resomax bridges by graphtech

[Groyniad]

if you have an abr 1 type bridge - replace it with one of these resomax bridges by graphtech

i did - and i'm a very happy camper

i was pretty damn delirious before - now i'm wetting myself

no affiliation - i hope its not frowned on to plug a particular product like this. i don't give a rats toe-nail for the company - its my fellow guitarists i'm interested in.

[Marty Grass]

I have one in use. The only complaint I have is that it can rattle. The luthier who built the model I bought noticed the same. It was eliminated by a few drops of Loctite on the adjustment screws.

It's a low mass bridge that adjust with a screwdriver. I like it very much. I can't explain the buzzing, but I wasn't the only one who noticed that on that bridge. That was an easy fix.

[Jabberwocky]

When a philosopher wets himself in the forest, does he make a sound?

Beyond that philosophical sticky wicket, what benefits do you hear in the Graphtech Resomax, Professor Graun, that causes involuntary emissions of the seminal kind?

By the by, how's the old renaissance wax working out?

[Groyniad]

seminal kind???

pardon???

pissing myself is what i was talking about (something that might come about through a simple loss of control rather than something as questionable - in this context - as sexual excitement)

and it makes roughly the same amount of noise as when anyone else pisses in the woods

and i ain't taking that guitar into the forest

and

the bridge - its amazing the way it modulates the sound of the guitar. both the bottom end and the top end are thicker and richer sounding - and there's a marked increase in sustain. also, you can feel the guitar resonating more - i felt it as soon as i was tuning up the first time with the new bridge. the reso is seriously maxed out man.

i had a very marked 'ping' from the b string before - that's gone now. and maybe the whole thing is a bit less bright. (which - i suppose - someone might not like.)

the thicker sound is very evident when you amplify the guitar.

i think metal bridges are the dog's

i played ebony bridges for over a decade - had no idea what i was missing

low sustain is hard work

and the renaissance wax is great - except its a bit smeary. do you find that?

[Jabberwocky]

Little goes a long way, renaissance wax that is. I'd keep buffing it with a clean soft microfibre cloth until the smeary bits are gone. It does take down the new car glossy shine a little.

If you're happy with it as it is I'd leave it alone.

Thanks for the report on the Resomax. You've convinced me. Sorry for the irreverent bit of toilet humour.

[Grez]

I like and use the Resomax bridge also. I haven't tried other options, but after I began using this, I saw no reason to spend time looking for other options.

[fumblefingers]

which one please? (for Gibson gold abr replacement)



ResoMax Tune-O-Matic Bridges

[Grez]

I was talking about the wrap around.

ResoMax Harmonic Bridge System | GraphTech

For standard Gibson style, stop tail and tune-o-matic, I usually use TonePros AVR2 and their aluminum stop tail. I don't doubt the Graphtech version is very good also. Sometimes you just use what you use.........

[Groyniad]

well i just played the guitar for a sustained period unplugged with the new bridge - and its very interesting indeed (it seems to me)

it focuses the sound - tightens it up. across the whole range. every note sounds thicker or fuller and has less of a halo of harmonic material surrounding it; and the guitar feels different to play.

first off - its amazing the sort of change this brings about in the sound of the instrument. we mess around with all sorts of things to tweak our sound - but this makes fundamental changes across the whole instrument

second off - you might like that halo of extraneous harmonic material round your notes. who knows. you might not want the guitar to feel tighter and the notes to sound more focused and thicker.

there are other after-market abr-1 type bridges out there aren't there? i wonder what the ones with period-correct nylon saddles sound like.

its a bit unsettling to discover how much the bridge material shapes the feel and tone of the guitar.

[Groyniad]

which one please? (for Gibson gold abr replacement)



ResoMax Tune-O-Matic Bridges

this is the one i got

product-detail

[TedBPhx]

Hmm.. my PRS Artist II might like one of those wrap around string saver bridges for Christmas. Should be a drop in replacement. Had it since '94 and never done anything to it. 'Bout do for a fret job anyway.

[Franz 1997]

i wonder what the ones with period-correct nylon saddles sound like.

