*** 1950's ABR1 Saddles ***

[redskull_00]

IMHO-My two pennies worth on the replicas.
I followed the Johan Segeborn, ABR posts closely on this ABR-1 subject and comparisons in tone.
For those who are not familiar please watch.

My suggestion would be.
Have Johan do a fair comparison of all replica bridges in question, per his methods.
A kind of put your money where your mouth is.
Let the bridges do the talking, not the mudslinging.
Assuming, YOU are the bridge makers. Lets see your product , and where it stacks.

Johan has access and would probably love to do this video .
An ABR Battle Royal: *50"s vintage VS * Four Uncle's, *RandK, *Pigtail

This way we really see what is worth what $$.

 

[Rogueaverage616]

Brass can be soldered, think plumbing, but that along with the plating off/on seems hellish to me. I wouldn't want to try to make a string slot in the patch.

Some work in progress. I need to finalize my dimensions, make more and plate. The ears to top height from your picture
is about .010" shorter than these. I wouldn't call that significant but shorter would bring the strings closer to hitting the back of the bridge. It's also easy for me to change. The specs on the originals I've looked at have been all over the place, no cnc lol.

I've been making vintage correct saddles out of nylon for the 60's ABR's for a couple of years now, and also make the
pre-slotted nylon nuts for vintage and historic.
View attachment 511569

Hi did you make these?

 

[RandK]

Somewhat lousy picture left I'll own up to, must have been copied from my ebay listing. Yes, I make those saddles and do everything including taking fuzzy pics. Picture right isn't mine, the saddles look like my MOD set for post '09 no-wire bridges. Somebody took a better picture than me...

 

[Nick-O]

Somewhat lousy picture left I'll own up to, must have been copied from my ebay listing. Yes, I make those saddles and do everything including taking fuzzy pics. Picture right isn't mine, the saddles look like my MOD set for post '09 no-wire bridges. Somebody took a better picture than me...

I had these saddle on my watch list for months....I have every intention on getting some from you!

 

[Rogueaverage616]

My replica saddles have been up on ebay for a couple of months. A search for "Vintage ABR Saddles" under musical instruments will get you there. The original saddles varied, perhaps by year or by who made them, I've covered two common styles that will fit the vintage bridges properly. Modern bridges need my MOD version not vintage.

I very much appreciate the kind assistance of the folks that tested the various versions to help me fine tune these !

I just bought and installed a set of these.Amazing quality, there like small pieces of jewlery.

 

[Subterfuge]

CrazyParts Facebook page has a big blurb today announcing their latest, greatest Vintage Correct Material yadda, yadda, yadda .... ABR-1 saddles and saddle screws .. it's like the space race ... never ends

 

[pinodorato]

I bought the @RandK saddles. Great saddles, compared to the vintage 50s "fat", sounds the same.

 

[sws1]

CrazyParts Facebook page has a big blurb today announcing their latest, greatest Vintage Correct Material yadda, yadda, yadda .... ABR-1 saddles and saddle screws .. it's like the space race ... never ends

The supplier benefits far more than consumer.

 

[decoy205]

Would this fit a pigtail bridge?

 

[jwinger]

All the old ones I've seen have been fatter on top than most new ones, which tend to have a very sharp ridge. Gibson ones are actually a bit fatter and fitted my pigtail. Believe it or not they sound better. You can also file them down a bit top to bottom to make them a bit fatter on top. That additional surface area for contact can impact the sound quite a bit in my experience. I think it's a big part of why some people say the old bridges sound better...it's the saddles and the size of the contact area with the string

Its got quite a few likes but I actually revise my previous comment having seen a few more examples now. Generally there a re a bit flatter in top but they did vary a lot from what I've seen. Some are fatter than others

 

[jwinger]

A very well known vintage dealer told me he has seen them both ways.

Alligns to my more recent findings on variation

 

[Luboy]

any tips on which type to get, block or chisel?

 

[Liam]

Alligns to my more recent findings on variation

The more I know, the less I understand... (Evidently a Don Henley quote according to Google, but Paul Weller used it in a song the year before, so maybe some time travel involved as well as Eagle flight.)

Kind of a theme with all this stuff. Just when you thought they were all similar, turns out there was variation. Just when you thought they were all over the place, turns out the variations were really specific. Having run some production facilities over the years, I'd love to see a historian unpick what we did and why. Difficult enough to remember myself. Can be really tough maintaining absolute consistency for all sorts of reasons, internal and external.

Bet they sound different. Bet they both sound good. If you have a real '59 LP Standard with original chisel tip saddles I'd leave them as they are. If you are experimenting with a historic, replica or conversion, try both, unless it's a Terry Morgan guitar. In that case, just leave it exactly as Terry intended... (Somewhere, somehow, he'll be chuckling that I wrote that.)

Liam

 

[jwinger]

The more I know, the less I understand... (Evidently a Don Henley quote according to Google, but Paul Weller used it in a song the year before, so maybe some time travel involved as well as Eagle flight.)

Kind of a theme with all this stuff. Just when you thought they were all similar, turns out there was variation. Just when you thought they were all over the place, turns out the variations were really specific. Having run some production facilities over the years, I'd love to see a historian unpick what we did and why. Difficult enough to remember myself. Can be really tough maintaining absolute consistency for all sorts of reasons, internal and external.

Bet they sound different. Bet they both sound good. If you have a real '59 LP Standard with original chisel tip saddles I'd leave them as they are. If you are experimenting with a historic, replica or conversion, try both, unless it's a Terry Morgan guitar. In that case, just leave it exactly as Terry intended... (Somewhere, somehow, he'll be chuckling that I wrote that.)

Liam

So true Liam. The more I become familiar with vintage stuff the more I realise you have to take the 'rules' with a big on salt things were like when with a big pinch of salt. There are these general themes, but there's a slot of inconsistency. For example, stopped used this pot or cap then and then started using this after...general trends, but lots of outliers.

And chuckle at the Terry comment haha

 

[Luboy]

Would this fit a pigtail bridge?

if regular replacement saddles do, then the MOD ones should fit. the saddles on my new pigtail look a bit different, haven't tried swapping. the new pigtail has flatter tops on the saddles, maybe a tiny bit wider than the gibson ones (or at least same width).

 

[RandK]

I have a pile of Pigtail APR's and they have a slightly unique screw hole spec., my MOD saddles are made specifically for the modern Gibson ABR's and are not ideal for the APR. The latest stock Pigtail saddles are good, if you just need replacements get those. I'll let Pigtail make vintage style APR saddles, Pam is awesome, and she has great manufacturing resources.

 

[jackvulcan]

@RandK

Thank you for all your work!

In the process of ordering a few sets. Any input re which style I should get (chisel vs block)?

Going in:
R7 - 2021
R8 - 2019
Bartlett 59' - 2022

Goes without saying, the goal is to emulate the originals.

Anything that suggests a style is more appropriate for a particular year (block for 57', chisel for 60', etc.)?

Thanks!

 

[davidos]

^^ That is a good description... I put a set of RandK's thicker saddles on my Historic LP and heard/felt the same thing... The acoustic tone of the stock saddles is zingier/thinner and the sound originates from the bridge. Putting on the thicker saddles I hear the acoustic tone more by the neck pickup and it is richer and more complex...

Cutting the slots was a little tricky but I got that straightened out... Now I have to figure out the intonation which is slightly different since the tops are wider.

 

[Sunburstman]

RandyK makes great stuff saddles and nylon guitar nuts!!!!! He Rocks!!!!