Nashville/ABR Conversion Surprise

[Ermghoti]

I put a Tonepros AVR1 on my '78 LPC. It fit, stiffly over the stock posts. After, you know, paying attention, I realized the stock bridge was a Nashville, and the AVR is intended to be a ABR style, and really shouldn't have fit at all. I ordered a conversion stud set from Guitarfetish.com (basically, ABR posts with threaded bushings), figuring that would sort it out. The new bushings fit right into the existing holes in the top, no problemo. The new, ABR-sized posts fit right into either bridge, and a micrometer confirmed they were the same size (0.162"). I chalked up the stickyness of the old posts to three decades of accumulated muck and corrosion.

That, however, does not explain why the posts were not Nashville sized. Was there an intermediate bridge? Was there an aftermarket part that meets the description, ie. wider intonation range, ABR posts and Nashville threaded stock?

[dennistruckdriver]

I have a Gotoh ABR on my Classic that had a Nashville. It seems to fit okay.

[Ermghoti]

Odd, I've found references to having to ream an ABR to use it with Nashville posts.

[Splattle101]

This guitar has the old Nashville posts, but it's also got a Gotoh ABR-1:

I've never understood how that is supposed to work, but it does. The posts are what was on it when I bought it back in the mid 1980s. I put the Gotoh on because whatever bridge it came with didn't fit. It was loose on the posts and was faux gold plated. Probably from an Ibanez.

I don't get it either, but the ABR fits mine.

And on a side note, the Gotoh ABR-1 got a subtle concave bow to it over twenty years. I replaced with another about a year ago.

[Ermghoti]

Originally Posted by Splattle101

And on a side note, the Gotoh ABR-1 got a subtle concave bow to it over twenty years.

Pretty much why I got the Tonepro. Tailpiece too tight=collapsed bridge.