M-75 Aristocrat Newark St.

Stefan Eff · Feb 3, 2021

krysh said:
why don't you record some tracks to show the differences?

Yes, if only there were time ;-)
But when I‘m done and finally satisfied with a bridge (the Faber will be No.5

I‘ll record something!
And I‘ll report the differences in detail!

Stefan Eff · Feb 3, 2021

Walter Broes said:
On my main player (a '62 X175 with Franz pickups and a Bigsby) I have an ABR-1 style bridge with three brass saddles under the wound strings, and three nylon saddles on the plain strings.

Hey Walter,

what do you recommend concerning notching the nylon saddles? I‘ve read somewhere the plain strings just need „pilot“ notches or even nothing at all?

Bridge for Gibson Vintage, Historic or USA Models • Bonamassa Inspired ABR-1 with 3 Nylon Saddles • LIX Patina Nickel

LIX is the Roman numeral for 59. Even though this bridge is brand new, it has the look of a well-worn piece from that era. This is our ABR-1 bridge with three nickel-plated brass saddles for the wound strings and three ABS "nylon" saddles for the unwound strings. Developed with input from Joe...

www.creamtone.com

SFIV1967 · Feb 3, 2021

The Creamtone link you posted shows: "We also recommend that you slot only the metal saddles on this bridge. The unwound strings nestle into the nylon well enough to hold them in place without a notch. You run the risk of the strings seating too low if you slot the nylon saddles. "

Ralf

Walter Broes · Feb 3, 2021

Just plain nut files like you'd use for any nut or saddle. Nothing at all wouldn't work I think, your strings would just slide off. Nylon's pretty tough material, I don't think the string tension would "self-notch" it.

(the paladins') Dave Gonzalez showed me the three metal/three brass saddle trick about....erm...20 years ago? Bonamassa would be a reason *not* to do it for me, haha.

parker_knoll · Feb 4, 2021

bridge comparison coming when i have time to do the screengrabs etc. no nylon saddles tested, though

Stefan Eff · Feb 7, 2021

Ready. Every slot is notched with love

(final slot polish isn‘t done so far)
Next weekend assembling, no time...

And yes, surprisingly hard material. I‘m very curious if it sounds the way I want

Stefan Eff · Feb 7, 2021

By the way- anyone tried a regular wooden bridge base on the Aristocrat?

Just curious.

29er · Feb 7, 2021

I have not.....yet! I am curious about the tone change that would occur and the original Aristocrat did use the wooden base. I also wonder if a wooden base would stay in place better when I do my Buddy Guy bends? I have learned that the non pinned bridge is not friendly to huge string bending. In years past this would be a deal break for me with any guitar but now that I have grown older & maybe a bit wiser I know that there are certain things certain guitars should not be asked to do. Still, pinning the bridge would solve this issue!

Stefan Eff · Feb 7, 2021

29er said:
I have not.....yet! I am curious about the tone change that would occur and the original Aristocrat did use the wooden base. I also wonder if a wooden base would stay in place better when I do my Buddy Guy bends? I have learned that the non pinned bridge is not friendly to huge string bending. In years past this would be a deal break for me with any guitar but now that I have grown older & maybe a bit wiser I know that there are certain things certain guitars should not be asked to do. Still, pinning the bridge would solve this issue!

I wouldn‘t pin it. You can use violin rosin to keep even the stock „bridge cups“ in place.

SFIV1967 · Feb 7, 2021

29er said:
...and the original Aristocrat did use the wooden base.

Never ever!

Ralf

29er · Feb 7, 2021

SFIV1967 said:
Never ever!

Ralf

I stand corrected!

parker_knoll · Feb 7, 2021

29er said:
I have not.....yet! I am curious about the tone change that would occur and the original Aristocrat did use the wooden base. I also wonder if a wooden base would stay in place better when I do my Buddy Guy bends? I have learned that the non pinned bridge is not friendly to huge string bending. In years past this would be a deal break for me with any guitar but now that I have grown older & maybe a bit wiser I know that there are certain things certain guitars should not be asked to do. Still, pinning the bridge would solve this issue!

my recent experience shows the base doesn't really change the sound much.

guitarlover · Feb 7, 2021

I have a wooden bridge on one of my black aristocrats. The bridge uses the caps though, no wooden base.

