Schaller offer two variants of this bridge, non-reverse (part number 12080100) and reverse (part number 12080101). Non-reverse has the screws pointing toward the pickups and reverse has the screws pointing toward the tailpiece. Hope this helps.
I asked a parts supplier and they didn’t know the difference between “reversed” with intonation screws away from the pickup and “non-reversed” with intonation screws toward the pickup. The part number difference is new to me! Thank you! I reviewed the video and both boxes had the same part number!?!
I have reverse them myself. You just unscrew them until the little e clamps come loose. You have to do it slow and make sure the clamps fall naturally. Put them aside. Change the saddles so they go reverse, take a pair of locking tweezers and pick up the clamps. Give the clamps a slight bend in. Clip them back onto the screws. Take the locking tweezers on either side and squeeze them back tight around the screws. They are done.
Based on e-mails I've received, I want to clear up an area of possible confusion. The points covered in this video are intended to address and help those players who have invested in a Gibson Les Paul but now have a difficult time keeping it in tune. It then goes on to say what can be done about those problems. Some are under the mistaken impression that I'm suggesting they buy the guitar, then make upgrades to the hardware. I myself might do that but at least I'm going into it with the full knowledge of what to expect with a Gibson Les Paul. Some have asked the question, why buy one in the first place if it is known to have issues? The answer for me is that in spite of the need (IMHO) to upgrade the bridge, pickups and tuners, it is an otherwise outstanding guitar. The neck either feels right in your hand or it doesn't. The body either feels right when you hold it or it doesn't. Those factors plus the bound neck and the fact that I want to support a USA company do it for me. I realize what these guitars cost vs imports and USA Fenders but I'm willing to pay it to have what I consider to be the quality in the areas I mentioned. By the way, I have owned many USA Fenders including a customized Tele I now have. If you would like to make civil, rational comments, feel free. Those who post vitriolic, argumentative comments, especially those using foul language will be deleted. Peace. BH
Hi, Just wanted you to know my 1996 Giby LP Classic has a slightly wider spacing than acceptable between the two bridge posts for this bridge to fit properly and the Schaller roller bridge now sits atop two slightly tilted stems. I have kept it, but was afraid to try to grind out the difference on the underneath of the bridge as I was afraid I’d have trouble getting both equally matched and mess up the string locations across the adjustment screws of my humbuckers.
@@robertrraineyjr967 Sorry this is so late but thanks for the info. Thanks also for watching and liking my videos and for subscribing to my channel. All the best, BH
If you buy this bridge from the manufacturer in Germany they provide them with the intonation strings facing the pickups, or the bridge. Chose reversed or non reversed, simple.
@@randallabracadabra Has nothing to do with left or right. They offer the non-reversed, i.e the one where the intonation screws face the pickups, because of the ABR-1 bridge. Back when Gibson launched the Les Paul and for many years forward, the original narrow ABR-1 Tune-O-Matic bridges came with the screws facing the pickups. Then when Gibson introduced the wider Nashville bridge we all have come to loathe and hate today, they moved the intonation screws to the side facing the tail piece. So to put it simply, the screws facing the pickups is a styling cue, a throw-back to the 57-59 Les Pauls featuring the ABR-1 bridge. This is also why a bridge with the screws facing the tail is referred to as a reversed bridge, because originally the screws faced the pickups.
@@AB-80X The Schaller bridge doesn't fit on the abr-1 posts, so what would be the point of making one reversed simply for the screw location? It makes much more sense that they offer standard and reverse for right and left handed players, so they don't have to fuss with moving the bigger rollers saddles to the other side of the bridge. Remember, this bridge is a direct replacement for the Nashville series bridges, not the ABR-1.
I played with an upside-down Schaller roller bridge for 7 years... ...until I watched this video yesterday. That's what I get for blindly copying pictures online! It sure plays a lot better now. Many, many thanks sir! Greatly appreciated!!!
Schaller's website sells both non-reversed and reversed bridges. I assume the reversed is for a left-handed guitar. Use small needle nose pliers to put the e-rings back on. There is a special tool for working with them, too. It's fairly inexpensive. I agree that the screws should face to the rear. Nice video.
I am unable to turn the thumb screws wheels on the bridge with my fingers to lower or raise the bridge. Is there a tool for this, or do I need to loosen something to take the tension off of the bridge?
