Electric Guitar Bridges
There have, over the years, evolved about as many different electric guitar bridge designs as there are people who dream them up. The bad news is that most of them have been cumbersome designs of questionable utlilty. The good news is the ones which remain are, for the most part, pretty good. Like most design aspects of the guitar, modern manufacturing techniques and materials have brought us the best parts ever.
Electric guitar bridges can be divided into two groups, tremolo and non-tremolo (sometimes called a hardtail). Tremolo bridges have an arm that extends fromhat extends from somewhere near the string anchring point. This arm acts as a lever that the player can push and, in some cases, pull to change the string tention and, as a result, the pitch. Non-tremolo bridges supply an anchoring point for the strings but provide no active control over string tension or pitch. Both bridges have their advantages. In general, a non-tremolo bridge is thought to provide better tuning stability an more solid contact between the guitar body and the strings. But, if your playing style calls for a tremolo, no hardtail is going to do the job.
Generally, the more contact the bridge has with the body, the better the sound transfer will be into the body. A warmer sound with increased sustain is the result. It is generally understood that non-tremolo bridges offer better transfer of string vibration into the body. This is a result of direct contact of the bridge to the guitar's bodyar's body. Tremolo bridges usually need to be suspended in some way which reduces this contact. Most tremolo designs today use a group of springs in the guitar body which counter the tension of the strings. Some players feel that the vibration of the springs effect resonance in such a way that makes the guitar sound better. Others don't. So, like every other aspect of the instrumemnt, study up, play a lot of guitars and make your decision as to which designs you like.
Since many playing styles make the use of a tremolo mandatory, most solid body electric guitars today are manufactured with one of two types tremolos.
Vintage Tremolo
Non-locking or vintage tremolos are the bridges we see on traditional, three pickup guitars like the one pictured below. For most pl For most playing styles, vintage tremolos are a good choice because they easy to use and maintain, offer good sound transfer and have very few parts. There are many variations of vintage tremolos, so it's often best to see a reputable dealer for your particular needs.
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Locking Tremolo
Another type of tremolo is the Locking Tremolo. These bridges have a sort of vice in each saddle which clamps the string into place (usually with a 3mm allen wrench). The opposite end of the string (the nut) has a clamp which holds the string against slipping in much tpping in much the same way. Once set up, for tuning stability, these locking tremolos can't be beat. Their knife edge fulcrum points; however, offer extremely minute contact with the body which could disturb the transfer of sound. These bridges use the same spring-in-the-body arrangement as the vintage trem does. If extreme "whammy" technique is your plan, this is your bridge. Keep in mind that good versions of these tremolos are expensive. There are many look-alikes out there and most are bad and produce tuning problems (which is the reason for using such a tremolo in the first place). Pictured below is a high quality guitar that features a high quality, double locking tremolo.
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Non-Tremolo
The right choice for any player looking for a hassle-free guitar bridge. These bridges are bolted directly to the top of the guitar body in some way and, assuming the quality is good, limit string movement completely. This way, tuning stability is assured. The improved transfer of string vibration into the body has an effect on the sound so, guitars with this type of bridge have different characteristics than those with tremolos even if the arm is removed from the tremolo. Also, there are no springs in the body or a cavity to accomodate them which also effects resonance. All that said, every guitar has unique characteristics; even the same model, so play as many guitars as you can before making your decision about which guitar to buy.
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