune that's pre-set for a plain G string set.

I got one of those recently, and now I'm looking at about 6 more of them.

 

[Smiert Spionam]

The Compton looks and sounds great with a wound G, but I agree that a Tru-Arc Serpentune is a better choice with a plain G. I’ve got them in copper, brass, and steel (and I only hear slight differences among them).

 

[matsickma]

Learned some valuable info tonight about these bridges. I haven't been very pleased with tuneomatics lately.
M

 

[Walter Broes]

I honestly keep wondering why people seem to hate tune-a-matics, they work great for me.

 

[GAD]

I honestly keep wondering why people seem to hate tune-a-matics, they work great for me.

Only time I really have an issue with them is when they buzz, but that’s usually an easy fix. I’d venture to say that the majority of my guitars have some variation of them. Hmm… might need a new column on my spreadsheet.

 

[teleharmonium]

The Compton looks and sounds great with a wound G, but I agree that a Tru-Arc Serpentune is a better choice with a plain G. I’ve got them in copper, brass, and steel (and I only hear slight differences among them).

how is the intonation on the b and e with a Compton ?
From pics I thought the length would be short on those, like a bar, but I haven't seen or heard one in person.

 

[teleharmonium]

I honestly keep wondering why people seem to hate tune-a-matics, they work great for me.

I've had rattles and also buzz or sitar effects from individual saddles. I practice without an amp often, and I'm easily distracted, so I have a low tolerance for things like that.
But I will say they are way better than Rickenbacker bridges.

 

[Smiert Spionam]

how is the intonation on the b and e with a Compton ?
From pics I thought the length would be short on those, like a bar, but I haven't seen or heard one in person.

It's definitely not perfect, but decent -- you basically set it for the two E strings, and let the rest fall where they will.

 

[Rocky]

I honestly keep wondering why people seem to hate tune-a-matics, they work great for me.

I don't hate them. I have them on a few guitars. However, I have found that I get a little something extra out of instruments that have a bridge or bridge/tailpiece that is a solid chunk of metal. More firm bass notes and maybe a bit more sustain. It could all be in my head.