difference between fixed bridges

[garegin]

i know you got your tele-style, tune-o-matic and edge fixed. but whats the biggest difference between "one-piece" bridges like teles and tune-o-matics?

[spider murphy]

one difference that i've noticed is that with a tune o matic you can adjust the stopbar up and down to give dif overtones to your sound.

[ColinMmmmm]

Thats cool - I didn't know the height of the stopbar made a difference. I mean I knew it changed the pressure the strings exerted on the Tune-O piece, but I didn't think it had too much impact on the sound.

[garegin]

whats about "string throughs"?
i mean are ibanez style fixed bridges non-adjustable?

exert from wiki
" The Tune-o-matic extends this idea to make the distance adjustable for all the strings, within limits."

but arent all bridges "adjustable"?

[ColinMmmmm]

Obviously there are different types of "adjustable". Moving saddles forward/backward, raising the saddles, etc. Each bridge is adjusted differently . . .

[garegin]

right, but then whats the that quote would be incorrect. in this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Telecaster50th.jpg) photo the saddles move back and forth. or not ??

[mike80sguy]

saddles have to be able to move back and forth for the sake of intonation. You'll find that this possible in any and all electric guitar bridges with the exception of the first stop tailpieces by gibson (early 50s LP). Some builders still use these.
Saddle height is also a demanded feature cuz its needed to adjust the action.
string tension on the other hand is only available in tune-o-matics. Gibson claims its the best for sustain. Stringthru also contributes to sustain.

[garegin]

now i understand

[spider murphy]

sorry double post

[spider murphy]

Originally Posted by ColinMmmmm

Thats cool - I didn't know the height of the stopbar made a difference. I mean I knew it changed the pressure the strings exerted on the Tune-O piece, but I didn't think it had too much impact on the sound.

i didn't know either until i started messing with the bar trying to get the tension i liked. as i raised it up it began to give the tone a slight shimmer(if that makes sense), and lowering it seemed to give the tone less of this shimmer(less crisp, and less dynamics). since then whenever i buy i guitar with that setup i always mess with the stopbar to see the guitars full potential.
i've been experimenting with raising one side or the other of the bar more than the other to see if i could add bass to the treble, and vice versa.

[ColinMmmmm]

Thats awesome . . . I bet there are tons of people who don't think to do that. I mean I never would have, although it makes perfect sense. Maybe one day I'll own a guitar with a tune-O and stopbar.