How To Find The Best Wraparound Bridge For Your Need?
Introduction A wraparound bridge is an integral bridge part constructed traditionally from a metal bar drilled with six holes on the underside, into which the strings are loaded from the front before wrapping up and over the curved bar and heading off over the pickups and toward the neck. Wraparound bridges clearly have very limited intonation adjustment facilities, but a workable compromise between all strings can usually be achieved. As crude as its design is, many players are still big fans of this bridge for its admirable sustain, resonance, and overall simplicity. Several contemporary makers offer renditions of the wraparound bridge guitar parts in designs that incorporate individually adjustable saddles. These units intend to provide the solid anchoring of the original wrap tail, with facilities for perfect intonation adjustment.
What Type of Wraparound Bridge Do You Need? Initially, the wrap-around was a plate and did not allow for precise intonation. This idea has long been improved, whereby they now offer individual saddle adjustment. The compact design is very clever having all the components stored in a single unit. However, they do not have intonation tolerance as broad as the tune-o-matics. Most Gibson guitars have wraparound bridges rather than the Tune-o-Matic styles. A wraparound bridge is where you pass the strings through the bridge away from the guitar and wrap them back over the top before pulling them up the neck as usual. Below are the types of Wraparound bridges that you will find perfect for your guitar.
1. Faber Wraparound If you’re a vintage fan, jump into Faber USA Wraparound bridges. They are perfect replacements for your worn-out guitar bridge and will allow you to resume the original condition of your vintage unit. Being made of aluminium, their wraparounds are lightweight and just matches the 50s vintage style. The individual strings cannot be intonated because they are non-compensated. These guitar bridges have 2 small Allan key adjustments which move the bridge closer or further from the bridge posts to adjust the intonation across all 6 strings.
2. Faber® Tone-Bar™ Compensated Wraparound
To hold the vintage look and feel yet in addition find the extra harmony of the brain of further developed pitch the Faber Tone-Bar wraparound is an ideal decision. Their ToneBar series contains two-tone bars incorporated into the lightweight aluminium rear end which gives further developed intonation, more exact tone and decrease of dead spots. As standard, the Tone-Bar utilizes two metal tone bars. They also offer out the HYBRIDge option, which uses a brass bar for the plain G-B-E strings and a titanium bar for the wound E-A-D strings, providing a perfect balance of brightness and warmth. Finally, they have the all-titanium bar version for added brightness on guitars which are naturally dark sounding.
3. Faber® TPWC™ Compensated Wraparound The Faber TPWC compensated bridge has this lightning bolt design in lightweight aluminium. For those who love a more traditional vintage look with modern tune conditions, it is just for them.
4. Faber® Wraptonate™ Wraparound The most extensive substitution for a wraparound style span is their Wraptonate bridge. The Wraptonate span offers completely movable seats for each string. It has the reasonableness of a wraparound span and the movability of a tune-o-matic. The Wraptonate permits clients to get the ideal pitch for each string and will give a general improvement to any wraparound prepared scaffold.
That 50s style un-intonatable guitars would now be able to consummate in order across the fretboard. Where the Wraptonate misses the mark in vintage interpretations, it more than compensates for flexibility.
Conclusion Despite its simple construction, a wraparound bridge is responsible for setting your electric guitar's action, radius curvature, intonation and string anchoring all in one! Two stud bolts and a bridge is all it takes, the lack of moving parts is perhaps accidental genius because it offers the best form of coupling from strings to the guitar’s body. We’re talking about maximum vibration transfer!
Faber® USA provides high-quality replacement parts for Gibson style imported guitars. Their guitars often come factory fitted with hardware made mostly from zinc alloy which reduces production cost but also compromises tone. High zinc alloy hardware will affect the guitar's sustain and resonant tone. So while buying online guitar parts, make sure to find the best match for your guitar.
The Faber wraptonate bridge style is an accurate representation of the 50’s original style wraparound, and many owners of vintage parts of a guitar with uncompensated wraparounds purchase a Faber compensated wraparound to use in their daily playing, for better intonation, while preserving their original vintage wraparound.
Also, they happen to offer a fully adjustable wraparound style bridge, with adjustable saddles for perfect intonation, from their exclusive Wraptonate product range.