School me on Tele Saddles

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You need to find out why so many people who fitted a Kahler on a strat took it off again Dave Gilmour for one.
The bridge has influence on every note from the angel of break to its absorption of the string energy. I went through about 5 sets of brass Tele saddles with a customer looking for the right set. All were brass and had compensation .You wouldn't believe how different the various alloys sounded. I am talking Master Built Fender Custom Shop here and played back through hand made tube amps of the highest sensitivity.

Posting here so as not to derail the strat thread.
I’ve been considering some compensated blazing, I mean brass saddles for my Tele. From your comparisons which would you recommend?
 
You hear the difference easily unplugged and through a single channel tube amp. The more gear you add to the signal path the less it is apparent. These differences are what adds up to real high end quality that you can pay big money for. If you neck and body ring together really well the rewards are even bigger.
 
Well @Andy Eagle, I finally put those Gotoh saddles that you recommended in my Tele. What a difference! You were right, I could immediately hear the difference unplugged on my bench while setting it up. Thanks for the recommendation.
 
Glad that worked for you (I knew it would .) I was quite shocked when I first tested a bunch of different brass tele saddles. The range of tone and how bad some of the intonation compensation is runs the whole spectrum from must buy to utter garbage.
 
Anything to learn from this about strat saddles?
Not directly other that just because the same metal is used doesn't mean they are going to sound the same.
The bridge plate, block and even how deeply drilled the ball ends sit all play a part.
Assuming you are looking for the best vintage strat tones (full range clarity with treble in the bass and bass in the treble, also fat midrange) the starting point is a bent steel saddle.
BUT many are too hard and sound thin. Vintage fender ones are quite soft (for steel) and strings imprint on the contact point fairly quickly.
These sound the best IMO (but I doubt anyone would disagree if you did the comparisons) All modern Fender bent saddles are harder and don't sound as full . Gotoh who make an excellent vintage trem with good sounding CRS block then put horrible sounding pingy super hard saddles on it. The only saddles that sound similar to original ones are Raw Vintage ,fender pure vintage and repro ones that I use from a company that I can't name for you and have recently stopped production.
A lot of people ask about the Callaham ones and while I can't confirm this I think the saddles and bridge plates are made by Gotoh for them. Not the blocks though . They sound identical and have the exact same tooling marks and sizes if you get a micrometer on them. Spring claws and screws are the same as well.
 
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I love the Rutters saddles and bridge.
upgraded the bridge on my Suhr T Custom and I liked everything about it better than the original bridge.
Was actually quite surprised at the difference!
 

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I love the Rutters saddles and bridge.
upgraded the bridge on my Suhr T Custom and I liked everything about it better than the original bridge.
Was actually quite surprised at the difference!
I don't know why John still uses that bridge. The Gotoh "in tune" would be a better choice for a manufacturer. It was up there when he started using it but now there are better choices and no more expensive.
 
I don't know why John still uses that bridge. The Gotoh "in tune" would be a better choice for a manufacturer. It was up there when he started using it but now there are better choices and no more expensive.
Yeah, there was quite a big difference from the stock Wilkinson bridge.
I have to admit though, my main reason for switching it out was that I am a stratplayer (Vintage, 2 point and Floyds)
Just could not get used to the edges on a traditional telebridge☺️
But I would never use that Wilkinson again on a telebuild since the Rutters sounded that much better.
 
I don't know why John still uses that bridge. The Gotoh "in tune" would be a better choice for a manufacturer. It was up there when he started using it but now there are better choices and no more expensive.
What don't you like about the Wilkinson one? I had one on a Richie Kotzen tele a long time ago. Remember it being quite dark sounding, so I put the original bridge back on.
 
Needless complication and the strings move on the angles. Also by adding another piece for the string energy to get past it seem to lose a bit of openness and dynamics. It's pretty good but why use it when the "in tune" is a little better and no more expensive. Also the Gotoh intonates nicely with standard gauge sets and the strings sit in grooves.
 
Needless complication and the strings move on the angles. Also by adding another piece for the string energy to get past it seem to lose a bit of openness and dynamics. It's pretty good but why use it when the "in tune" is a little better and no more expensive. Also the Gotoh intonates nicely with standard gauge sets and the strings sit in grooves.
When did the Gotoh In tune hi the market? It wasn't available when I did the swap, which granted, was like 10 years ago.

Wasn't the Wilkinson design made by Gotoh at some point?
 
When did the Gotoh In tune hi the market? It wasn't available when I did the swap, which granted, was like 10 years ago.

Wasn't the Wilkinson design made by Gotoh at some point?
The one with the swiveling saddles is Gotoh made still. The "in tune" must have been around nearly 10 years.
 
Those Gotoh ones look perfect. I didn't realize they existed.

I've tried three different saddles on my Tele. First was the stock brass barrels where the strings slid all over the place and intonation was off. Next was the Wilkinson compensated saddles which work okay but the break angle is really high on the high E. Also tried some cheap brass barrels with notches for strings that held the strings well and have good break angle but intonation is off.

The Gotoh in tune ones look like the best of all worlds...they have string notches, no crazy break angles, and look traditional beyond about 5 feet away.

I may just give up and put a modern bridge on mine though.
 
Don't give up on a three saddle bridge, it is a fundamental part of Tele tone. The Gotoh "in tune" works, the strings have slots, it intonates and it sound right. I have played many so called modern Teles with six saddles and contours and they just don't sound like a Tele.
 
Don't give up on a three saddle bridge, it is a fundamental part of Tele tone. The Gotoh "in tune" works, the strings have slots, it intonates and it sound right. I have played many so called modern Teles with six saddles and contours and they just don't sound like a Tele.

I'm currently in this camp, I own a 6 saddle USA Tele which I have always felt just doesn't quite do the Tele twang as well as I have heard/played with other Teles.

I am thinking of getting one of these which seems similar to the Gotoh ones so I can convert to 3 saddle:
https://www.wdmusic.co.uk/hardware-...ter-steel-with-intonated-brass-saddles-p17620
 
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