‘02 LP std bridge replacement

'63-Strat

'63-Strat

Well-known member
I know there are lots of options, don’t really have a problem with the Nashville bridge other than that it is sinking in the middle so messing up radius/setup a bit, obviously has been happening slowly over many years.

Any current consensus on this?

On the low end there is this: https://www.philadelphialuthiertool...c-tom-nashville-bridge-for-us-gibson-guitars/

Or a Gibson OEM one: https://www.gibson.com/en-US/Product/PBBR-Nashville/PBBR-030

And then there are conversion posts and abr-1 style etc. My historic ‘63 335 has an abr-1 style and overall is a better guitar but is kind of apples and oranges for many reasons, including 57 classics vs jb/59 on the LP.

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I just put a Faber abr1 conversion on my Les Paul traditional and I love it. Only think i wasn’t fond of was hammering in new posts, but install went smooth and too maybe 30 min total.
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I used Faber as well but did not install new studs. Just new posts/ locking bridge. They have the posts that fit the Nashville-type studs but for their ABR1 bridge. They call it Tone Lock EZ or something.
 
Part of me feels like if going to go abr-1 style would have to fill the holes with dowels/wood glue etc and screw directly into wood for it to be comparable and even then not quite the same as an OEM abr-1. I have heard good things about tonepros and faber though obv.
 
'63-Strat said:
Part of me feels like if going to go abr-1 style would have to fill the holes with dowels/wood glue etc and screw directly into wood for it to be comparable and even then not quite the same as an OEM abr-1. I have heard good things about tonepros and faber though obv.
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I know what you mean but f-that. I think its people just pontificating that if it isn't built exactly like a real '59 (some of which sucked) then it can't be meeting its full potential. I think at some point a guitar is what it is and doing all that is going too far.

In my case; I was replacing the bridge on my '80 LPC because the old one had corroded into a very uncomfortable hand shredder. So I figured I'd just go with the ABR1-type because I like the tailpiece down tight and I hate top-wrapping the tailpiece. So I didn't want the strings hitting the back edge of the bridge...so ABR1.
 
SpiderWars said:
I know what you mean but f-that. I think its people just pontificating that if it isn't built exactly like a real '59 (some of which sucked) then it can't be meeting its full potential. I think at some point a guitar is what it is and doing all that is going too far.

In my case; I was replacing the bridge on my '80 LPC because the old one had corroded into a very uncomfortable hand shredder. So I figured I'd just go with the ABR1-type because I like the tailpiece down tight and I hate top-wrapping the tailpiece. So I didn't want the strings hitting the back edge of the bridge...so ABR1.
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I hear you and this is not a vintage style LP anyways so I don’t really mind it not being vintage correct. I wouldn’t even be replacing the stock bridge if it wasn’t sagging.
 
I'd look at the specs and just avoid Zinc.

I replaced my Gibson's stock bridge (Aluminum top-adjustable Nashiville) with a Schaller STM (Zinc with brass rollers), and I definitely noticed the tone deadened a little.

Not too bad, TBH. And the STM bridge looks much cooler (I wanted to black out the hardware). But since you are considering changing the bridge, you don't want a downgrade.

JMO.


*EDIT* Oh, nevermind. Glad you went with the Faber!
 
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One reason why I don’t slam my tailpiece to the body. Puts too much tension on the bridge and eventually starts to sag.
I’ve fixed one using a vice grip and 3 small pieces of wood (2 on top placed on each corner and 1 in the rear center part of the bridge)
With that being said I’ve used a lot of different bridges with Gibsons.

One thing I find interesting is that depending on which era your Les Paul was made, the holes on a replacement bridge from another brand won’t align perfectly with the bridge studs. This is regarding Nashville style TOM.

With that being said, I really like Abm bridges, high quality bell brass made in Germany.
Or I usually stick with zinc Gotoh or tonepros if I want a locking bridge.

On a side note, I’ve used Faber in the past, and while they work, they aren’t German made.
If you notice some of them have a PW symbol on the side which means (ping works) I believe they are a company based in Taiwan.
I don’t know if they have switched manufacturers, but it’s something to note.
 
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