Talking Tuneomatic Bridges

V

VonBonfire

Well-known member
Seems like both the Edwards have a rattle I can't completely rid myself of, contributing to some of the irritating noises I was experiencing at higher volumes. I pulled the bridge off my ES and teflon taped all the screws, used clear nail polish on the retainer wire, and even used a dab on the thumbwheels and it quieted down quite a bit but is still making some noise when I dig in hard with the pick.

I believe these are Gotoh briges, stamped TABR-1 on the underside which. What I was able to gather is that Edwards are M4 post size, which kinda limits the bridge selection if I were to replace it. Not sure if that is true or not. I see they have conversion kits that might open up some other options but I'm still a little confused on the stud spacing on an Edwards and which kit I would need.

One forum member recommended a tone pros bridge. The ES has a Bigsby so I looked at some Schaller roller bridges but have no idea if those are any good or not. I see there are also Faber bridges some people swear by. I looked at a Babicz, which has individually adjustable bridge pieces which would be nice but was $220. Buy once cry once? No idea if I can get any of these to fit but I need to do something to fix the situation. I don't have a lot of faith in another Gotoh.

Any recommendations or experiences on replacing tuneomatics or expanding my options with a stud spacing kit on a Japanese guitar? Or any guitar for that matter. I'd like to get something with pre cut slots. This is the last demon I need to exorcise from my rig. Any input would be great. Thank you brothers.
 
Faber would be my recommendation.

They have been sending me emails all weekend about their 20% St Patrick's Day Sale, so I would decide soon, if you are going to buy one from them. But they have that sitewide sale for EVERY holiday, it seems.

Being a "T ABR1", the import Les Paul version of the bridge on their site would likely work, but send them the measurements, to be sure. I think that you can also get one with no retainer wire, and "set screws", to anchor it to the posts (prevent shifting or rattling).

Just research it and know that it could be a viable option.....
 
The Faber bridges look pretty nice. Pretty pricey too, like $150 for the gold. And it looks like I missed the sale. Probably be a few more days before I can get something ordered anyways so I guess I will keep looking and learning until then.

Anyone else can share experiences here? Tonepros vs Faber? Babicz? Other?
 
I have a nickel Faber EZ lock (for Gibsons with Nashville bridge but it fits Eastman too) if you want. I had it on a guitar I sold so I put the original back on. The Faber stuff is good. And they have sales all the friggin time. They’ll have a Memorial Day sale for sure…and any/every other holiday. They have a lot of sales!

The Schaller roller bridge is garbage. The whole thing still rocks back n forth when the Bigsby was used. Tried that first then the locking Faber. The Faber worked great.
 
SpiderWars said:
I have a nickel Faber EZ lock (for Gibsons with Nashville bridge but it fits Eastman too) if you want. I had it on a guitar I sold so I put the original back on. The Faber stuff is good. And they have sales all the friggin time. They’ll have a Memorial Day sale for sure…and any/every other holiday. They have a lot of sales!

The Schaller roller bridge is garbage. The whole thing still rocks back n forth when the Bigsby was used. Tried that first then the locking Faber. The Faber worked great.
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I appreciate that offer on the Faber Spider but all my hardware is gold on this Edwards. Thanks for the heads up on that Schaller. Crossed that one off my list. Sounds like a hunk of crap. I don't really use the Bigsby that much but thought I'd ask about roller bridges too.
 
I have a faber for no other real reason than they use e clips instead of retaining wire. They’re not life changing but it’s nice to have a bridge with saddles that don’t wiggle. Also the coating seems to be better than stock, my sweat eats bridge finishes and the faber holds up way better.
Never heard a bad thing about tonepros either.
 
I think the Faber ABR-1 EZ lock sounds different than the Nashville bridge that was on the guitars I’ve swapped it onto. But it’s a different design so I can’t attribute it to brand. And it’s up to each to decide if they like it or not. Put simply it seems brighter but not more sparkly, just less low mids more upper mids.
 
Can’t comment on if it will fit or not, but I have a handful of babicz bridges and think they are well worth the price tag
 
SpiderWars said:
I think the Faber ABR-1 EZ lock sounds different than the Nashville bridge that was on the guitars I’ve swapped it onto. But it’s a different design so I can’t attribute it to brand. And it’s up to each to decide if they like it or not. Put simply it seems brighter but not more sparkly, just less low mids more upper mids.
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This is great info brother, thank you. I am actually doing a pickup swap on said ES in a couple days because it's just a little too bright for how I usually been setting my rig. My speakers are in serious need of break in time right now. They were pretty toppy at the first full volume gig the other night.

Aynirar27 said:
Can’t comment on if it will fit or not, but I have a handful of babicz bridges and think they are well worth the price tag
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Thank you Daniel. I might have to make a couple phone calls later week before I pull the trigger on something. Truthfully the Babicz is about the same price as the gold Faber that appears to fit my guitar. Do you find the Babicz fiddly or is it pretty easy to set up once installed? I like simple things, maybe you've noticed, lol. Any tonal changes when you installed it?
 
I found the babicz stuff to be as easy to install as anything else. There are a couple different sized Allen screws so you will have to keep track of 2 different wrenches, but they set and forget once you have them dialed in.
Only complaint is that they seem to only stock XL tshirts. Every order comes with one an no matter what size I put down, I always get an extra large. I like that they are based in the northeast though.
Tonal wise I can’t say I noticed a whole lot of difference. Maybe a bit more sustain, but it just felt really solid on the guitar.
 
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