I have reverse them myself. You just unscrew them until the little e clamps come loose. You have to do it slow and make sure the clamps fall naturally. Put them aside. Change the saddles so they go reverse, take a pair of locking tweezers and pick up the clamps. Give the clamps a slight bend in. Clip them back onto the screws. Take the locking tweezers on either side and squeeze them back tight around the screws. They are done.
Just installed the Schaller STM bridge mon reverse on my Epiphone Les Paul studio. These are awesome. Combined with tusq nut and dusenberg Les trem 2 the tuning stability is awesome. Thank you for your video.
My Epi SG has the intonation screws on the pickup side from the factory. Same as the three Gibson SG's I have looked at in the store. LP's arent the only guitar with a tune-o-matic so maybe there are more guitars with the screws on the pickup side than the other way round so Schaller reversed the bridge?
The screws facing the pickups is how it originally was on the ABR-1 bridge. The Nashville bridge which is the fatter modern style bridge found on most Les Pauls from the 80's, 90's, and on, are the ones which are reversed. Reversed is when the screws face the tail. Schaller basically offers the non-reversed as a throwback to the original Les Pauls of the 50's and 60's when they used the slim ABR-1 bridge. Be glad that you have the ABR-1 style bridge, because it is much better than the Nashville bridge.
My Gibson Les Paul Standard 2016 HP is already with the new bridge after your recommendations. It was an ideal placed instead of the old bridge. With the Schaller bridge, I was able to lower the stop bar bridge below. The sound now is a completely different guitar! The sound is just fantastic now!!! Thank you for advising this modification!
Good information! I just experienced some issues with a TonePros roller bridge myself & made a video about it. To your point, the ABR-1 bridge on the original Les Pauls (late 50s) had the screws facing the pickups. I have mine this way, & I’m able to get a small/skinny screwdriver in there just fine. But of course you need it to fit your own needs & preferences. 👍🏻
Very helpful. I am planning to upgrade my classic Gibson guitar. I watched the other video about tunning and it was helpful too. One question, what is your opinion about the String butler V3? I want to solve forever the tunning problems.
Hi Lyonen Official! Thanks for your nice words and thanks for watching my videos! Regarding the string butler, I don't see the need, it's just another component added to a guitar that has the potential to cause issues. That's what I see. Any guitar made my any manufacturer will go out of tune as it is being played. The question is a matter of degree ... how much out of tune? I solved my tuning problems to my satisfaction, (and I'm somewhat picky about that), by doing the things shown in the videos. I hope this helps and answers your questions. All the best, BH
Thank you for the informative review of that bridge. I was just looking at one. That’s how I found your video. I just unboxed my new Gibson Les Paul this afternoon. It’s good to know how to change this bridge around. Thanks again.
Thanks George for watching my videos and for your nice words! Pleas subscribe to my UA-cam channel, click the thumbs-up button and the bell on any you watch and you will be informed when I post new ones. Thanks again!
Thanks Bobby, it very nice of you to share your experience and ideas on the Schaller roller bridge. I changed the bridge to Schaller on my Gibson Les Paul too, but immediately I put the original back on because it killed the sustain of my guitar.
Rusty, thanks for your nice note. I'm sorry to hear about your negative experience with the roller bridge. My experience was the opposite ... I felt that the guitar had lots better sustain and tone. Whoda known? All the best, BH
Also, update: Schaller sells these bridges with the intonation adjusters in both the reverse and non-reverse position. So, they will face the neck pickup or the bridge pickup (reverse).
Reversed is not where the screws face the pickups. Reverse is when the screws face the tail. This is because the original ABR-1 bridge had the screws facing the pickups. Any bridge with the screws facing the tail are considered a reverse, or sometimes a "modern style" bridge. The screws facing the pickups is how it was on the classic 50's and early 60's Les Pauls with ABR-1 bridges. So while it may not be the most practical thing, it is the most original.
@@AB-80X Schaller sells the bridge in both configurations is what I am saying. The screws can be facing the bridge pickup or not, depending on what you order from Schaller.
The intonation screws face the pickup on all my Les Pauls. The original bridge on your green LP they did as well as you can see from the pic of the original bridge in your video. Thank you for showcasing this product. I've been considering this mod for a while.
