Tune o Matic bridge - need info replacing an Epi one..

brianboros · #1 01-25-2002, 12:31 PM

Hi guys (and gals), *I want to know: will an authentic Gibson replacement Tune-O-Matic will fit on my Epi, even any other decent and reputable replacement? Are bridges will roller saddles any good? A friend told me that they slightly suck tone...is this true?
Thanks in advance fro any help ideas.

bb

darren wilson · #2 01-25-2002, 01:00 PM

I'm not sure, but i would suspect that most Tune-O-Matic style bridges are similar, if not identical in their stud spacing.

What i would do, though is go with a Tone Pros locking Tune-O-Matic-style bridge from WD Music Products. I've heard good things about them in terms of improved tone and tuning stability.

I'm kinda leaning towards maybe getting a Les Paul, myself. I spent about an hour last night playing a really nice Wine Red Les Paul Studio, and was really impressed with the sound and feel of it. But i need another guitar like i need a hole in my head right now.

ripl3y · #3 01-25-2002, 03:14 PM

To be honest I'd bypass WD totally.
Their prices are DISGUSTINGLY expensive, to be honest I dunno how they make a living.

Shop around, have a look at what stewmac.com and warmoth.com have to offer for instance, they're much cheaper and the parts are good quality.

Steve

darren wilson · #4 01-25-2002, 05:02 PM

I don't have any direct experience in dealing with WD, so i wasn't endorsing the company. I had just heard good things about the TonePros bridges, and was sharing the info.

Kremlin · #5 01-25-2002, 09:19 PM

Tune-o-matics are available in a ton of varieties and won't all just fit together. Why are you replacing it?

brianboros · #6 01-26-2002, 05:23 PM

I've had this guitar for 3.5 years, and it has the chincy pseudo gold hardware which is getting all guncked...and it doesn't intonate properly...[It is an Epi LP Elite, looks like a custom except no pick guard and has f holes.]

Kremlin · #7 01-27-2002, 03:53 PM

Ok.. I thought it might be a string snapping problem (which I had with my LP for YEARS) and I found a way better solution than the ball bearing bridges. If the saddles don't intonate properly no matter where to position them, it's possible the fretwork is off (not that likely) or the bridge isn't located quite right (also not that likely..) I don't know the solution to your intonation problem, but I can comment on the ball bearing bridges...

A lot of the LP sustain comes from the design of the bridge, and from the headstock angle. This is because when the string is pinched over a fulcrum, more vibrations are taken from the string and transmitted to the body at that point. This is just my theory, but with my experience it's all held pretty true. If for example you take a Les Paul and a Strat, and feel the strings above the nut when you strum the strings, you'll notice that the strings vibrate a lot more on the Strat than on the Les Paul because it has a way smaller string angle over the nut. The same thing happens at the bridge; I know a guy who works at a local guitar shop, and his guitar is basically all self built. It uses a tune-o-matic style bridge, and when he was installing it (and uninstalling.. and reinstalling, etc.) he played around with the position of the stop tailpiece quite a bit, and was surprised to see how much of a difference it made. When the tailpiece was closer to the bridge, there was much more sustain, and better tone. However, it snapped a lot more strings and was harder to keep in tune. Get the idea? Well when you use a ball bearing bridge, there's one more thing for the vibrations to pass through before they reach the body. You will probably have an easier time tuning the thing because there won't be any hangups between the bridge and the tailpiece, but because the string isn't held tightly in place, you'll lose a bit of tone and sustain. Another example: try playing something around the 12th fret or so of a JEM with tons of string bends with and without the nut locked.. You should notice a difference in tone, sustain, and feel.

LP's also always seem to be very easy to bend strings on compared to say, a strat.. I won't rant even much more than I already have, but the bridge/tailpiece combination and the headstock angle have something to do with this.

brianboros · #8 01-27-2002, 06:52 PM

Hmmm..Interesting...I was thinking the kinda same thing about the roller saddles, with respect to vibration having to go through one more thing.

I have never had the snapping of the g string (lol) problem. Although I do run into some problems with it being flat or really sharp.

ScottB · #9 01-27-2002, 07:42 PM

From my experience, the Gibson Tune O Matic rides on 2 threaded knurled wheels that thread over 2 thin studs screwed into the body. The studs look to be about the same size as a #10-32 bolt thread.

The Epiphone on the other hand, (I own a Epi '56 Goldtop RI) has threaded inserts pressed into the top. (Similar to the stop tailpiece inserts). The Tune O Matic rests on a pair of screws that ride in the inserts and adjust up and down with a 3/16" wide flatblade screwdriver.

The holes in the Gibson appear to be approx. 1/8" in diameter. The ones in my Epi bridge are about 1/4".

Kremlin · #10 01-27-2002, 07:50 PM

The bridges on Epiphone tune-o-matics change from year to year and sometimes even more often than that. Some people are unlucky and get no-name bridges that work really poorly, but my '91 Epi LP happened to have a Gotoh. Some bridges will say the brand on the bottom. If you're having any problem specific to the saddles and not the bridge, I STRONGLY reccomend Graphtech's, they made a whole world of difference for me.