Yeah I'm anxious to try these too...The action on my GA has never bothered me TOO bad, but I'm all for improving it, even a little.
Introducing Tru-Arc Bridges
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- Rated: 24 ↑
Jul 7, 2008 8:49 a.m. stjohn:
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- Rated: 13 ↑
Jul 7, 2008 8:55 a.m. sroux:
...so I'm thinking the aluminum model should give you the twang of the Bigsby bridge, but the sustain of the bar!!!
...if so,
!!
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- Rated: 8 ↑
Jul 7, 2008 9:48 a.m. JW:
Hey Proteus,Please put me on the list to contact.
Thanks,
John
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- Rated: 41 ↑
Jul 7, 2008 12:24 p.m. dubkitty:
Could you make them with angled string slots to compensate for the fact that most players have the entire bridge assembly angled for intonations sake, thus resulting in the perpendicularly cut string slots being misaligned with the neck?
this is also my question...the current-issue rocking bar bridge drops right onto the tunomatic studs, but the grooves are misaligned since the tuna was mounted at an angle to the end of the fingerboard, causing a bit of "sitar effect." not so much that it's really annoying, but just enough to dull the sustain a little.
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- Rated: 212 ↑
Jul 7, 2008 8:02 p.m. Proteus:
Okidoki, prices and responses.
Yesterday got away from me, and much busyness coming up for the rest of the week as well. But here's what I know right now.
First, to answer some questions.
BASES & SPACING. All the bridges currently finished fit perfectly on the base they were designed for, a stock 2006 Gretsch base. IF your base has that post spacing, no problem. (roadjunkie had an aftermarket base, and it seemed a touch wider than the stock.)
I do not have bases yet, nor pricing for bases. That's in the works, and I'll let you know as soon as I can, but at the moment if you don't have a base, I don't have a solution.
MATCHING NECK RADII, and what's what. To my knowledge, all contemporary Gretsch necks are 12" radius, exCEPT for all Setzer models and the 6120 Golden Anniversary, which are 9.45". I believe all Electromatics are 12".
Vintage Gretschs are not my area of expertise. At least through the late 50s, I think I recall that many are 16". They may have changed for the 60s and 70s. While I'm "catalogging" 9.5" and 12" bridges, we can bend to any radius required on a custom-order basis. If you have a vintage Gretsch and want to play with these bridges, just measure your radius and let me know.
POUNDS. I don't have an accurate way to weigh the bridges. My sense is that the stainless and brass weigh within a fraction the same as a Gretsch rocking bar. The aluminum is significantly lighter - maybe half the weight.
SOUNDS. sroux says I'm thinking the aluminum model should give you the twang of the Bigsby bridge, but the sustain of the bar, and I think that's fair. Sustain may actually be BETTER with the aluminum.
The stainless MAY be a touch brighter; it also seems to sound fatter and smoother than the brass.
But words fall short when describing something so subjective as tone. There WILL be sound samples to make all this more concrete (no, concrete bridges are not currently planned).
PLATING – NOT. None of the bridges are plated, and at least for the moment, I'm not planning on plating.
The stainless doesn't NEED plated; in appearance it's between the warm burnish of nickel and the hard bright blue of chrome. The aluminum also looks great as is, will polish to a high lustre and look good even as the shine diminishes. Both stainless and aluminum look good on a silvery-hardware guitar.
Brass is a different story, and the most problematic. As shipped, the brass bridges will have a high gold shine, and will look great on a goldy-hardware guitar just as they come. But they WILL tarnish and go dark. Nature of the beast. Since it's a big chunk of metal, I can see that becoming an issue. My plan is to polish mine every couple times I change strings.
I'll look into clear-powder-coating the brass ones. I'd like to stay away from plating if possible, both for logistical and environmental reasons, but if there's enough demand and guys stay away from some options over the lack of plating, I'll revisit that thinking.
I doubt that I'll be gold-plating the aluminum ones though.
WHAT'S THE ANGLE? Several guys have wondered if we can make the bridges with the mounting holes offset to provide an angle which compensates for intonation and maintains straight string slots. The answer is, I think so.
JazzBoxJunky, yes I got your drawing, and thank you. That will be sufficient to work from, and developing an angled design goes right to the top of the list along with some other mods I have in mind – but I wouldn't expect progress on that for several months.
PRICING.
The bridges are cut, slotted, shaped, drilled, bent to a continuous radius, and polished one at a time, with the diligent attention of an experienced machinist in a precision fabrication shop in Columbus, Ohio.
(Well, OK, I'm the slob who will do the polishing, but the rest of it is true.)
Given the niche market and low probable volume, there's just not much room for economies of scale at this point.
AL-95 Aluminum, 9.5" radius: 80.00
AL-120 Aluminum, 12" radius: 80.00
BR-95 Brass, 9.5" radius: 90.00
BR-120 Brass, 12" radius: 90.00
ST-95 Stainless, 9.5" radius: 90.00
ST-120 Stainless, 12" radius: 90.00
Add a buck or so for shipping. A few aluminum bridges are ready to go, with more available in a couple of weeks. So far there's just one each of both radii of the brass and stainless. Orders for those should be shipped in 3 - 4 weeks.
Interest or orders, email me for payment details and confirmation.
