At some point, most guitar players feel the need to upgrade their guitars’ hardware. The reasons for this vary from player to player but are often rooted in tone, feel or quality.
The first step is to identify what bridge you have on your existing guitar and what you are looking to achieve with the upgrade. The first step in identifying what you have is to think about what brand you are upgrading. Gibson, Epiphone and other import guitars (Tokai, Ibanez, Burny etc.) have different measurements at the bridge so will require slightly different parts. Faber Guitar Parts carry suitable replacements for all of these. Before deciding on a bridge, read the following guide to each component and see what matches your instrument.
Bridge and Saddles
The other major component of the bridge is the saddles. The bridge measurements differ across 3 groups:
• Gibson Historic/Custom Shop/All original Gibson guitars with 6-32 posts
• Gibson Guitars with Nashville Bridges (Non-custom shop guitars and heritage guitars with Schaller bridges).
• Non-USA guitars using 4mm bridge posts – Epiphone, Tokai, Ibanez and other import guitars.
The spacing, sizing and post mounting for each bridge type is different so many of these parts are not fully interchangeable. The Faber ABR-59 range includes a fit for each guitar type. Our ABR range is perhaps the most vintage correct replacement bridge available and includes flat top saddles for 100% mechanical contact, removable saddles and a range of finish options.
• ABRH Bridge – If you own a Gibson guitar from the Historic collection, Custom Shop or an original, vintage model, the ABRH will be the perfect fit.
• ABRN Bridge – If your USA Gibson has a Nashville style bridge (Most non-Custom Shop and modern Gibson’s will have this bridge type), the ABRN will be the best replacement. The ABRN will also fit onto our Conversion bushings to use on Import models.
• ABRM Bridge – The ABRM is a direct replacement for the 4mm post styles found on all import guitars. The ABRM will increase the tone of any import guitars die-cast, zinc bridges.
Alternatively, you could pick a replacement Faber bridge from our Tone-Lock series. The Tone-Lock range comes in the same sizing options as our ABR range but includes our exclusive “No Gap” technology. The Tone-Lock allows the bridge to be locked to the body increasing stability and transmitting more vibrations to the guitar body and increased sustain.
As with our ABR range, we offer a Tone-Lock model for whatever guitar you might have:
• Gibson Historic, Custom Shop, Vintage
• Gibson Guitars with Nashville Bridges
• Import Models (Epiphone, Tokai, Burny etc.)
Guitar Bridge Posts
To ensure the best fit for all new bridges, Faber also provides a range of Conversion Bridge Posts to accompany each bridge type. USA parts are measured in inches and import guitars are metric. This is important to keep in mind to ensure you order the correct parts for your instrument.
• USA Gibson Guitars – Our Vintage Steel (Inch) tailpiece studs are perfect for accompanying your bridge upgrade. They will fit any USA Gibson with 5/16-24 bushings or our Faber TPI tailpiece bushings.
• Import Guitars – Our Vintage Steel (Metric) tailpiece studs are the ideal upgrade for your import guitars existing studs. Made to vintage spec from German steel and will fit most non-USA guitars with an 8M X 1.25 thread pattern. They pair up perfectly with our TPM tailpiece bushings which make great direct replacements for non-steel bushings found on most import models.
• Wraparound Guitars – One problem many wraparound bridge owners may notice is the wraparound piece will lean forward when full string tension is applied. This is caused by the bridge and mounting post not being a perfect fit. The Faber Wrap-Lock locking bridge studs eliminates bridge lean and improves stability.
Conversion Bridge Studs
If you want to upgrade your import model to fit a USA style bridge (Such as our ABRM or Tone-Lock bridge), you can use one of our conversion bridge studs. Installation of these studs takes minutes and, in the case of the ESWKIT, requires no modification to your existing setup. Video installation instructions for the E-Sert can be found in the “Help” section on the FaberUSA.com website.
• Faber ESWKIT – This bridge stud set will fit into your existing import guitars bushings and will allow you to use one of our USA style bridges with no body modification. It is a very simple “remove and replaces” solution”
• Faber E-Sert – The E-Sert range replaces the non-steel, tone robbing bushings that most import guitars come stock with. These bridge mounting posts also allow you to use our ABR and Tone-Lock model bridges. The E-Sert studs come with one pair of steel studs and a thumbwheel for action adjustment. The posts fixed to the bushings will transfer the maximum vibrations into the guitar and increase sustain.
Tailpiece
Guitar tailpiece parts come in different configurations, depending upon your original setup. Most guitars come factory fitted with chrome or gold plated tailpieces that are often die cast from zinc or other similar metals. Zinc is considered a metal that does not react well with guitar strings, often robbing some of the hard-earned tones from your instrument. Our parts for Gibson guitars (Or our parts for Epiphone guitars) are made from aluminum. They are lightweight (The same spec as Vintage Gibson guitar parts – 1/3 the weight of a Zinc cast tailpiece) and transfer vibration differently which results in a woodier, vintage tone. Our custom guitar tailpieces are direct replacements for Gibson and Epiphone guitars.
For players seeking replacement Parts for Gibson Guitars, our TP-59 stop tailpiece will be the perfect upgrade. Made from aluminium, the TP-59 will reintroduce the tone that zinc/nickel die cast tailpieces rob a guitar of.
If your guitar has a one piece, wrap around style bridge, Faber guitar parts also offer a tailpiece with compensated edges to help intonation and our Wraptonate tailpiece, a fully intonatable wraparound bridge. For wraparound bridge users, there is no correct replacement, but each replacement will serve a purpose:
• Non-Compensated, 50s style. Suitable for vintage guitars.
• Tone-Bar Compensated, provides improved intonation and more precise tone
• TPWC Compensated, vintage feel with perfect intonation
• Wraptonate, individually adjustable saddles for perfect intonation on any wrap tail guitar.
