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Adjustable sattles or vintage style bridge?


daveinspain

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My 59 Historic ES 175 D came with a solid wood vintage style bridge which works fine and I can get the intenation spot on except for the G string that goes sharp On the upper frets..., I would imagine if I change the bridge to an adjustable sattle bridge that would take care the problem but I'll lose the vintage look.., what do you guys think? My ear is not so trained that I hear a sharp G string on the upper frets but will other people hear it?

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You seem to be saying that it doesnt bother you, so I'm guessing this is showing up on your tuner? How far out is it?

 

Presumably the bridge is in the correct position if all other strings check out.

 

Personally, if I couldn't hear it, I would not worry about changing the bridge; not even if I was gigging it.

 

Maybe you could post up a sound link so we see if we can hear it?

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The more bridges the better I say - ideally you'd have the one you have now, another wood one with an intonated G (like L5 Larry's) and for those wilder moments (gasp!) a metal 6-saddle bridge.

My 175 has a Bigsby and came with a Tonepros chromed roller bridge. Love it.

Still have issues with it returning to tune but am sure it's not the bridge.

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My choice would be a fully intonatable bridge.

 

The more bridges the better I say - ideally you'd have the one you have now, another wood one with an intonated G (like L5 Larry's) and for those wilder moments (gasp!) a metal 6-saddle bridge.

My 175 has a Bigsby and came with a Tonepros chromed roller bridge. Love it.

Still have issues with it returning to tune but am sure it's not the bridge.

A wooden bridge custom-made to the strings used is a fine option, too.

 

I'm sure it's not the bridge fouling up tuning, too. I replaced the stock Nashville Tune-O-Matic with a Schaller roller bridge on SGs with Lyra vibrato. It allows for delicate shimmering effects without causing bridge wobbling or the dreaded "blings" of plain strings detuning at the bridge saddles, but it's far from performing like my Floyd Rose systems do. I experienced that perfect tuning stability calls for a double-locking vibrato.

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Dave:

 

I am guessing the bridge it came with is compensated for a wound G string. Did you switch to a plain 3rd?

 

In either case, you want the guitar to be in tune don't you? Last I knew, you were playing live on occasion and recording.

 

Might also put an opinion, I don't think a metal TOM is a "non-vintage" look, and I also think the 175 is a type of guitar where the styles of music played leans toward being in perfect tune.

 

You haven't had this thing long, I wouldn't go getting custom bridges made until you know for sure what gauge and strings you want to keep on it. But having a couple wood bridges with the different compensated G (plain or wound) and/or a TOM would be a good thing. The guitar justifies it, even SCREAMS for it.

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