Suggestions for an intonatable wraparound bridge for a modern SG Special

[AngelDeVille]

Ah, a little late for that. Went for a Schaller Signum. It was described as both low profile a a drop-in replacement for a Gibson. I'll let everyone know how it goes once it gets here.

Let us know for sure, it's a subject near and dear to my heart.

love wrap arounds. but I use standard strings so intonate E to e and done.

 

[DrBGood]

love wrap arounds. but I use standard strings so intonate E to e and done.

Same here with 9's.

 

[edselman]

One thing to consider is that Mojoaxe makes a lightning that looks identical to the stock Gibson, but with more accurate intonation. It may be a good option for those who don’t care for the looks of the individual saddles. I bought one for my 1965 Melody Maker. It seemed to do a good job. I currently am using the original bridge/tailpiece though as I found a source for string sets with wound G strings.

 

[An Abiding Dude]

So, a bit of an update. I got the Schaller Signum and at first glance it seemed like a a nice upgrade. I took it to my luthier, Guitar Doctor Bob, to see what we could see

But, of course the posts were metric, so no direct screw in and the tailpiece bushings were a smaller diameter than the original Gibson bushings. So we tried just mounting the bridge to the original Gibson posts, but it was a bit skinnier and the bridge rode up at an angle. So I got the bright idea of using some e-clips to act as a type of spacer to flatten the bridge and it worked pretty well.


So it was kind of a jimmy-rig but it seemed to be working and I thought I might find smaller e-clips to sit on the post a little better, but then I tried to set the intonation and three of the six screws that moved the saddles back and forth were cross threaded and impossible to adjust. It took all my wrist strength to move it and the heads of the screws began to strip. To StewMac's credit they told me not to bother returning the defective bridge and refunded my money via a StewMac gift card. So now the hunt continues. StewMac suggested a Pigtail bridge and a set of Tone Pro posts. I took half their advice and ordered a TonePro bridge set, but it looks like it may be metric as well. They really should have something that says "Fits the following models" and provide a list. Ah well, we'll see what we can see when it arrives. Probably have to send it back.

In other news, I finally got my hum-canceling Fralin P-90s to put in my SG Classic. Since the Classic had a PC board layout I had to buy new pots, caps and wiring. Here's what the old PC board and pickups look like:

The new guts:

And the final product:

The Fralins have beautiful clarity and are quiet as a mouse. Pretty happy about that decision. I'll let everyone know when I finally get the blue SG's bridge finalized in a future post.

Cheers!

 

[An Abiding Dude]

The final update: So StewMac suggested the Pigtail with a set of TonePros studs, but I wanted something a little more high end so I bought (with the Schaller credit) the TonePros AVT2M wraparound, but the studs were once again metric so I also picked up the TonePros SS1 Standard locking Studs as well. So the nice thing was that the SS1s just screw into the existing tailpiece bushings, so I didn't need to pull out the Gibson installed ones. Once that was done, all that was left to do was install the bridge which was relatively drama free. Why they don't offer a TonePros bridge with the SS1s in a single package is baffling.

The weird thing about StewMac is the only compete sets (bridge and studs) they offer of the more high end products (such as Schaller and TonePros) are in metric, like they assume no one in interested in upgrading a Gibson bridge. So they make you do all this guess work to find something that will replace American standard measured pieces. I finally figured it out, but they should just flat out list which model of guitars "x" or "y" sets are a direct replacement for. I'm assuming they're operating from a DIY builders perspective in that you're going to be drilling into a blank body, so as long as your drill bit is the right circumference and your spacing is right, then no other problems need be considered.

Anyway, here's a shot of the twins with their shiny new Fralin pickups. I think I'm done modding for a while. The itch is scratched.

