The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
  1. #1

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    Interesting bridge from D'aquisto archtop

    Acutone Bridge

    Acutone bridge works much like the floating bridge on a mandolin. By moving the bridge up or down, you can theoretically adjust the intonation to a near perfect status. You can also move just one side of the bridge if your intonation is off with one or two strings.Additionally, the little "stick" for lack of a better word, can be used to adjust the height of the guitars action without having to remove the saddle and sand it. By pushing the stick in, the saddle height (and hence the action) will be raised. By pulling the stick out the action will be lowered.Acutone Bridge-restricted-jpegAcutone Bridge-diaquistobr_1024x1024-jpg

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    Define fly a very cool idea? But the purpose originally was to avoid as much metal on the guitar. Not sure if it works as well or as easily?

  4. #3

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    I always picture catching a sleeve on the part of the stick poking out towards the bass side, sliding the bridge out of alignment in the middle of a tune.

  5. #4

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    But it's not compensated for plain/wound.

  6. #5

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    AFAIK this was originally an idea of Ken Parker, which he never used because of practical issues.

    It's not optimally compensated for a wound G, indeed ... and this design probably only allows for action adjustments that are the same on the bass and the treble sides. Personally I think that there's rarely a need to change action of the treble strings by as much as you might need to adjust the bass strings (esp. seeing how many people swap in heavier trebles).

  7. #6

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    With a wound G you don't need much, if any, compensation. The compensated saddle is mostly for the b string, but the standard archtop saddle is, and always has been, straight, because it's easy to make, and good enough with most string sets. My only complaint about this method of height adjustment is that it's a PITA to adjust, while thumbwheels are quick and easy. I don't think the difference in tone is enough to be heard. Not every mousetrap is worth adopting.

  8. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by RJVB
    AFAIK this was originally an idea of Ken Parker, which he never used because of practical issues.

    It's not optimally compensated for a wound G, indeed ... and this design probably only allows for action adjustments that are the same on the bass and the treble sides. Personally I think that there's rarely a need to change action of the treble strings by as much as you might need to adjust the bass strings (esp. seeing how many people swap in heavier trebles).
    I don't believe this type of bridge was Ken Parker's idea. Didn't D'Aquisto explore this concept back in the 80's with the Solo and Centura models? In fact, I'm pretty sure the OP's photo from the Guitar Gallery is one of the Aria copies. Here's a photo from the Acquired of Angels book (excuse the quality) of a Solo bridge. I never have played a real D'Aqusito Solo or Centura, however have played a few of the Aria copies and the bridge didn't seem to get in the way or make me worried I would catch it on a sleeve. Honestly, I wasn't impressed enough with either one of the copy models to pull the trigger. They were both rather dull acoustically, but I do attribute that to poor setup and old strings. I would love to try one with fresh set-up and strings.

    I am a huge fan of Ken Parker's work, I met him through Fred Walecki at Westwood Music back in the 90's. I gigged for many years with a Fly Artist and have to say it was a fabulous, versatile instrument, just what I needed at the time. But I don't think he invented this type of bridge. Please correct me if I am wrong.

    Acutone Bridge-da-bridge-jpg

  9. #8

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    There's a video about bridges in Ken's Archtoppery series where he shows his working model of this kind of bridge and explains why he never used it.
    From what I understand (and remember) of his story in that video is that the design was brainstormed (by him) while having lunch or dinner with Acquisto.