Design of components

They're wider to compensate for slight manufacturing tolerances.

+/- a mm or so.

The Rainbow bridge and tailpiece are made from 'pot' metal which is very cheap.
The tailpiece on the Rainbow,Prestige,Thunder II etc. are all the same. The tailpiece is extremely vulnerable to bumps and bangs and will snap at the weakest point ie. A+B strings. Have a look how thin they are from below.

Many folks have been looking for replacements due to breakages.

Here's a link to a fix.
http://forum.westoneguitars.net/t5061-swiftlock-tailpiece

Jim wrote:...I never understood why some bridges aren't mounted parallel to the tail-piece on some guitars...
What is the logic here? Anybody?

It mainly has to do with compensation in order to get the intonation correct. Most acoustic saddles on good quality guitars are angled simply because there is no way to physically adjust the strings individually as with an ABR-1 or Nashville style bridge. The angle is determined by the scale of the guitar with G-scale (Gibson) requiring more compensation that an F-scale (Fender).

If you look at David's 2nd pic above, in particular, you'll see that while the bridge is parallel to the stop tail, the saddles in fact are angled in order to compensate.

Barry wrote:

Jim wrote:...I never understood why some bridges aren't mounted parallel to the tail-piece on some guitars...
What is the logic here? Anybody?

It mainly has to do with compensation in order to get the intonation correct. Most acoustic saddles on good quality guitars are angled simply because there is no way to physically adjust the strings individually as with an ABR-1 or Nashville style bridge. The angle is determined by the scale of the guitar with G-scale (Gibson) requiring more compensation that an F-scale (Fender).

If you look at David's 2nd pic above, in particular, you'll see that while the bridge is parallel to the stop tail, the saddles in fact are angled in order to compensate.

Looks like a wound G in the 2nd. picture.

Pic 1 is the Rainbow, which has a plain 3rd. You can see that my intonation adjustments have resulted in a big step in the angle between the 3rd and 4th strings because 1,2,3 are plain and 4,5,6 are wound.
Pic 2 is the Ibanez Artist, which also has a plain 3rd. It looks like the bridge may need a bit of adjustment but the intonation seems fine so I haven't changed it. I must admit I bought the guitar as an investment and it is in such mint condition that I'm reluctant to use it for gigs, which is a pity because it's a superb guitar. I'll try and post some more pics of bridges to show some other variations.

What are the post centers on the Ibanez stop tailpiece?

I'm shocked to read Westbone's (Damian's?) comments on the fragility of Westone bridges and tailpieces. I always assumed the quality of them was a bit better than the stock ones. I've not had any breakage problems with any bridges or tailpieces myself; the only problem I've had is the saddles wearing down where I put the back of my hand on them to damp the strings. I notice that some people go to the trouble of getting replacement parts in brass; does this make much difference to the guitar's playability?

Westbone wrote:What are the post centers on the Ibanez stop tailpiece?

Sorry, not sure what you're asking about there. The tailpiece has the normal post screws. The bridge has locking screws, which are more unusual.

Hey, I've just become a Westone Nut! Love it!  

David_A wrote:

Westbone wrote:What are the post centers on the Ibanez stop tailpiece?

Sorry, not sure what you're asking about there. The tailpiece has the normal post screws. The bridge has locking screws, which are more unusual.

Hey, I've just become a Westone Nut! Love it!  

The distance from the center of one post to the other.

You nut...

David_A wrote:I'm shocked to read Westbone's (Damian's?) comments on the fragility of Westone bridges and tailpieces. I always assumed the quality of them was a bit better than the stock ones. I've not had any breakage problems with any bridges or tailpieces myself; the only problem I've had is the saddles wearing down where I put the back of my hand on them to damp the strings. I notice that some people go to the trouble of getting replacement parts in brass; does this make much difference to the guitar's playability

It's the Swiftlock tailpiece that's the Achilles heal.

Brass is an easier material to work with.

"It's the Swiftlock tailpiece that's the Achilles heal."


Self-healing tailpiece? Now that would be useful!
(sorry couldn't resist!) 


BTW, I've put the Ibanez away for now, but will check next time I get it out (the guitar, that is).

 

Wish they did 'heel' themselves

Westbone wrote:Yes seen all those types of bridges, nothing new!
None are Westone though.

Maybe you should put this in the Non Westone section.

Done! CLICK HERE to continue the discussion of bridge types.