Very good question, I've had a few of the Nashville bridges, & 1 or 2 of the abrs, I prefer the Nashville. Maybe it's nostalgia Given my choice, I'd have the harmonica on all of em
I'm a bit disappointed to go through this on a Gibson. Although I made a lot of improvements to my Schecter C1, I never HAD to do anything....
some claim the old ABR-1 bridges that the adjustment screws screwed right into the wood had better tone. i guess its what ever somebody likes.course i dont know if a Nashville bridge on a old Vintage Gibson or Reissue would look right.
Better string vibration transfer to body, I guess. I think the harmonica looks good on vintage SGs This was my '73 Standard
Some people say they sound better- my luthier says bah humbug Nashville is good and tough. The corksniffer in me (And there is much) looks for deals on ABR-1 guitars. No one can doubt some really fine sounding instruments came with ABR-1s
Flip it. Very simple solution for a very common problem. If it still won't intonate, then we have a problem.
LOL!!! When you start reading about this problem, here is what I find - "There are frequent issues on Gibson's with G string fretting etc...Personally I live with it...One could try to change things like nut groove heightBut unless open D chords are essential often...Play on..." Or this one - I've been playing Gibson electrics since 1968. I've just gotten used to it. It was the same then as it is today .. my Firebird V, SG Standard and my LP Standard, ALL do the same. I will tell you though; in my 40 years of this music business, the only Gibson that DID NOT have this problem is the ES335. I've had 3 - the newest - a 2006, frets perfectly." This one made me laugh - "I just avoid open 'D' and open 'G' on my Gibson's. Even the Gibson warranty tech said it can't be fixed. It's a bridge placement issue in the design..."
The only good way to improve sustain is an ABR bridge with studs strongly fixed into the body. Nashville insert vs Faber stud , diameter of Faber insert is more important . Nashville inserts are very small and they are very easily removable, they don' t transmit vibrations.
Put some graphite in the G nut slot, (rub a pencil back and forth across the slot then wipe the excess off the top of the nut) If its not already making the pinging sound when tuning, then its probably not binding at the nut. Then its more likely a string length issue.
No "pinging" while adjusting the tune...However, the 'G' doesn't seem to ping" as loudly as the other strings. I have changed 'G' strings twice to rule out a bad string. No binding, no tuning stability problems associatd with a binding nut. So..I called Gibson, they referred me to The Guitar Doctor in Fountain Valley, California (Authorized Gibson Service Center) and they told me there really isn't anything that can be done without changing to a wider bridge (they recommended the Gotoh Nashville Replacement which has more saddle movement, but the strings lay on it because it is noticeably wider) because it has to do with where Gibson planted the bridge.... This is ridiculous...
