Anyone "upgrade" their Gibson bridges/tailpieces?

[Enjolras56]

Hey guys...
I've got an '06 Les Paul Standard that's my #1. Happy with it bone stock. Plays well, sounds good, stays in tune.
Additionally, I'm not one to "tinker" with my guitars too much in search of turning it into the Holy Grail.

That being said, I've run across a few posts by players lately singing the praises of "upgrading" their bridges and or tailpieces to aftermarket hardware such as Callaham, TonePros, and Faber or dropping in GraphTech saddles. Some say the difference is night and day, some say slight, some say not at all but they like the feeling of having something "of quality."

What's your guys' experience? Worth dropping $260+ on a Callaham bridge and tailpiece combo?

 

[bonedarrell]

I love lightweight aluminum tailpieces! As a matter of fact, I have an aged Faber tailpiece I would sell. PM me if you are interested.

 

[Enjolras56]

I love lightweight aluminum tailpieces! As a matter of fact, I have an aged Faber tailpiece I would sell. PM me if you are interested.

What do you love about it?

 

[zoom club]

my faber tp and tone pros upgrade kept me from selling a "dead" lp classic

actually the gibson abr bowed down and was a tuning nightmare

junk, imo

 

[KevHo]

Were you constantly fighting to keep the guitar in tune?

my faber tp and tone pros upgrade kept me from selling a "dead" lp classic

actually the gibson abr bowed down and was a tuning nightmare

junk, imo

 

[Enjolras56]

Hmm... I'm getting interested.
I read that the Gibson bridge costs them about $8.00 to make.

What also got me searching was that I recently bought an Esquire type guitar by Switchback GuitarWorks and it came with a boutique, cold rolled steel Tele bridge by a company called Glendale. I think the bridge alone sells for somewhere around $150 without saddles. The guitar is fantastic and I can't help but think a lot of its qualities come from that bridge. Yes, I know it's a completely different guitar from the LP I'm talking about. But man, this thing has a real piano like quality to the lower strings and its punchy and twangy without being shrill.
I wonder if I can get some of those qualities into my LP with swapping out the bridge?

 

[bonedarrell]

I love lightweight aluminum tailpieces! As a matter of fact, I have an aged Faber tailpiece I would sell. PM me if you are interested.

What do you love about it?

The look and the improved resonation. The light weight is just an added bonus.

 

[bonedarrell]

Hmm... I'm getting interested.

I wonder if I can get some of those qualities into my LP with swapping out the bridge?

Absolutely! It all adds up!

 

[chrisrocksusa]

got pics of this aged faber?

I have an 04 standard. Kinda want to upgrade the hardware as well

 

[Jofipe]

I just installed a Faber locking bridge with hybrid titanium/brass and a set of locking tailpiece bolts in my VOS R0. It improved sustain drastically.. tone got sharper and less woolly.
I dont give a shit about original vintage specs.. I play my guitar, i don't romanticize it, and this was a clear improvement, and it looks great!

 

[yngwiestrat]

Callaham ABR with Nashville conversion posts and matching tailpiece in my Silverburst LPC. Now has the "piano" like characteristics

 

[Steinmetzify]

I've got a TonePros locking bridge and tailpiece on my LP I had built....I switched out parts from my LPCC just to see. Noticeable difference. It's a cheap upgrade, IMO.

 

[boost]

Bridge and tailpiece is no different than pickups, electronics, etc. IMO. They will make a difference. How much and what kind will vary on the guitar itself. A brass bridge and tailpiece may be an 'upgrade' from the pot metal zinc of a standard bridge, but if you add this to an already well balanced sounding guitar, it may sound too dark now. Same thing applies on the other end with steel and titanium. May be too bright.

I've got an aluminum TP with Tonepro's locking studs on my LP Special. I changed a few other things at the same time and liked the overall improvement, but can't say exactly what was caused by what. I like that the TP stays put when the strings are off. I recently just changed out the ABR-1 to a TonePro's locking bridge. No difference in tone, but I was fine with that. I liked the way the guitar sounded before the swap, but my bridge was jacked and needed to go. I think the Tonepro's and stock Gibson are probably made out of the same material so I didn't expect (nor really want) a tone change. It also now stays put when the strings are off.

My Goldtop came with Tonepro's bridge and TP stock from Gibson (2009). I'm still dialing this guitar in a bit, but the options I would be looking at would be Callaham and Faber. While sustain or resonance may be increased with either of these units, the overall tone may become brighter. My Goldtop is bright enough so that can be an issue.

You like the tone, tuning, etc. of your LP now. Not sure if I'd spend $260 to see if it can be better. If the guitar had issues, then I would for sure.

Remember all the classic tones on all those old albums came from stock zinc tailpieces and they sounded just fine, but who knows what they would have sounded like with one of these new bridges on them.

 

[Shawn Lutz]

I replaced the stock Nashville bridge on my 2012 Trad + with a Faber locking ABR-1 with raw brass saddles. This was a tonal improvement even unplugged. I also added the ToneLock locking tail piece studs but left the stock TP. Aside from the tone, sustain improvements its nice not having the bridge and tail piece fall off when doing a string change.

I'm not a fan of light weight aluminum TP's and if I was going to replace the existing one I'd go with a Callaham steel TP