 

[Decadent Dan]

The final update: So StewMac suggested the Pigtail with a set of TonePros studs, but I wanted something a little more high end so I bought (with the Schaller credit) the TonePros AVT2M wraparound, but the studs were once again metric so I also picked up the TonePros SS1 Standard locking Studs as well. So the nice thing was that the SS1s just screw into the existing tailpiece bushings, so I didn't need to pull out the Gibson installed ones. Once that was done, all that was left to do was install the bridge which was relatively drama free. Why they don't offer a TonePros bridge with the SS1s in a single package is baffling.
View attachment 48831
The weird thing about StewMac is the only compete sets (bridge and studs) they offer of the more high end products (such as Schaller and TonePros) are in metric, like they assume no one in interested in upgrading a Gibson bridge. So they make you do all this guess work to find something that will replace American standard measured pieces. I finally figured it out, but they should just flat out list which model of guitars "x" or "y" sets are a direct replacement for. I'm assuming they're operating from a DIY builders perspective in that you're going to be drilling into a blank body, so as long as your drill bit is the right circumference and your spacing is right, then no other problems need be considered.

Anyway, here's a shot of the twins with their shiny new Fralin pickups. I think I'm done modding for a while. The itch is scratched.
View attachment 48833

The M in AVT2M is probably metric.
You might have been better off getting the AVT2G…

 

[An Abiding Dude]

The M in AVT2M is probably metric.
You might have been better off getting the AVT2G…

View attachment 48834

Yeah, but that was the point I was trying to make, StewMac doesn't offer that set, only the metric. So the big question is why not have that set in stock along with the metric (or if you only have one, why not the set that'll fit a Gibson)? Of course the simplest answer is to shop somewhere else, but I was stuck with the credit from the nonfunctional Schaller (they didn't directly refund my money, just put it on a gift card).

 

[Decadent Dan]

Yeah, but that was the point I was trying to make, StewMac doesn't offer that set, only the metric. So the big question is why not have that set in stock along with the metric (or if you only have one, why not the set that'll fit a Gibson)? Of course the simplest answer is to shop somewhere else, but I was stuck with the credit from the nonfunctional Schaller (they didn't directly refund my money, just put it on a gift card).

Stew Mac is weird, they probably sprayed too much nitro without a respirator

 

[seanzy425]

Gotoh 510 UB
View attachment 48498 View attachment 48499

View attachment 48500

Can you use the original posts or did you have to remove them to install this?

 

[Maguchi]

Hi Everyone,

In my never ending quest to own way more guitars than I'll ever need, I picked up this pelham blue SG Special a while ago (the 2019-2021 model). Just dropped a set of Fralin stock P90s in her, and it sounds awesome, beautiful clarity, low noise/hum. I like dialed-in intonation and so my next step is replacing the the lightning bar tail piece with an intonatable wraparound bridge. The lightning bar is decent, but i want something a bit more precise. I had the replacement bridge Gibson sent me for the Iommi and I tried installing it but even with the posts grounded, the action was waaaaay too high and I had to max out the set screws to even come close to getting proper intonation across the bridge. So I come to you, hat in hand, for some wisdom/knowledge that this community can provide. So whadda know about the best possible replacement bridge with adjustable saddles for this model? View attachment 48494

I got a Gibson LP Special HH that came standard with a Lightning Bolt bridge. I change it out to a TonePros wraparound bridge and can recommend them. Sounds and feels great, good adjustability and intonation. Good feel for varying levels of palm mute. Comes in 2 versions, the P for US guitars and the M for imports.

AVT2P - TonePros Sound Labs International

TonePros Wraparound Set

tonepros.com

 

[Maguchi]

StewMac suggested a Pigtail bridge and a set of Tone Pro posts. I took half their advice and ordered a TonePro bridge set, but it looks like it may be metric as well. They really should have something that says "Fits the following models" and provide a list. Ah well, we'll see what we can see when it arrives. Probably have to send it back.

The TonePros AVT2M is metric and the AVT2P is standard (USA). See above post

 

[An Abiding Dude]

The TonePros AVT2M is metric and the AVT2P is standard (USA). See above post

Well, you're about six months late with that nugget of wisdom, Mag. One of the points I was making is that for a modding neophyte like myself, there was nothing on StewMac's webpage that explained the difference between "M" and "P" and they only sold the metric set (bridge, posts and bushings together) and not the standard one which is bizarre because you'd think most folks buying this stuff are people like me modding an American Gibson bridge. So, I was too deep in (I had to use store credit from returning the bad Schaller I bought earlier) and just bought the posts separately and they screwed in to the bushings pretty as you please so I didn't have to replace the bushings. As you can see in the pelham blue Special above, I got it done, but it was way more complicated than it should've been.