Fitted one of these this week. I mounted it like my old bridge with the screws facing the pickups but the u shaped grooves were under the treble strings and the v shaped under the bass. I’ve switched it up now having watched this. Makes a bit more sense now.
Hi, I have finally come round to ordering one of these bridges for my paul. Does this affect sustain in any way? I am wondering if it does with the way the roller will fall off the string. I'm in between a rock and a hard place in terms of installing it. Yes I want to stop snapping strings before its the strings time, but I also don't want to affect the sound of the guitar in any way.
In my opinion, the tone and sustain are better. I noticed a definite improvement especially in the sustain. Not to the point where it was too much but pleasingly better, more. I was very pleasantly surprised. Keep in mind that it's my experience and opinion. I think you will have the same experience but I can't guarantee it. All the best, BH
Hello Bobby. I need know which tool do use to lift this bridge ( to adjust string action on 12 fret) I am going crazy because I can't find a proper tool to do it. Best regards
AMP, I just use both of my thumbnails both pushing in the same direction at the same time. Easy for me. You could always loosen the strings to make it easier as well. Best, Bobby
Thanks! I bought my roller bridge for my new baritone guitar with Bigsby.. The strings are getting caught up on the stock saddles whenever I use the Bigsby… I’m hoping that the set of 14 gauge strings will fit in the rollers..🤔 I’ll find out this afternoon..🤞🏼
Technically the "correct" way is the screws towards the pickups. I also prefer it the other way. I appreciate your video, helped me make my decision to buy this bridge!
Why is that correct though? I’m seriously curious if anyone knows. I mean, I prefer the screws facing the tail end of the guitar. They’re easier to get to that way. Why do the manufacturers install them with the screws facing the pups? I’m sure most of us don’t have guitar techs in our home studios, so we do our our guitar work. I would think the majority of people like the screws the opposite way round.
@@ericevans9507 the only reason I've seen is so the strings don't contact the screws (such as on a string through guitar where the string angle would be steeper). I honestly don't know, I just know that the screws facing the pickup is the standard way. It doesn't bother me either direction, feels like the same amount of obstruction either way, at least on my guitar with the tail piece.
@@ericevans9507 Hello Eric, thanks for watching my videos. I agree with you, I don't think it is correct. As far as I'm concerned, it's not written down anywhere that it's correct and furthermore, I've bought several Les Paul's brand new and they all came from the dealer/factory with the screws facing the tailpiece, IMHO, the way they should face. The only reason I can think of to face the pickups is that some feel that it looks better cosmetically which I don't agree with. It only makes sense to me to face the tailpiece for easy access. Intonation needs to be checked/adjusted periodically and why have them face the pickups? They are more difficult to adjust that way. All the best, BH
Thanks for the video Bobby. I will be putting the same bridge on a strat style guitar build I'm doing and the bridge I received from Schaller has the intonation adjustment screws facing forward. I'll see how it works the way it came before changing the orientation of the saddles as you have done. Great explanation and photos of the e-clips and other bridge parts.
redrock1963 come on lmao. Are you that pathetic that you need to complain to someone you don’t know, who is just trying to help you? It’s his review, he can share what he wants to. He learned from his mistakes, and I learned new information.
Tx for sharing. I have only ever changed to a roller bridge on guitars with a Bigsby... and I think you might know why. Got the desired result. Will change my Les Paul and see if your recommendation works for me. Tx again.
I bought this bridge for an Epiphone Les Paul Standard, I got the non reverse model with intonations screws show to the Pickup, but I noticed that the saddle rollers they are not in this order: wide flat rollers for low strings and tight U-shaped for high strings.
If it were me, I would simply turn the bridge around 180 deg. to put the rollers in the correct positions and to put the intonation screws towards the tailpiece.
hi, thank you so much for the information. I was looking for a video with the Schaller STM TOM-Style Bridge N, but installed to a jaguar, I could find any and I know this one goes good fit on a gibson but I would like to know if its worth put it on a jaguar. Thank you
I have one of these for years but never went all the way with putting on simply because there is so little of the spin wheel exposed that it seems it would be next to impossible to raise and lower it without removing 100% of the string tension. The spin wheels that come were smaller if I remember correctly but are the only ones that will support the bridge design properly. In other words, I'm thinking I would have to literally loosen the tension enough to pull back the tailpiece and lift the strings off the bridge just to tweak the height which seems like an endless nightmare just to get the setup correct to taste. What are your experiences in this matter?