I have a couple of ABrs with original nylon saddles. They just remove that slight metallic edge to the note that the metal saddles give. I have a feeling they were originally introduced to stop the 60s ABRs rattling, rather than to change the sound. Both kinds sound fine to me - I can't hear a radical change in tone or sustain. I rather like the look of the nylon..

[Woody Sound]

i was pretty damn delirious before - now i'm wetting myself

Whoa, TMI

[Groyniad]

Whoa, TMI

sorry - i can't delete it now you quoted me either. damn.

i did distinguish above between two ways of wetting yourself - the one seems a little less inappropriate than the other - but only a little

and jabber - i didn't mean to sound prickly - not at all. i'm an ex-philosopher now anyway (i think)

[Jabberwocky]

...and jabber - i didn't mean to sound prickly - not at all. i'm an ex-philosopher now anyway (i think)...

It's all copacetic. I'm...earthy, to put it kindly, and have bipolar disorder which I have learnt to embrace. Some days I even piss meself off for the things that I say to meself.

[goldenwave77]

I agree that swapping bridges can make a BIG difference. I found it hard to predict, though, and the results were the opposite of what I would have thought:

Benedetto-type archtop---swapped the wooden bridge for the tune-o-matic from the L4-CES...an improvement all around, livelier and more sustain....still plenty of woodiness in the tone (picked up this instrument for a song, built by a CT hobbyist builder....don't feel I play well enough, now, to justify the real thing)

Aria Pro II 175- this one didn't like the tune-o-matic or the ebony replacement bridge....switched it back to what was on there....imitation tune-o-matic with the retaining wire....the original imitation sounded best

L4-CES---tune-o-matic was awful and ringy, in conjunction with the L5-style tailpiece whose ringing and sympathetic vibrations have been tamed with a sock stuffed underneath it....the ebony bridge was a big improvement....plenty of "cut" and sustain with this guitar

[Jabberwocky]

...L4-CES---tune-o-matic was awful and ringy, in conjunction with the L5-style tailpiece whose ringing and sympathetic vibrations have been tamed with a sock stuffed underneath it....the ebony bridge was a big improvement....plenty of "cut" and sustain with this guitar

Riffing on your statement, I have been thinking about sticking Black Tak or gluing Sorbothane under the L-5 tailpiece to damp its ringing.

[Groyniad]

i put a very small piece of felt between the top two strings between bridge and tailpiece

i removed it very quickly because of the excessive dampening effect it had. couldn't believe how much it changed the feel of the guitar

graphtech do dark coloured saddles (designed - they say - to minimize strings breaks). these will take the metallic edge of the tone - and people might like that

i went with the saddles that preserve the top end - and even they have had the effect of taking some of the metallic edge off the note

you might be into that - and you might not be into it

and jabber - 'copacectic' is a new one on me - thanks for the new word!

when i lived in the US i used to try to explain the british temperament to my friends by saying that a proper british person could get embarrassed all alone on a desert island

[Groyniad]

now - sheepishly - i have to revise my initial verdict on the new bridge.

the sound is more focused - harmonically 'cleaner' - than the original. but i think its a tad quieter and it lacks some of the sharpness of attack of the old bridge.

i think - all in all - i prefer the messier, louder, slightly sharper tone of the original.

gibson wins again

[Groyniad]

hate to rejuvenate this thread - but, its vaguely significant so -


kept the original t-o-m bridge on until yesterday. because it generated a very noticeable 'ping' on the unwound strings - especially the 'b' string - i thought i'd try the resomax again

turns out that it is quite a lot better than the original. much 'cleaner' harmonically - no 'ping' - and a more solid feel across the whole range. the guitar feels clearer, with slightly increased sustain, and slightly warmer or softer too. its a lot better to play than with the original bridge.

i think what happened last time was that i had this same initial impression - and got very excited (just made something amazing even better!) - then i got a bit freaked out that i'd changed the original sound and feel of the guitar - and i put the original bridge back on.

but there really is little room for doubt that the new resomax bridge is a significant improvement on the original.

[Humbuckr]

I took delivery of one of their archtop resomax bridges recently (standard height). It's complete junk. Meant to be flexible enough to conform to the top of any archtop. Afraid not, full of large gaps and pressure points when installed on my Eastman AR503CE. The material isn't stiff enough to conform (even with strings under full tension). It's also not designed to be sanded down. Complete waste of money.