Would strings resting against the back of the bridge stop you from buying an LP?

Rare Form said:

"If they are really pulling down on the bridge, it can cause the bridge to slant toward the nut making it hard to intonate the guitar. This would be more of an issue with an ABR-1 than with a Nashville bridge."

This quote was intended to state that if the strings do pull down on the bridge, the bridge would pull foward and this forward pull would happen more on an ABR-1 than would on an Nashville Bridge. And yes, the strings touching the bridge would occur mostly on Nashville bridges because it is wider. I have seen it happen to ABR-1 bridges where the bridge is high, the tailpiece is low and the bridge is already leaning foward, then you will get strings possibly touching the bridge. At this point you would probably be breaking strings quite frequently because the break angle is too steep.

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I understand what you're saying. I think we're all on the same page now.

I have a 1982 Les Paul Custom and yes, the strings do "rest" or touch the rear of the Nashville Tune-o-matic bridge.

I have a rather low nut, low action, and I put a TP-6 Fine Tuning Tailpiece on it.
This is when I noticed the "resting or rubbing" against the rear of the bridge.
You cannot slide a piece of paper in between the strings and the rear edge of the bridge.

Sometimes when I am playing without an amplifier or picking/hammering at the 12th fret, and I will hear a little strange dissonant note. You can also hear this with just about any guitar. I have experienced some "weird oscillations", but really only notice them when the guitar is not plugged into an amp.

I also tried touching, muting, pressing onto the strings on the rear side of the bridge and there seems to be no noticeable difference in tone, sustain or harmonics.

Yes, eventually it will cut grooves into the metal, but it will take quite a long time unless there is some extreme pressure & rubbing. I have had mine for 32 years without any problems! I have the intonation set well and playing mostly loud rock & blues I can't tell any significant difference nor anything that prevents me from enjoying playing.

The fastest "best fix" for this situation that I have seen is to first insert the guitar strings into the opposite side of the Stop Bar Tailpiece and wrap the strings around the top and over the bridge (- then up to the headstock.)
This will lift the string angle probably enough to raise it ever so slightly off from resting on the rear of the bridge.

Like an idiot, 20 years after I installed the TP-6 Tailpiece... I sold the Stop Bar tailpiece on eBay. Not a big deal, but stupid nonetheless.

If there is nothing major tonal or playing with the guitar, I would feel confident in buying it, plus you may get to get a reduced price if you point out this "anomaly".

I have yet to find a Gibson guitar that is perfect in every way.
You need to find your own guitar(s). Ones that speak to you and say, "Yeah, this is what playing music is all about." -and then live with any abnormalities.

If I didn't love Gibson guitars so much...I would despise them with prejudice!

The flippen tailpiece is ADJUSTABLE!!

Adjust it if you need to. If your strings hit the bridge before the saddle it will sound better adjusted up or top wrapped.

Not always a neck angle issue.

All new (2013) Les Pauls I have checked out in the Guitar stores have come set up from the factory with the strings touching the back of the bridge. Years ago I heard (from an unofficial, unreliable source) that there should be, at least, enough clearance to slip a zig-zag paper between the string and the back of the bridge. I have set up my Les Paul as such. Maybe what happens outside of the nut and the bridge does not affect the sound of the Les Paul. I have not researched this.

if it was a historic i wouldnt buy it. if it was a usa model i would top wrap it.

This is a problem with many modern production Gibsons that have the Nashville bridge on them. A few years ago they were using ABR's on the production guitars, when they changed to the Nashville it seems the strings always touch the top of the back of the bridge, unless you raise the TP way up high. To cure that on my SG Classic with P90's, I just bought an ABR bridge that fits on Nashville posts (in my case the Allparts "Old Style Tunematic"). I was then able to drop down the TP without the strings touching the bridge, and the tone improved also. No problem with intonating the strings with the narrower ABR bridge, either (a couple of the saddles are reversed, of course). I think that Ping Works Nashville they are using on the production Gibsons is a tone robber myself, maybe with a better quality Schaller Nashville the tonal effects wouldn't be as severe, but you'd still have the same TP-height problems with the Nashville. I don't have the same strings-touching-the-back-of-the-bridge problem with my '92 SG Standard, which has an ABR bridge stock.

Al

TommyTouch said:

All new (2013) Les Pauls I have checked out in the Guitar stores have come set up from the factory with the strings touching the back of the bridge. Years ago I heard (from an unofficial, unreliable source) that there should be, at least, enough clearance to slip a zig-zag paper between the string and the back of the bridge. I have set up my Les Paul as such. Maybe what happens outside of the nut and the bridge does not affect the sound of the Les Paul. I have not researched this.

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I was told the same at Ciderville Music when I bought my first 'new' LP. They had set it up for me and I asked the tech about top wrapping and tail piece height and was told that I could go as low on the TP as I wanted as long as I could still slide a piece of paper between the strings and the top of the bridge.

Set 'em up that way ever since. :hmm

Strings resting against the back of the bridge would keep me from buying a Historic made from 2009 to present. One of the 2009 "50th Anniversary" improvements was an improved, vintage-style, neck angle that would prevent this issue. They have kept this detail going forward. It's not a deal-killer for me on an earlier Historic. I have a 2005 '68 Les Paul Custom that has to be top wrapped to play with action I prefer, and it's one of the best Customs I've ever played.

Wouldn't bother me one bit, I really couldn't care less about this.

I don't like the strings hitting the back of the bridge, I would think that is just one more potential source of buzzing, and possibly could affect the string tension to a minor extent. I keep them off the bridge case, one way or the other.

Al

No, I would over wrap the tailpiece.

It is only a problem if the strings hit the back edge of the bridges body before the saddle. It impacts the harp tones which are present behind the bridge as well as in the overtones produced by the guitar. It introduces ultra high overtones that clash with the nut-bridge string overtones and makes for an ugly tone.

To say it is not an issue is misleading or incorrect, IMO and not the kind of advise that leads to creating good primary tone. Too much of an angle to the bridge saddle will choke the strings impact and many things like feel, sustain and tone. You can experiment easily by adjusting the adjustable tailpiece to find an angle that suits you. If the tailpiece is raised too high I would recommend top wrapping the strings and lowering the stop bar.

I hear a definite improvement with my stop bar screwed into the body all the way. Tighter fit and more solid string transference, the whole coupling thing. I like everything to be tight and right. My preference for good tone.

It will not cost a thing to try, as I said you can ADJUST the tailpiece, just retune it and compare, make recordings, write down your impressions, give each adjustment some time to make an impression on you each time you change the height. In the end you will know what you prefer to help your sound and a way you can use to get there.

It wouldn't stop me from buying it IF the price was cheap. Not because of any issue per se, just because I don't ANY guitar unless the price is right.