New member needs bridge & tail pieces advise for 2001 Les Paul Classic

Hi LPF!...new member here needing some advise. I have a caramel (or ice tea) burst 2001 LP Classic. I like this guitar and it plays well for me but I need to upgrade the tuners, bridge and stop tail piece.

Tuners: I'm a big fan of locking tuners so I've decided to go with a set of Gotoh SD90 MG-T Nickel tuners. These look like the original plastic keystones but have a locking mechanism. I also do not need to ream out the headstock. The existing bushings are press-in and now screw in. Any review of this set?

Bridge and Tailpiece: I don't know where to start here. My current bridge looks to be worn out so I was thinking to go ahead and get a bridge/tail piece combo in nickel finish. Any suggestions? I don't want to get too exotic on these. I would go with a Gibson part if the responses sway that way. Just wanted to canvas other players out there with more experience with this hardware. I was wondering if there was something close to the Gibson replacements but maybe were a step up in construction/durability without a huge price increase.

I play mostly rock but like to mellow out with cleaner (clipping) tones and melodies lately. This guitar sounds really good in the clean channel of an amp. I just want to stay in tune and upgrade this hardware now. Just need something with good quality that will last and help keep the guitar in tune and intonation correct.

Hi Pedro: What do you mean by "worn out"? Generally, if string gauges are not changed frequently on the same guitar, the intonation adjustments are tiny if at all so how can a bridge wear out? Do you mean the finish is gone? I added a TP-6 tailpiece to my LP years ago simply because I liked the look; my LP stays in tune really well so I rarely need to tweak a string and usually do it at the headstock anyhow. As I'm sure you are aware, LP tuning issues are generally attributed to string binding at the nut, exacerbated by the headstock string break angles from the nut to the tuners. I'm surprised that locking nuts are not more common on these guitars.

All I can do is share what I did to my 1999 LP Standard. If your bridge isn't flattening out and losing
the 12" radius to match your fret board. you may get by with just replacing the saddles. That is up
to you. I put Graphtech "String Saver" saddles in my Nashville Tune-o-Matic and haven't broken a
single string at that end since. I also got rid of the lousy nut Gibson uses. I got a Graphtech nut of
the same self lubricating material. They're called "Tusq XL". The guitar really sweetened up in tone
and playability. Check there website out, but Amazon and most music stores now carry them too.
One thing though, the correct E to E string spacing is the PT-6114-00. Some sites will say that the
PT-6010 fits a Les Paul, and it does but the string spacing is like 1.425". A Gibson LP has a space
of 1.375, which is the PT-6114. I believe the PT-6114 only comes in black, but it's worth it. You have
to specify XL to have a self lubricating nut. I am so glad I made the changes I did. People on this
forum all have their preferences, but I speak from my experience. As far as a bridge goes, look
into Gotoh. My finger is sore now so good luck and Gibson replacements are overpriced as all hell.
Cheers.

Kluson makes a great aluminum stop bar and steel inserts. Got a set for my les paul classic on reverb brand new for $25 or something like that. I also have the gotoh tuners and they work well. Probably putting them on my r8. They were on my classic briefly before I found the R8 and removed them to sell the guitar.


I went pricey on the bridge, splurged on a callaham. Very well made. I like the no wire a lot. No more annoying wire buzz!