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Bridge Identification from a 1982 Gibson Explorer CMT


WadeR

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I am trying to find out what type of bridge this is that came on a 1982 Gibson Explorer E2 CMT (see attached pictures). I have seen a few other same era Explorer CMT photos with this bridge and many more with the more common Nashville Tuneomatic. This bridge is not a Nashville or ABR Tuneomatic that I am aware of but its post spacing is the same as a Nashville because I was able to replace the posts in the existing bushings with a TonePros Nashville-style bridge and posts without issue.

 

 

Any help is appreciated.

 

Thanks,

Wade

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Yeah, I've been fiddling with guitars for 27 years and this is the first time I saw one of these. I researched this on the Internet not knowing what its called (named) but when I was looking through image searches, I did see a few other early 1980s Gibson Explorer E2 CMT models with the same bridge but most has a standard Nashville-style bridge. I believe that all of these came originally with the TP-6 tailpiece, but it's this weird bridge I would like to know more about. I was also thinking that maybe it's an old aftermarket bridge until I saw a few other Explorer CMT guitars with the same bridge. I inspected the bridge very, very closely and I cannot find any markings, hallmarks, stamps, or writing of any kind anywhere on, in, under the bridge.

 

From inspecting the bridge, it seems that intonation is adjusted two ways:

 

1. The coarse intonation is adjusted by the placement of the bridge itself onto its posts using one of the three post holes on either side - which may be even or offset in either direction. This is kind of interesting.

 

2. There is a screw under each saddle which allows the saddle to be loosened, adjusted back or forward as necessary and then tightened. The problem with this is that the saddle adjustment screws and underneath he saddle, which seems to be would be a nightmare to set up because the bridge needs to be removed in between measurements, which means loosening all 6 strings each iteration.

 

The tops of the saddles that make contact with the strings seems to be some kind of nylon material. On the base of each saddle is a tiny screw access from the topside. Not sure what this does yet. Maybe saddle height?

 

 

I am sure someone out there knows what this bridge is called and where is comes from.

 

 

Thanks,

Wade

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