Hi RockNRoller66, sorry this is so late.My experience has been that it's not been difficult to adjust the height wheels even with full tension of the strings on the bridge. I keep in mind that adjustments such as these and others relating to guitar set up are a little bit at a time or "a little dab'l do ya" as they used to say back in the 50's and 60's. Lowering the wheels is not as much of a problem as you might imagine. I found that raising them is not that difficult ... I simply place the thumbnails of both thumbs on the wheels in such a way (spaced apart at points about 1/3 of the wheel's circumference from each other) and then turn the wheel in the same direction at the same time. Once again, "a little dab'l do ya". It may take 2 or 3 times to get it where you want it but I use that technique every time I need it and it's worked for me. I hope this helps you. Thanks for watching and liking my videos and for subscribing to my channel. Let me know if this works for you. All the best, Bobby H.
I wounder if that Schaller bridge will fit my Epi Les Paul Standard. I bought a cheap-ish Allparts rollerbridge but it actually eats some of the string harmonics. It works fine with my tremolo and Stringbutler, the guitar stays tuned, but I miss those overtones.
Without seeing your guitar, I wouldn't have any idea. I've had an Epi in the past that the Schaller bridge would not fit and I now have another Epi that the bridge will fit so you'll simply have to go to the Schaller website, look at their blueprints and you should be able to determine for yourself whether or not it will fit. Good luck, all the best, BH
The cap on that LP is one of the most beautiful I have ever seen. You sir, own a gorgeous instrument. Also, thanks for the info on this product. Was considering replacing my bridge with one of these. Probably still worth the extra effort needed to get the adjustment screws facing the proper direction(rearward). Sad they don't see that.
Gibson needs to offer these type of bridges & a better headstock design for better tuning on at least some models. Why could they not have the old design for those who are traditionalists and a new design with a roller bridge & improved headstock for those who want better tuning stability and improved playing. It does not have to be either/or, they can offer both? Thanks for your review and explanation.
You're welcome. To me, a Gibson Les Paul (and probably their other models as well) is/are like spec houses: In a spec house, they put in cheap windows and doors, you have to come along later and upgrade those if you want something that's high quality. That's what I feel about the Les Paul's I own. I love them all but what I love about them is the neck, frets, fret markers, body shape and feel and the finishes. The hardware, especially the pickups and bridge leave something to be desired and so therefore, I change them with something else. Most of the Gibsons I've had have had the holes in the truss rod cover plate and the output jack cover plate split open because of too much torque used to tighten them down. I really expect more for a guitar that I paid $2,500 for. Oh, one more thing I almost forgot, their soldering is poor quality. I've changed the electronics in 4 Les Paul's so far and I'm preparing to do another. Some of the solder joints (from the factory) in the volume and tone control cavity were so bad (cold solder joints), I could pull them apart with only a gentle tug of the wire. That shouldn't be. I know something about soldering, I did it almost every day of my over 40 years in the electrical/electronics industry. Gibson doesn't place much importance on placing skilled people in that job category.
Ray Ross they do seem h-bent on running their company into the ground. There's retaining the magic of a classic design, but then there's becoming obsolete by refusing to evolve with technology and customer need. Truly a shame for such a majestic/iconic brand.
Mark agnesi claims they are great innovators and I'm sitting here going why don't they put rolling nut and rolling bridge on every one of their guitars
Hey, Bobby...Can you explain the reason for the wire that goes over the saddle screws on the ABR-1 bridge. It's a nuisance! Sometimes I have to reverse the saddles to obtain good intonation & that wire's a pain!...Will it hurt if I just remove it?...Thank you!...
Hello Alvaro, no you cannot. Maybe someone, somewhere will be able to make one that can be individually adjusted but I haven't seen it yet. Thanks for the question, thanks for watching my videos and all the best. BH
If you didn’t find it yet, Babicz makes a Tune’o’matic replacement where each string has its iwn height adjustment. I can’t tell how good they are, only used ABM and recently a Schaller, personally I find the ABM better since I can have it all the way down to the body. Got 3 strats with the Babicz trem that has sidelocking for the saddles, absolutely my favorite trem both with 6 screws as 2 posts, with 3 of the spring on 09-46 they provide great tuning stability, besides not chocking sustain to early. Strumming hand placement for palm mutes is slightly different with the cam system, I found it relative easy to adjust though.
