Recommend Tele Ashtray Bridge

[Rob MacKillop]

The neck on my Squire Vintage Modified Telecaster is the best I've ever played, better for my hands and technique than Teles costing ten times as much. So I've replaced the bridge pickup with a Lollar Texas Special, and the Wide Range humbucker in the neck position with the same by The Creamery - both pickups highly recommended. The guitar plays and sounds great.

Now I'm wondering what else I can do to improve the guitar, hence my seeking recommendations for an ashtray bridge. Looking online I see Fender and Wilkinson specimens, but as they all look pretty much the same, it's hard to discern which would be best for sound and intonation. Any advice gratefully received.

The tuners seem ok, but I might upgrade them after the bridge. Recommendations for those would be useful too.

The picture below is stock, not my guitar, but looks identical:

[mr. beaumont]

Glendale. All the way. Top notch product. And it lightened my tele by a few ounces.

Now, is it necessary...not really. But i wanted a three saddle bridge on my american standard.

An important note. Glen's saddles are flat underneath, so if you want the intonation benefit for a wound G, you can't just flip it over. Call him if you order and let him know and he'll get you the right saddles.

[jazzbow]

Rob,

As far as saddles are concerned there was a thread a few weeks ago;

https://www.jazzguitar.be/forum/guita...-question.html

I put my bit on at post #14. I tried the notched Wilkinsons and needed two sets for a wound G as they are notched on one side and cannot be flipped.

There are lots of other info and opinions too, worth a read through.

I would recommend brass saddles, it leaves a nice shimmer to the tone.

There's lots of tips for the actual bridge itself and there is a lot of science to it too...

Bill Lawrence Website

Interesting read!

Anyhoo, when modding me Tele I just sanded down the base for a flush fit..


Permanent marker as gague


600 grit wet and dry with a flat acrylic sanding block


Where the holes are punched out there was a 'lip' which sanded flat.

I was considering cutting out the edges to stop my pick clicking but I have a cover and it looks cool.

[Rob MacKillop]

Jeff, Glendale have two main types: magnetic and non magnetic - not sure which to go for. Also not sure if they are available in the UK, but I'll have a look.

Jazzbow - fine post. Thanks for the pictures, and the link to the other discussion. Appreciated.

update: Glendale parts available at Charlie Chandler's: http://www.guitarexperience.co.uk/ha.../glendale.html

[Rob MacKillop]

I might splash out on the Glendale Blackguard plate, with the wide-brass saddles. BUT, in truth, how much difference would it make? Glendale - Hardware

[Longways to Go]

I went with a gotoh 6 saddle bridge -- that whole 3 barrel thing is a PITA IMO

[nick1994]

Glendale. All the way. Top notch product. And it lightened my tele by a few ounces.

Now, is it necessary...not really. But i wanted a three saddle bridge on my american standard.

An important note. Glen's saddles are flat underneath, so if you want the intonation benefit for a wound G, you can't just flip it over. Call him if you order and let him know and he'll get you the right saddles.

Any reason why you switched? Someone suggested that I put a three saddle bridge on my us standard but didn't explain the benefits.

[Flat]

Sounds like you have enough top-rate options, but here's another option, just in case. I put this Callaham ashtray bridge on a project Tele and was very happy with it. Three brass compensated saddles.

I don't know how this would rate against a Glendale though. Most of these guys upthread know more about this stuff than I do. Listen to their advice first. ;-)

Callaham Vintage Guitars and Parts (Tele Parts)

Good luck!

[mr. beaumont]

Any reason why you switched? Someone suggested that I put a three saddle bridge on my us standard but didn't explain the benefits.

I had a few teles at the time, 2 with the three saddle bridge, so i knew i liked the simplicity and with a good setup, knew intonation was no problem.

i took a gamble on a magnetic "cold rolled steel" glendale bridge because the general wisdom was "less sustain, less icepicky sound."

Was that true? I don't really know. I did feel like the combination of the bridgeplate and brass saddles for my trebles tamed the high end a bit. I definitely thought it looked cool.

i also know almost yen years later, that's still the guitar i play most often.

[spiral]

These ship worldwide and they are cheap. It's stamped metal just like Fender used to make. I have one and I think it sounds great. I do think brass saddles give you a warmer, more complex sound. The stock tuners on my CV are very nice and I've had no desire to swap them. The only other changes I made was a Black Tusq Nut (was plastic), electrosocket, and obviously the pickups and scratchplate. The electronics and pots seemed good.