There is a tone difference but this is the only aristocrat that I fitted with flatwound stringd so ( a large) part of the tone difference comes from the strings also.

guitarlover · Feb 7, 2021

@ 29er : the black Guilds have a pinned bridge. The cups have a pin that goes into the wooden top . The bridge on the goldtop is not pinned.

Stefan Eff · Feb 12, 2021

I‘ve finally found my bridge

I‘ve tried the stock TOM and to me it sucks tone;
The Bigsby Bridge wasn‘t bad but too Gretsch-like, the flat radius was a mismatch;
The Rosewood bridge sounded liveless and lacked sustain and overtones.
The copper Truarc sounded great but I wasn‘t too happy with the look and I‘ve missed something in the attack. Intonation was very good for a Barbridge but in the upper areas not really perfect.

The Faber bridge with the nylon saddles sounds amazing. It‘s significantly louder than all the other bridges I‘ve tried and got a very smooth yet pronounced attack. Better than the rest. It‘s a tad more „aggressive“ and dynamic compared to the Truarc. I‘ve played it 2 hrs so far and can hear overtones and sustain growing while the strings finally set in their slots. Really really great. I‘m again blown away from this great sounding guitar. Try it yourself!

parker_knoll · Feb 13, 2021

yes, some bridges can be a lot louder than others. That's because they are less resonant and are not vibrating with the string and thereby killing the string vibrations through reflection. That also increases sustain. In this case I guess we can guess that nylon is a 'dead' material that doesn't resonate, and TOMs on the whole are also unresonant, thus loud and "sustainful".

You can set the radius of a Bigsby bridge very easily because the aluminium is a soft material so that shouldn't be an issue. The bridge radius normally set a bit wider than the fingerboard radius.

Stefan Eff · Feb 13, 2021

parker_knoll said:
yes, some bridges can be a lot louder than others. That's because they are less resonant and are not vibrating with the string and thereby killing the string vibrations through reflection. That also increases sustain. In this case I guess we can guess that nylon is a 'dead' material that doesn't resonate, and TOMs on the whole are also unresonant, thus loud and "sustainful".

You can set the radius of a Bigsby bridge very easily because the aluminium is a soft material so that shouldn't be an issue. The bridge radius normally set a bit wider than the fingerboard radius.

Concerning the Bigsby Bridge: it wasn‘t only the radius, it’s tone turned the Guild a bit in the Gretsch ballpark.

guitarlover · Feb 13, 2021

Link to the specific bridge ?
What kind of music do you play and which strings do you use ?

Congrats ! ;-)

Stefan Eff · Feb 13, 2021

guitarlover said:
Link to the specific bridge ?
What kind of music do you play and which strings do you use ?

Congrats ! ;-)

ABRM-NAN ABRM Bridge, Fits 4mm studs, Aged Nickel, Nylon saddles, 95,00 €

Faber® ABRM Bridge: For 4MM metric bridge posts (most imports and Faber® ESWKIT or E-Sert) Perhaps the most vintage correct replacement bridge available on

www.faberguitar.com

I‘m playing Jazz, Americana, Country, Rockabilly and a lot Julian Lage

(I‘ve never learned so much before)...
D’addario pure nickel 10-45.

I‘ve raised the neckpickup ~ 1mm and got all the polepieces screwed down.

Stefan Eff · Feb 15, 2021

By the way:
I‘ve tried a lot to find the sweet spot on the Franz pkups. Raising the polepieces was unsatisfying to me- too shrill, too dirty. Raising the pickup a bit (~1mm) and completely low polepieces works much better. I didn‘t need to lower the bridge pickup on my Aristocrat so this combination works perfect on my setup, of course with my new discovery, the nylon saddles. Fantastic tone.

M-75 Aristocrat Newark St.

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