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I have another thread about my adventures upgrading/tinkering with my Epiphone Broadway. I’ve been having a good experience experimenting and decided to give the Graph Tech RezoMax archtop bridge a try. It arrived today. Here are my first impressions. But I’m really interested to hear from others on their experience and opine on the questions I pose below.
First off, it looks pretty nice. I was a little worried that it might look plasticky. But, the matte finish looks a lot like ebony. The gold posts and adjuster discs look good and seem sturdy. I am not thrilled that Graph Tech say they’ve designed the base to be “universal fit”. The top on my Broadway must be a little less arched than the average radius Graph Tech built into the base. I really want to sand the feet of this bridge to precisely fit my guitar’s arch.
Next, I’m not sure what they mean when the manufacturer claims that this bridge will give your guitar ‘High Definition’ sound. To me, the bridge does sound good. Very smooth sound, mellowing the brightness a bit but also not producing quite as much acoustic volume as the Ebony bridge it replaced.
Intonation and string slots. The bridge came preslotted. The slot spread is a little wider than the ABR-1/TOM on my Tal Farlow, but the slots are perfectly spaced and not too deep. The saddle is compensated and resulted in very closed to perfect intonation on every string. Well done.
Questions:
- What are your impressions of this plastic bridge? Do you like the look?
- Can you sand this material and not affect its strength or tone? (I’d like the feet to not flex as much under pressure)
- Do you like the sound of this bridge? Does it sound ‘high definition’ to you?
- Do you notice a volume drop using this bridge?
- Do you find this bridge adds sustain? Or reduces sustain?
Any insights are appreciated!
Roli
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04-08-2023 11:55 PM
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1. It looks like a bridge. From a distance it looks like ebony, and one has to look pretty close to see that it isn't. It's fine for me.
2. I would not sand it. I've seen no need. The design is identical, or close, to other two-footed bridge bases. It's been used for many years, on many guitars. It conforms fairly well to the top without breaking, and gives decent contact. I don't think sanding the base will help at all, and may cause other unintended consequences. The flex is part of the design, and I wouldn't change it.
3. 'High definition sound' is a marketing term. The bridge sounds fine to me, but not all that different from an ebony bridge.
4. I noticed no difference in volume when I installed mine.
5. I also notice no difference in sustain.
The intonation is fine with the strings I use, and the bridge tames some of the unpleasant tones I get from the archtop it's on. It does sound a little better to me than the original ebony bridge. All that said, it's your bridge, so do what you think is necessary, and please let us know the results.
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I put one of these on my Hofner Jazzica, replacing the stock (and beautiful) Hofner ebony bridge. I was concerned about the fit on the top of the guitar and tried to sand it, but I don't think that helped much. Luckily it seems to have adapted well to the top. The sound of the bridge retains the woody quality of the guitar's original sound and, to my ears, has noticeably better intonation, especially in the higher registers. I actually think the sustain might be slightly better.
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Good feedback from SG & gk. I've nothing much to add except to point out Godin uses these on their archtops. There's a pretty strong following here for those. Anybody that plays a Godin archtop is playing a Graphtec bridge unless they changed it. I have a Kingpin. It has a footed Graphtec bridge that looks identical as far as I can tell. No complaints here.
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I recently tried one , you can definitely sand the material , I sanded the underside of the saddle, it was too high.....(it was already a low profile).
The feet system bend to conform ......
It was to replace a wood base/bone saddle style bridge .
I should add, this particular guitar has a 14 in lower bout. The Graphtec is a bit on the long side for a 2 footer and puts the base feet nearer the f holes so it sounds strange on some notes (plugged in) ....
Another thread on the subject :Graphtech Resomax Bridge
S
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I tried a sheet of paper and used a bright light to see if there are any gaps under the feet and there are not. So I’ll let it be for a bit. I don’t like the flex on the base plate, but if that’s inherent in the design I can live with it.
sorry for the photo orientation. Using my phone to post.
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What is the difference between the 7551 & 7552?
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7551 is Standard Height and 7552 is Low Profile. I ordered 7551 and it fits properly. It’s height is in line with the OEM bridge that came on my Broadway.
Originally Posted by Woody Sound
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Originally Posted by rolijen
difference seems to be mostly in the feet dimensions, Standard:
low:
s
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Thank you, SOLR!
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I heard back from GraphTech. The response was:
“…Light sanding will not be a problem as it is made of the same material we make our nuts and saddles from and is easy to work with...”
I will bolt a cross bar to both posts to make the base as rigid and straight as possible and then fit the bottoms of the feet to the curvature of this guitar’s top and report back.
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Scary GD
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