Wooden bridge vs Graphtech Resomax?

[Oscar67]

Came across this little video. The sound of that Graphtech bridge surprised me, I like it even better than the wooden bridge. If you’ve got experience with the Graphtech Resomax on an archtop then I’d love to hear about it. Thanks!

[sgosnell]

I have one on an archtop, and I've had it on others. To be honest, I don't hear a lot of difference in tone using just the saddle. Different bases can make a difference by themselves. Changing from a solid to a footed base can make a big difference. The main thing I like about the ResoMax is that it lets the strings move across the saddle more easily, with no binding. With wood, the wound strings can press into the saddle, leaving shallow rings which can bind the strings and cause tuning issues. The ping you might hear usually comes from the nut, but it can also come from the saddle. I hear a much greater difference from installing a metal bridge than between wood and graphite composite. Tuning is the bigger issue to me. I have no experience with the one in the photo, though. I use a standard saddle that looks like wood, not a metal TOM with the individual saddles replaced.

[caue amaral]

Hello Oscar... I made this video in a very rudimentary way, but it's possible to hear the differences well. The Graphtech bridge is lighter than the standard tuneomatic, as well as the rosewood one. At another time, I also tested it with an ebony bridge, and I would say that the Graphtech was a middle ground between these wooden bridges. It opens up the sound and provides more sensation to the touch and dynamics compared to the heavier original metal bridge. This may or may not be desirable, depending on the instrument, as it enhances its acoustic properties!

[sgosnell]

What I use on my main guitar is something like this, with the saddle replaced with a Tusq acoustic saddle from GraphTech. I've tried TOM, and have several sitting on the shelf, but I don't like any of them. Wood is okay, but for that guitar the Tusq saddle sounds better to me than either ebony or rosewood. Different guitars seem to sound better with different parts and pieces.

Gabon Ebony Archtop Guitar Bridge Bone Saddle Luthier Jazz Guitar Mandolin Part | eBay

[Jabberwocky]

I thought that the rosewood saddle sounded the most pleasing, both played acoustically and amplified. I prefer the attack of the notes and its brightness. The Graphtech Resomax retains the acoustic quality of the rosewood but rounds off the note attack. The Gibson abr-1 sounds metallic, for want of a better descriptor.

[Cunamara]

I swapped in a Kluson ABR-1 with nylon saddles as an experiment with my ES-175. So far I like it.

[rolijen]

I fitted a ResoMax to an Epiphone Broadway and I like it. I think it balances the highs and lows better than the basic cheapie bridge it came with.

Don’t fall for the “one size fits all” rubbish. Although the bridge’s base is flexible and has two feet, the threaded posts will not stand perfectly parallel it you don’t fit the bridge feet to the arch of your particular instrument properly. The improvement in sound was obvious after fitting it vs. using it as it came.

Pics:

[Jabberwocky]

rolijen, what tailpiece did you swap the stock Frequensator out for? I see that you swapped out the pickguard, too. Very nice touch.

[rolijen]

rolijen, what tailpiece did you swap the stock Frequensator out for? I see that you swapped out the pickguard, too. Very nice touch.

Thanks jw.

I bought a gold-plated 175 clone tailpiece on eBay. I’m not a fan of the Frequensator.

The pickguard is an Allparts L-5 repro. They are made in Japan and of high quality. You have to be careful cutting, shaping, or drilling as the resin is quite stiff and brittle. I may or may not have broken one in the past…. I’ve tried other sub-$100 repro L-5 pickguards and most of them are of very poor quality with uneven binding and ugly miters. These Allparts guards come in tortoise and black. They go in and out of stock so sometimes you have to wait. But I’ve ordered about 5 of them over the years and they’ve all been great.
PG-9815 Bound Pickguard for Gibson(R) L-5(R) Cutaway — Allparts Music

[Jabberwocky]

Thank you, roligen.

[rolijen]

One more thing on these bridges is the saddle slot depth. The slots are near perfect as it ships. You can see about a third of each string sits in the slot and the remaining 2/3 sits above. (The black marks on the strings is just my Sharpie dots to help initially position the new bridge). Initiation is very good and the perfect slots give good, clear tone with no weird artifacts, choking or buzzing.

In summary, like any good quality archtop bridge, if fitted properly, the ResoMax unit is great, but I wouldn’t ditch a good wood bridge to try it out. I tried a ResoMax to replace the awful junkwood bridge this Broadway had on it when I acquired it.