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Proportional string spacing and bridge alignment

JohnPlayer

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Joined
Apr 19, 2017
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3
Hi, new member, first post.

I got my first electric in the 70s and since then I've kept a few to cover my needs. (I play them andmaintain them, I don't collect them for any other purpose.)

If anyone has insight in Gibson manufacturing, maybe you can help me out with a question that has bugged me for some time regarding bridge alignment and string spacing:

Many ES 335 with ABR-1 got proportional string spacing at the bridge. LP's with ABR-1 almost always come with equal spacing. -Why??

Nashville bridge saddles are always factory slotted at the center of the saddle, meaning that any guitar with the Nashville system always has equal spacing. It also means that the Nashville bridge post bushings must be positioned with precision to ensure proper string alignment.

In contrast, ABR-1 saddles come un-slotted and slots may all end up off-center, as long as the string to fretboard alignment is right. If the customer wants proportional string spacing, the slots are off-center anyway and less attention to side-to-side alignment of an ABR-1 bridge would be required.

The ABR-1 system wasn't always pre-notched at the factory. For a period of time, Gibson shipped to the dealers, that did the set up including saddle slotting to meet individual customer requirements. (I know, because I've bought more than one new Gibson that came un-notched to the store that did the saddle slotting as part of the customer set-up)

Some people prefer the ABR-1 system because it enables proportional string spacing as well as a wider string spacing. LP guys seem more concerned with the strings lining up over the pole pieces. For a long time Gibson used the same pickup spec for neck and bridge position, meaning that the strings could never line up over the bridge pole pieces. Bridge pole piece alignment is possible only when the guitar has a modern dedicated bridge PU spec and therefore doesn't apply to historic specs.

Anyway, I have a 335 with an ABR-1 that is currently proportionally slotted. It's due for new saddles. I'm thinking about making an equal spacing, but in order to have the slots centered (for aesthetic reasons only. -There may be better saddle-to-bridge contact having the slots off-center?) that would require the bridge posts to be adjusted about 1 mm in order to get the fretboard alignment right. I could bend the posts a little, or reset the posts at a small angle. Or I could keep the proportional spacing and it would continue to be my only guitar with this feature...

Dan Erlewine and Stewmac advocate proportional spacing, but I have no idea when, where and why this trend started. All my other guitars including my acoustics got equal spacing.

-Your thoughts?
 

Kris Ford

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Jan 6, 2007
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4,003
Nashvilles have only been pre-notched since 2013-4ish..otherwise it was plain un-notched saddles. They lined the strings up over the poles, and smack it with a rubber hammer. ABR-1 was done this way as well.

Personally, as long as the strings are over the poles, it is a non issue where the string rests on the saddle...there is roughly 3/8 inch of saddle, so to me, that says the string can rest anywhere along that..but of course not falling off the edge...spacing over poles trumps anything else, and really should be a matter of function over looks.

My '76, which had T Tops, now 57 Classics, has string alignment over the bridge poles just fine..

...but I ensured that when I replaced the bridge, which was UN-notched.
 

JohnPlayer

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Apr 19, 2017
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3
Yeah I have a 70s SG like that, strings line up over the bridge pole pieces, but off-center on the inside of the outer neck pole pieces. Overall string spacing between high and low E is a bit narrow, but I don't mind. It's a good guitar.

Outer saddle spacing, center to center, differ up to a millimeter depending on bridge model and make, some nuts are cut wider etc. Fretboard width is the only boundary.

OK, let's assume that pole piece string alignment is important (many would disagree), one would then have to decide which pickup should be the reference. If there's some old tradition to use the neck PU as the reference for ES-guitars, whereas the bridge PU is more often used as the reference for LPs, this could actually explain why ES-guitars more often end up with proportional spacing. ("since the symmetry is off anyway, let's go all in", in a kind of way). Those ES guitars will consequently have wider overall string spacing.

Some people like more space between the wound strings, nuts are traditionally cut this way, but I'm not sure I buy the concept at the bridge, where I think equal spacing is more logic from a playing technique point of view. It's not a big deal, but a man's gotta have a philosophy.

-What are the arguments for proportional string spacing at the bridge (I wouldn't be surprised if it originates from violin making, which would be totally irrelevant from a guitar playing perspective)?
 

JohnPlayer

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Joined
Apr 19, 2017
Messages
3
Found this on Gibson talk:
www.gibson-talk.com/forum/attachments/es-sential-hollowbodies/486d1262839587-es335-high-e-nuisance-es335wc201001211-jpg
A guy returns his 335 under warranty because the high E slips off the fretboard. The repair specification states that "new bridge saddles are cut" and since "both pickups are neck spaced strings will not line up over lead pole pieces".
Fine.
Now, -How come these guitars end up with proportional string spacing when guitars with a bridge spaced bridge PU got equal spacing?
 

SoK66

Active member
Joined
Aug 31, 2009
Messages
236
For production efficiency Gibson appears to be using bridges with pre-notched saddles, cut in the exact center of the saddle. Same for Nashville and ABR-1 style bridges. In every case I have noticed (my own guitars purchased new) there is uneven string spacing across the fingerboard, with a wider gap between the fingerboard edge on the bass side than the trebble side, with a tendency for the first string to be rather close to the edge of the fingerboard. Correcting it takes new saddles, or a complete replacement bridge because Gibson doesn't sell individual saddles any longer.

Stew-Mac has a good video on new bridge installation. The tech's advice is to align the sixth and first strings at the edge of the adhustable poles of the bridge pickup, and centered on the adjustable poles of the neck pickup (asssuming te neck pickup is perfectly centered). The gap between the edge of the fingerboard at the 22nd fret and the edge of the string should be minimum 1/8" (1/8" on the treble side gets pretty dicey, a bit more is advised.) With those slot locations established and rough cut, use their graduated nut & saddle ruler to proportionally space the other four strings across the bridge. Provided the neck pickup is installed perfectly centered, you'll get a very nice, comfortable spread across the fingerboard. To get it right is very time consuming, so you'll see right away why our beloved Gibson workers opt out of this.
 
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