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- Rated: 2 ↑
Jul 7, 2008 9:19 p.m. chester:
so what do i order with my compound 9.5 to 12 board?
damn
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- Rated: 212 ↑
Jul 7, 2008 9:23 p.m. Proteus:
Huh huh. Always a comedian.
If you're not having trouble, nothing! But if you want to play with different tones, probably the 12.
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- Rated: 57 ↑
Jul 7, 2008 9:45 p.m. Curt:
I've been thinking about the string angle suggestion and I think it might help the break point to leave it as is. BUT I was wondering about a tapered spiral cut?
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- Rated: 28 ↑
Jul 7, 2008 9:56 p.m. troy6120:
PM sent for the 12" aluminum.
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- Rated: 41 ↑
Jul 7, 2008 10:45 p.m. J(esse James)D:
Yep, PM sent for AL120.
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- Rated: 13 ↑
Jul 8, 2008 8:42 a.m. sroux:
Yep...aluminum for me!
I have my stock base, and the base that came with my adjustomatic, so I should be good for bases hopefully..
PM sent!
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- Rated: 41 ↑
Jul 8, 2008 4:49 p.m. J(esse James)D:
Prot, received your email, and I've sent a PayPal payment with shipping address.
I'll be "inspecting" your hand polishing job closely
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- Rated: 39 ↑
Jul 8, 2008 5:29 p.m. Rocketman:
Seems like a fair price to me. I'm not in yet; I first want to do some measuring myself on my axe. Which I don't have here at the moment.
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- Rated: 61 ↑
Jul 8, 2008 7:26 p.m. Bear:
Proteus, I will order a 12" aluminum soon. Money is a bit short right now and the Bigsby bridge I have is pretty good in the meantime.
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Jul 8, 2008 9:57 p.m. blauserk:
Proteus: Would these work on a Power Tenny's pinned tune-o-matic mount?
Also, do you think your brother could be persuaded to make a lower-profile crossbar for original 1952/53s Gibson trapeze-tailpiece LPs? The originals have to be under-wrapped because of the neck angle and fat crossbar, and people are dying to be able to topwrap the guitars. See the threads below.
http://www.lespaulforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=144052 http://www.lespaulforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=140780 http://www.lespaulforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=140190
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- Rated: 15 ↑
Jul 9, 2008 8:47 a.m. reverb11:
Proteus, I don't think that the pm is working. Do you have another address at which we can find you? I want a 9.5" stainless!
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- Rated: 212 ↑
Jul 9, 2008 9:31 a.m. Proteus:
Status.
Several orders received yesterday, some paid.
At this point, all orders should be shipped in a couple of weeks.
troy, my email to you at the GDP-listed address came back as undeliverable...have you changed email addresses? YOU are going to get the very first one, since you were the first to confirm an order, and I can ship IT immediately...
blauserk, I'm confident the bridges will fit on the post spacing of your pinned Adjustamatic. I can't guarantee intonation will be as desired - BUT in every case I'm aware of, guys who have put bar bridges on fixed bridge posts have been satisfied with intonation. Also, it's easy to unpin the bridge base.
I'll look into the Les Paul bridge issue, but don't tell any of my Gretsch buddies.
reverb, it's been working for others.
Address is tim at pointclickdrag, you know, dotcom.
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- Rated: 13 ↑
Jul 9, 2008 10:14 a.m. sroux:
Yeah buddy....Troy, ya gonna do us up some before and after clips???
Definately think the difference between the stock brass and aluminum should be tres noticeable.
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- Rated: 28 ↑
Jul 9, 2008 5:27 p.m. troy6120:
Payment sent via Paypal. I'm excited about this. It seems strange that other GPD'ers aren't falling over themselves about these bridges. The neck/bridge radius mismatch is finally resolved!
sroux: I'm ANXIOUS to hear "before and after" sound samples myself. I'll see what I can do, recording-wise.
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- Rated: 13 ↑
Jul 9, 2008 5:47 p.m. sroux:
Hmmm....Proteus did you get my info, via Paypal??
Just checking..
Thanks!
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- Rated: 3 ↑
Jul 10, 2008 7:09 a.m. sergi:
PM sent.
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- Rated: 41 ↑
Jul 11, 2008 6:18 p.m. dubkitty:
oh, it's not that i lack interest in the aluminium bridge...just that i need one with the grooves at a different alignment because the Tunomatic mounts on the PJ are set at an angle to the fingerboard that is less than perfect with the standard angle of bar bridge slots.
if i were to send you a drawing showing the desired angle, Pro, would i be able to get the string slots at a specified angle to fix this problem? you could probably derive the right angle from your Double Jet, but it's probably better to supply info specific to my guitar.
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- Rated: 212 ↑
Jul 11, 2008 10:41 p.m. Proteus:
Do it, dub. I'm looking into just such a design.
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- Rated: 28 ↑
Jul 13, 2008 10:05 p.m. troy6120:
Proteus, did ya get my payment? Just checking. I know you're busy.
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- Rated: 1 ↑
Jul 14, 2008 3:56 a.m. Kimmo:
I'm looking for a bar bridge for the 67 Club. These seems perfect. But does anyone know what fingerboard radius it has? I measured the base posts to be just under 3", that should be perfect....