Chrome Tele Telecaster Vintage Style Bridge with Brass Saddles | eBay


And here is the squier tele:

[Para]

I used the Callaham vintage T nickel bridges on all my tele's.

[Rob MacKillop]

I've written to Dale at Glendale.

Tempted to also get the Squire Classic Vibe 50s Tele for a different set up. It's a pity I didn't think of that before the price hike - but they are still inexpensive. One Tele for Keef, one for jazz.

[jazzbow]

I might splash out on the Glendale Blackguard plate, with the wide-brass saddles. BUT, in truth, how much difference would it make? Glendale - Hardware

Rob, I see these saddles are £55/$85/€75! A fu' purse never lacks a friend!

I ditched the Wilkinsons for Goldo harmonic saddles, £12/$19/€17 from Thomann.de
Göldo TLV1M Harmonic Saddle - Thomann UK
Plus postage it still works out less than half price!

Remember, Liked gear is half-bought!

[Rob MacKillop]

I know. I'm just looking at the options.

[jazzbow]

Sweet, have fun. Teles are the modders delight!

[wildschwein]

I put the Wilkinson with the compensated saddles in one of my import Teles and have Bill Lawrence L-45T and and S pickups in it; but I have really struggled with the plate squealing at high volumes and gain levels. I've tried a lot of tricks like stuffing the cavity heavily with foam padding, and slightly slackening the mounting screws in order for the strings to pull the plate more flush. I love how it intonates and it sounds good clean and lightly driven but I just can't drive it hard in a live scenario.

[Rob MacKillop]

Sorry to hear of your problems, but that's a useful post for me. Thanks.

[wildschwein]

Sorry to hear of your problems, but that's a useful post for me. Thanks.

Cheers. It's not a problem if you're a clean player with vintage spec pickups. I play through a Mesa Boogie so I'm talking mega gain and volume levels on the dirt channel.

[bananafist]

I've never liked the Wilkinson bridges, I have the Allparts vintage tele bridge plates and their brass three piece bridges on both my cusom teles. Truth be told, I feel the plates are just like Fenders, (good enough for Leo and 70 years of players?) and the bridges have more slant than the others making set up easier IMO. I use light strings so..... I think heavy bridges change the tone and twang - depends if that's what you're looking for.
The Stewmac brass bridges are well made, less angled than the Allparts, but work fine in a stock esquire I have.
Rutters also build nice notched bridges, but at boutique prices, import duty, etc,etc.
Have fun!

[Dave70]

This bridge looks nice too, the scoop is supposed to be more comfortable for fingerstyle:

JBE Pickups US - Joe Barden Engineering - American Standard Style Bridge Plate

[jazzbow]

How about this?

It will fit, has brass saddles and addresses the intonation/wound G issue....


G&L ASAT Classic bridge, £45/$70/€62

Bridge - ASAT Classic - G&L Online Store

[Rob MacKillop]

There is the psychology to consider with this kind of purchase. Glendale are expensive, so we look for something cheaper, but the cheaper we go, the closer we get to what's already on the guitar.

So, we look for something in between. There are a few to choose from. Some claim to be the same as Leo made, some are different - but how do they sound? We won't know until we place them on our guitar, and play them through our amp with our technique.

Should we just "go for the best", which seems to be Glendale? Or settle for "less", convincing ourselves they are just as good as the most expensive type, though never quite sure, as we've never tried the best?!

Before you know it, you're losing sleep

LOL. I think I'll go and play guitar!

[Rob MacKillop]

The G&L ASAT requires routing for a "foot" - many people don't like this. Here's a review on the Tele site: Any reviews of G&L ASAT bridges? | The Gear Page

One guy said he replaced it with the Glendale "superior in every way".

I got an email from Dale at Glendale. He seems to be a man of few words: "Get my vintage Blackguard bridge-plate, I think you will like my double-cut best. For saddles, brass for a warmer sound steel for a brighter sound"

But they are very expensive - half the price of the guitar. Mind you, so were the pickups. So, with the new pickups and the Glendale bridge plate and saddles, I will have paid double the price of the guitar. That's not such a downer as it might at first seem, as I like this guitar as much as the ones I tried at nearly ten times the price I paid for it.

I'll have a think. Thanks for all the opinions and options!!!

[jazzbow]

Rob, the ASAT foot you describe is the bridge for the ASAT Special

[Rob MacKillop]

Ah, ok. Quite a minefield!