You're welcome. No, I didn't find that to be the case. My own opinion is that this bridge meets and exceeds my expectations in every way. I hope this helps. Best regards, BH
Hello Daniel, I definitely think so. The extra drag that a stock bridge has built in won't allow the strings to move freely across the bridge therefore introducing another factor affecting the strings. What I've found is that with the roller bridge, the things that influence how the string is allowed to move or not move as needed will of course affect tuning. Any drag at the nut causes the strings to bind, any looseness at the tuning machines causes instability in how the strings are allowed to hold their pitch. In addition, there are a couple of other things that make replacing the stock bridge advantageous. First, when changing strings, one can put the rollers to the position they want or need, that is, adjust the string spacing to their own preferences if desired. I've done this because I wanted an offset in the spacing moving the lower pitched strings a tiny bit closer to center. Second, IMHO, the bridge provides some extra sustain allowing the strings to resonate a bit better. It's not a tremendous amount but I think it's noticeable. Too much extra sustain and it could cause feedback problems. Just a little bit allows the guitar to "sing" just a bit more. I hope this helps. All the best, BH
sweet, a pod in the background. I had a 2.0 for a number of years (2002-2015) but had to part with it when times were tough. easily my favorite accessory.
Amazing Mr Bobby COOL CALM COLLECTED ! Did Shaller do something with your feedback on the intonation screw on the "Wrong side"? It makes so much more sense right
HI Rob, thanks for watching my videos and for your nice words. Quite honestly, I didn't bother. I lived in Germany for 3 years and in my experience, the German way of thinking is " ... we make it, you use it ... ". Don't get me wrong, IMHO, and I said so in the video, the German's renown for precision engineering is well known, 2nd to none. They are also know for their " ... be reasonable, do it my way ... " demeanor. I liked my time in Germany, I'd like to go back. Lot's of good things to say about the people and country but a bit of realism is in order as well. I hope this answers your question. BTW, I have a good bit of German blood in me as well. All the best, BH
Thank you for the video. I have been looking at Schaller today and wanted to understand more about it. I also agree with you about the intonation screws. I am not sure why they would make them towards the pickups side. More of a mess to get to them, rather than the tailpiece side. P.S. Awesome guitar playing.
I have the standard (non-reversed) version of this Schaller on my Heritage H-150.. I find that the height adjustment wheels must move counter-clockwise to RAISE the bridge, and clockwise to LOWER the bridge. Is that correct(?) Somewhere I thot I read that Gibson Tune-a-matics will turn *clockwise* to raise them. Any comment? (I have a Les Paul, but the bridge is set nicely and I'd rather not mess with it to find out) Great video, as are all of your videos.. Thank you.
Gibsons with ABR-1 bridges have screws towards pickup. Nashville bridges are towards tailpiece. Because the screws on the abr1 bridge would interfere with the string path
I've installed a couple of these bridges and even special bridge ant tail pieces Schaller has in Antique Bronze along with matching tuners. Made my Hamer look beautiful. But the main thing is I like them very much and there are extremely well made.
A.R., Yes, I like them very much as well. Glad your experience with them was good. Please subscribe to my UA-cam channel! Thanks, in advance! All the best, BH
From what I’ve seen and noticed Gibson bridges are installed both ways with the adjusters toward the tailpiece and toward the pickup. There’s no right way of installing the bridge but like you said you gotta install it to what makes sense to you but ultimately you gotta make sure your saddles are in their right spot. Now the question have you check string radius at the bridge location Because if they’re not radius is not right this means you gotta file and how to file roller saddles. This is the one thing that keeps me from shelling out the cash for one of these
I was just on the Schaller website and you have a choice which way the screws are facing. You can order the bridge in reverse so the screws face the tailpiece.
I'm thinking that is a recent development. At the time that video was made, they weren't offered. Maybe they saw my video and made the changes? I don't know.
