Fingerboard and bridge radii

jaymenon

For a fingerboard radius of 13.75” (350mm) 

Which bridge would you go with:

 a 12” (300mm) radius (steeper, higher G and D)
or

15.74” (400mm) radius (flatter, higher E Strings)

Are there practical considerations that would make you prefer one over the other?

Lebarque

I'm not an expert on this, but I asked a similar question recently and the consensus seemed to be a flatter bridge works really well. Have a look here:

https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/185800/12-radius-bridge-with-9-5-neck#latest

Jonathangus

Likewise: https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/185312/neck-radius-vs-bridge-radius

SteveRobinson

Definitely the latter, which should work well.

Once you have the bass side raised a little higher than the treble the increase in string height should be nicely progressive across the board.

jaymenon

Thanks guys, it’s interesting that both bridges are made by Gotoh.

GE103B (Nashville): 12” (300mm) radius

GE104B (ABR1): 15.75” (400mm) radius

why on earth would they flatten the radius for the ABR1 type? And by doing so, making it incompatible with the majority of Gibson Type Guitars...?

[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/IciQJfP.jpg?1)
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/zpUcaKB.jpg?1)

they also make it very, very difficult to flip the saddles (The bolts on the end are superglued). 

I never figured out why Gotoh make the first three saddles one way and the 4, 5 & 6 saddles face the other way.

I would’ve flipped 3, 5 & 6

SteveRobinson

I put the Gotoh ABR-1 on my recent build which has a 12" radius, it gives a good string height on every string. 

The flatter radius makes it *more* compatible, not less.

I agree with what you say about the saddles though, that was nearly a deal breaker.

jaymenon

Did you find you needed to flip the G and D saddles Steve?

SteveRobinson

No but I measured very carefully before I located it. If I could flip them I would.

ICBM

jaymenon said:

Thanks guys, it’s interesting that both bridges are made by Gotoh.

GE103B (Nashville): 12” (300mm) radius

GE104B (ABR1): 15.75” (400mm) radius

why on earth would they flatten the radius for the ABR1 type? And by doing so, making it incompatible with the majority of Gibson Type Guitars...?

I would say that 400mm is *more* compatible with a fingerboard radius of 300mm - or actually very slightly more than that, by a few mm - than 300mm is.

jaymenon said:

I never figured out why Gotoh make the first three saddles one way and the 4, 5 & 6 saddles face the other way.

So the bridge can be fitted either way round and still give the right saddle stagger. All far-east tune-o-matics seem to be made like that.

Although I usually find that the D is wrong, at least - sometimes the A as well. On the typical Korean ones the first thing I do when setting up the guitar is turn the saddles round so the front face is vertical and the ramp is on the tailpiece side - that also helps reduce string breakage.

jaymenon

ICBM said:

jaymenon said:

I never figured out why Gotoh make the first three saddles one way and the 4, 5 & 6 saddles face the other way.

So the bridge can be fitted either way round and still give the right saddle stagger. All far-east tune-o-matics seem to be made like that.

Although I usually find that the D is wrong, at least - sometimes the A as well. On the typical Korean ones the first thing I do when setting up the guitar is turn the saddles round so the front face is vertical and the ramp is on the tailpiece side - that also helps reduce string breakage.

Exactly John thanks

The scale length on the D string is shorter than the G, so I would expect that they either
a. provide easily flippable saddles (the Gotoh's are super-glued), or

b. keep saddles such that
1, 2 & 4 flat face towards pickups
3, 5 & 6 ramp towards pickups

 

ICBM

jaymenon said:

b. keep saddles such that

1, 2 & 4 flat face towards pickups
3, 5 & 6 ramp towards pickups

Exactly - although that's a problem when some silly sod wants to use a wound 3rd string, which intonates even shorter than the D.

(Like me!)

jaymenon

So are these aftermarket bridges (eg. by Faber) significant improvements upon the original design in terms of materials, sound et cetera...