buckaroo
Formerly Tweedguy
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2009
- Messages
- 938
I just bought a 50th anniversary '63 ES 335. I LOVE the guitar! This is the first Gibson electric I have owned with the nylon bridge saddles. They sound good as is. And you should be aware that I am usually not one to modify guitars at all. BUT...I am going to put a traditional non wired ABR 1 (nickel / brass saddles) on it, from a Historic Les Paul, to discover the tonal difference, if any.
Interestingly, the sound of the nylon is not motivating my research. Rather, the new nylon saddles kind of look and feel like they may not be a long lasting saddle solution. The material strikes me as perhaps not being that durable. Below is a link that suggests that the reason Gibson started using nylon was to reduce "bridge noise".
http://030be21.netsolhost.com/WordPress/2010/08/30/back-in-the-saddle-again/
Other (various) online info seems to suggest that the wired ABR 1 bridges originally were developed for the same reason. Although many players report that the non wired bridges were a bit prone to lose saddles when strings would break. And that that concern may have motivated the move to wired bridges.
I have no conclusion on what is better between nylon versus nickel plated brass saddles. I kind of like both. Curious what others think.
The anniversary 335 is a great guitar. When I change the strings in the next day or two I will pull the neck pickup to see if the tenon is the same as the Nashville Historic tenon. To date that element has not been revealed that I have seen. My guess is that it has a truss rod sheath.
Interestingly, the sound of the nylon is not motivating my research. Rather, the new nylon saddles kind of look and feel like they may not be a long lasting saddle solution. The material strikes me as perhaps not being that durable. Below is a link that suggests that the reason Gibson started using nylon was to reduce "bridge noise".
http://030be21.netsolhost.com/WordPress/2010/08/30/back-in-the-saddle-again/
Other (various) online info seems to suggest that the wired ABR 1 bridges originally were developed for the same reason. Although many players report that the non wired bridges were a bit prone to lose saddles when strings would break. And that that concern may have motivated the move to wired bridges.
I have no conclusion on what is better between nylon versus nickel plated brass saddles. I kind of like both. Curious what others think.
The anniversary 335 is a great guitar. When I change the strings in the next day or two I will pull the neck pickup to see if the tenon is the same as the Nashville Historic tenon. To date that element has not been revealed that I have seen. My guess is that it has a truss rod sheath.