I just checked Gibson's website. A quick look at two guitars and this is what I see: Les Paul, intonation screws towards the bridge; 335 Dot, intonation screws towards the nut. Any ideas or comments why they face different directions on these guitars? I looked at my Ibanez hollowbodies and they too have the intonation screws facing the nut. Maybe it has something to do with hollow/semi-hollow vs solid body?
I don't know why Gibson or any other manufacturer does what they do regarding intonation screws ... facing the nut, facing the tailpiece. What I can tell you is that of the 5 Les Paul's I own, 6 including one I just sold, the intonation screws faced the tailpiece. That is, IMHO, the way they should be so that a person can get a screwdriver in there to make adjustments when needed. The only reason I can think of that some manufacturers would face the intonation screws towards the nut is for what they perceive as being cosmetic reasons, which I don't quite get because there's no real cosmetic downside to facing the screws towards the tailpiece, at least the way I see it. I hope this helps and all the best to you and yours. BH
There are two different Gibson bridges, the green LP classic had a ABR1 bridge, it's narrow and has traditionally adjustment screws toward pickups. The burst had a more modern Nashville bridge that's wider and has screws toward the tailpiece.
Bobby I have the same bridge on my Heritage H-550 and I'll be damned if I can get the bridge height adjustment wheels to turn when the strings are tuned up. There is so little knurled surface exposed that they are almost non-functional unless you loosen all the strings. Do you find the same issue on your LP guitars? Thanks, Alan
Alan, it can be done. I just use my two thumbnails and dig into the knurled wheel at two different places on the wheel ... maybe 120 or 180 degrees apart. Push in the same direction with both thumbnails and it should move even against tension and with the strings tuned to pitch. At least it does for me. I hope this helps and all the best. BH
Thanks for that, I will watch out for that reversed situation as I concur with you it seems a stupid change. I am just building a kit guitar that came with the Std Tune O Matic bridge and decided to order the Schaller bridge as it appears to have a greater movement for intonation, and also seems to have sideways adjustment for string spacing that could also be useful to me as I am building a Jaguar and The Trem arm busing sits between the high e and b strings, and can interfere with the bushing if not spaced correctly. and can you tell me if these sideways adjustments are likely cause the rollers to move sideways during playing. thank you, maybe a little locktite once adjusted?
Im sorry if this has been asked before but will this bridge work with vintage bridge posts? I have a 70s explorer that im bringing back from the dead and would like one of these on it. Unless i can find the right vintage Leo Quan badass bridge.
Hi Loose Cannon 1919, All I can say is that I've replaced the bridges on 5 Les Pauls and some of them I was able to leave the bridge post bases ... the part that is metal to wood contact ... in the guitar and simply screw in the part that interfaces it to the bridge itself and some I had to remove and replace the bridge post bases with the ones that came with the new bridge. It's in the video of how to do that. It's not that difficult if one simply is careful. If I could do it, you can too. I hope that helps. Best, BH
Every new Gibson (Les Paul and SG) I've bought came from the factory with the intonation screw heads towards the pickups. A few of my used vintage ones have the screws facing the tail piece. I've had no trouble intonating either way. But whatever works for you. Like he said, just be aware of what you're getting.
Hello again Bobby. Can you please tell me if the roller saddles on the Schaller are taller than the original Gibson ones? The reason I ask is because I own a Dean Thoroughbred, which is essentially a Les Paul copy, but the 1st and 6th strings rest on the back of the tune o matic. If I raise the height of the tailpiece any more, then the strings will be too slack. I would therefore like a bridge with taller saddles. Thank you. Best wishes from England.
Hi again John, It's difficult to give an answer but I'll do the best I can. I can't really get in there to do any measuring with calipers, it's just too tight, not enough clearance to get the calipers in there. The alternative is to take the guitar and bridges apart to compare them, I'm a little reluctant to do that as I've spent much time, trial and error to get them adjusted how I want them, I hope you understand. Getting a guitar to play exactly as you want it to be is an elusive thing and I don't want to have to do it all over again. I will say that just putting an eyeball on it, the Gibson bridge looks to be taller top to bottom. That shouldn't pose you any problems though. The Schaller roller bridge is made to be a replacement that you can adjust to approximate the properties of the original Gibson bridge, only better. You can adjust it to have the same height as the original or lower or higher if you wish. As far as the tailpiece, if the new bridge causes the height of the tailpiece to not provide enough tautness to the strings, I've had no problems raising it or lowering it as needed. Finally, I bought the bridges for my Les Paul's from a dealer who will allow returns if I'm not satisfied with how they will work out, as long as the original packaging is in tact and they can re-sell it. I hope this information helps. All the best, nice to hear from you again in Jolly Old England. BH
I'm pretty sure that the option to have the intonation screws facing the neck is because a lot of people want roller bridges to work in conjunction with a vibrato. If you need to adjust intonation and there's a bigsby in the way, you're going to have an even harder time than if your bridge pickup is kind of in the way.
