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Gibson ABR-1 and Tailpiece

trumtv0730

New member
Joined
Jun 17, 2020
Messages
3
Hello,

Brand new. First post

I've got a 2019 Les Paul Standard '50s that I'm wanting to do a few upgrades on to bring it closer to vintage spec, without going too over the top

Just curious if there's anything about the stock bridge and tailpiece that makes them substantially less than vintage spec

Thanks for the help
 

Señor Verde

Active member
Joined
Jan 13, 2005
Messages
621
I don't know how close to vintage spec they are, but I've tried a couple well regarded aftermarket bridges and tailpieces/studs and think the stock sounds best. I have a 2018 R7 and 2019 R8. The only "improvements" I liked are Wizz regular wind pickups and Ruskie PIO caps.
 

Coachmoe

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 23, 2002
Messages
1,139
Hello,

Brand new. First post

I've got a 2019 Les Paul Standard '50s that I'm wanting to do a few upgrades on to bring it closer to vintage spec, without going too over the top

Just curious if there's anything about the stock bridge and tailpiece that makes them substantially less than vintage spec

Thanks for the help

I have a 2019 Standard Goldtop 50's with P90's. The bridge on the Original Collection Les Paul's is the ABR 1 wired bridge. However, it does not mount like an original ABR 1. The originals mounted on two threaded posts that screw right into the body of the guitar. The new ABR 1's on the 50's Standards mount like a Nashville tuneomatic. They have threaded inserts that tap down into the body. It also has a lip / collar that is exposed. The studs that mount the actual bridge are much sturdier than original ABR 1 screws / studs. I believe the heavier stud of the newer design was used as a fix for the possible collapse of the original style ABR's. Lot's of guys used double thumbwheels on original ABR's to prevent bridge collapse as they add a little more rigidity. As far as the new bridges, they make a conversion post that you can screw down into the Nashville body insert and you get the appearance of the old style mounting system. I personally prefer the ABR 1 bridge and I have used these conversion posts on several guitars to swap out a Nashville bridge to an original ABR 1 style.

Here are a couple of links:

https://www.philadelphialuthiertool...n-gibson-guitar-with-nashville-bridge-nickel/

https://brownsguitarfactory.com/product-category/hardware-and-parts/


I have used both company's posts . The ones on my Goldtop are from Brown's Guitar Factory.

As far as the tailpiece on your guitar, it s alumnium and almost identical to olde spec tailpieces.

Here are pics of my Goldtop bridge.




Un the top pic, you see that the stud is adjustable with the use a metric hex key. The bottom pic shows the collar of the mounting insert, as well as double thumb wheels. As you can see in the top pic, looking at it from the top view, it looks like a vintage set up.

I hope this helps.
 
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