A Guide To Modern Bridges

HIPSHOT

he Hipshot company has been around since 1982. Their tremolo units are easily recognized for their oval saddles. They are the go-to for 7, 8 and 9 strings as well as well as their tuners for many.

Overall, its a design bridge with little to offer on the 6-Screw, Once used to be offered with oval saddles. now standard block saddles. The 2-point is more patent oriented, with two studs to offer stability. Price around $180 and offered in Black, Chrome and Gold.

VEGA TREM

The Vega tremolo is a very minimal and sleek but undeniably the most flexible of them. Its small size contains it within the borders of the tremolo route itself which means it can not be decked without a trem-stopper.

It can be flexed both ways to the more extreme. It features a skeleton block which helps make it more flexible. You can get this for 2-point or 6-screw. Although the 6 Screw only features 4 Screws. The saddles reminds slightly of Hipshots. It also leaves a slight gap at the back in the tremolo route due to its size.
Many people love this tremolo, but it is a costly affair at $300 to get it. Features in chrome, black and Gold, and they make em for lefty´s to. They also made a Telecaster tremolo recently.

SUPER-VEE BLADERUNNER

The Bladerunner is a very nice tremolo that keeps the look of a usual Fender units. I usually see it as the bigger brother of the Vega for some reason, although they are two different companies and tremolo's.

Its system is such that it is installed into a elastic metal blade that it pivots on. So no friction to speak off. Creating a nice smooth operation.

Other than that its the same basic block and saddles that can be changed out for any other desirable ones. Featured in Chrome, Black and gold. They also have Relic versions and has shown love for lefty payers too.

Also for Squiers they offer Shorty blocks versions. The Super-Vee goes for around a tolerable $180. They do offer a $500 dollar locking unit that Floyds your tremolo too.

BABICZ GUITARS

Babicz are more known for their unusual acoustics and their "Spider" patent. But they make high-end tremolo´s too. Their FCH looks futuristic and they are building on the PRS / John Mann system of fenced saddles. Most noteworthy is their eCAM saddles that raise and lowers action with one screw. This also makes the tremolo quite tall in size. They do offer a classic vintage style with their saddles.

$150 for the vintage style and $250 for the modern version. Comes in gold, chrome, nickel and black and covers any mount type and spacing and shows love for Lefty´s too.

MANN MADE

The John Mann bridges is the original offspring of the Fenced Saddle system. By that i mean the saddles are enclosed not to move around because it is machined out like a neck pocket with a"fence of metal" to enclose them in.

John Mann is the inventor of these, and a good friend of Paul Reed Smith of PRS, and it was for his guitars he designed these.
To me, they are just that. A standard 6-screw classic trem with a "fence of metal" around the saddles. Nothing in terms of locking or fancy patented systems to find. They are stable tremolo´s though and since invention, has offered this to all styles of guitars. Although he has retained the Key-hole saddles to be a PRS featured product only. All others tremolo models features Block saddles. Mannmade retails for $250 each no matter model

WILKINSON DIRECT

Wilkinson has many bridges to select from. Their most famous one is the VS100 bridge which i myself once owned. But they offer a great deal of models to choose from.
Now "Wilkinson Direct" must not be mistaken from the cheap asian bridges you see for $30. The products from their WilkinsonDirect site is a whole different class and price level and are better machined.

They also have had a long collaboration with Gotoh to make their bridges as well. These are simply labeled "Wilkinson by Gotoh" stamped on their bridges. These are all good stuff. Stable and well machined bridges.

SCHALLER

Schaller has a long collaboration rep with Fender. The Standard tuners you find on their guitars today is originally designed by them.

For Tremolo's, they actually call these their "Vintage line". But with block saddles and screw-on arms i refuse to say that it is. Their Block saddles are marvelous with rollerball on it for smoother action. A well machined tremolo.
Schaller are more focused on Floyd Rose units which they sell more off but these units are great bridges.

One cool thing they offer is length on their blocks. Which is unusual. If you struggle with Sustain, changing the block length can help or if you want these on a Squier.
They offer nothing for 6-screws but offer up to 5 different finishes on these.
Price is $160 which i believe are OK for what you get.

Tech-Talk: Choosing the Correct Bridge

Short HISTORY and the DESIGN of Tremolo:
While Bigsby was designing his own in 1953, Fender simplified the concept of the tremolo unit at the same time. In 1954, Stratocaster debuted with a very simple, rudimentary and clean design. Freddie Tavares took Leo's design and perfected it. The tremolo block is Tavarez idea and was the missing factor to make the unit work and handle properly
The Stratocaster Tremolo is a very easy mechanic, yet genius at the time.
However, it had its limits on use, as it was designed to only flutter slightly (Divebombs did not exist then) and to this day, it has been a design that has been unchanged by Fender themselves except for the CBS era where it was molded in one unit (block and plate) with die-cast saddles. But remained to work the same way.

Fender has improved it, but basically only changing to a different pivot style: The 2-point tremolo, which still uses the same mechanics of counter-acting with springs.
Since its inception, Floyd Rose saw the day of light in the late 70's and turned the system into a fully flexible unit for shredders like EVH who was one, if not, the first to endorse it. But yet, it still adapts the spring-counterweight system of Leo's original patent. Many others have followed with their own take on it to improve its tuning stability, which is the main drawback of the standard vintage unit..
More historic information on Fuzzfaced

STRING SPACING INFO

Tremolo spacing measurement can be very confusing at first. But it is actually quite easy once you get your head around it. In Fenders own eco system, there are three common spacings for the mounting holes and saddle width: Vintage, Mexico and Japan. If you fiddle with asian knockoff guitars, i really cant help you. The Tremolo specs on those can be all over the place.

Distance shown here is measured from center of the outermost intonation mount/ screw holes (See drawing Below)

We roughly name them 52, 54 and 56mm to distinguish them more easy. Japan Strats can occasionally use USA String spacing but commonly stick to the 2-1/8 spacing BUT they moslty use US Mount Spacing. Please measure your MIJ before going on ordering new bridge for it.

On the American continent, bridges comes in 3 variations.:

Vintage Bridges are mostly featured on reissue models and Custom shops by Fender today.
On factory standard models, they usually fit Vintage/ Narrow bridges if they go for a 6-screw, which has become the standard.
Mexican "narrow/narrow" came on most MIMs but have not been used since a few years back. You find that spacing config mostly on Squiers these days.

You can easily rough-measure with a regular ruler to determine what bridge you have. You either land on 52mm & 56mm on US Guitars or 54mm on Japan.

Remember, as long as your guitar body is drilled for Vintage 56mm (2 7-32) mount spacing, you can fit either a Vintage Bridge or a Vintage/Narrow Bridge.

If you already have a vintage bridge and are annoyed by strings slipping off the frets on both E-strings, you may consider installing a Vintage/Narrow bridge.
You can also visit my Tech spec sheet where many Fender models are listed with spacing specs.
Toneshapers has an excellent description and illustration of the various bridges.

Beware of Squier guitars. Some of their bodies are slimmer and thus require: a) Narrow/Narrow bridge and b) Shorter blocks. GuitarFetish in US has great replacement bridges for Squiers with altered specs.