Most les Paul’s come from the factory with the intonation screw facing the pickup. You can, however, loosen every screw and reverse the rollers if you wish to have the intonation screws facing the bridge. I can tell by the direction the saddles are facing in the original bridge, that it was originally installed with the intonation screws facing the pickups. At some point it was flipped around.
Bobby Howe; I see. The reason I commented is because the flat side of the saddles for E, A, and D should be facing the bridge, and the flat side of the saddles for G, B an high E usually face the pickup for maximum range when setting intonation. I just happen to notice that the footage of your les Paul before installing the roller bridge, the intonation screws were facing the bridge, and the saddles were “backwards.” I’ve only recently been studying up on intonation, so I could be wrong. It really comes down to preference, but you also have to check the bridge to see which direction the manufacturer originally set it up for. If you like it the opposite way, it’s just a matter of disassembling the bridge and swapping the saddles/ rollers to be in the correct place for each string. Thank you for the video and for replying to my comment. I plan to swap out to a roller bridge for my Epiphone wildcat. It has a bigsby vibrato and from my research, the roller bridge may solve some of my tuning issues.
Bobby Howe; if you do a google search of “Gibson Les Paul tune o matic bridge set up,” you’ll see that the biggest share of videos and pictures show the intonation screws facing the pick up. But as I said, it can be done either way you prefer. I guess I’m just saying that there is no wrong or right way. It is a pain though when you expect something to be a certain way, and it shows up different than you expected it to be. I can agree with that!
I happened to come upon a video that demonstrates what I was saying. In the end, all that really matters is whether or not the setup allows for proper intonation. ua-cam.com/video/IYxXbeswraU/v-deo.html This video details what I was trying to type. Having visuals makes more sense.
I bought a Schaller stm roller bridge for my LP from Musicstore in Germany and sure enough as in your video the screws for adjusting the intonation were facing forward, you cannot adjust the intonation without taking the pick up out which is ridiculous ,I took out the c clips as in your video and moved the rollers one at a time from one end to the other so the intonation screws faced backwards it is a fiddly job for sure but well worth it, the difference in feel and sound to me is huge.Thanks for putting your experience on UA-cam i found it very helpful in sorting this problem out .Why they manufacture them like this i have no idea .
Thanks for your nice words and thanks for sharing your experience. I lived in Germany for a few years and although I admire their dedication to precision, the logic of some of their ways baffles me. Except for the issue that both you and I are talking about, the Schaller bridge is otherwise an excellent product. I would't buy one if I didn't think so. I'm glad you found my video helpful. All the best as you move forward. BH
Im looking at my lp classic that has a abr-1 on it and i dont have to take out the pickup or loosen the strings and raise the bridge.i guess maybe the yrs matter,the shape of the top,how high or low your bridge seys for the correct string heigth.If i turn the screw heads toward the tail peice then the tail peice is jacked up high as to not have the strings hitting the screw heads and it therefore isnt putting full pressure on the saddle,but instead the head of the screw and if you think about it,it then is trying to lift up on the screw and saddle and is trying to lean the whole bridge back.Atleast thats what ive learned,i even asked Gibson,i would post the answer they gave me but they said the wire and head of the screws face the pups. Nashville bridges are wider and the screw heads barely stick out,so with that bridge it making sure the screws dont hit the back side of the bridge. .......that was a mouthfull😄
Thanks, Steve. It means a lot to me to have your opinion as a luthier on my page. There are those who don't see it as you and I do and they have let me know it, too. But I stand my ground (we stand our ground together). The only argument for having the intonation screws closest to the pickups is for some cosmetic reason (to hide them) but I don't see that that is so important. The screws are not cosmetically a problem therefore, why not make them easy or perhaps I should say, the easiest to get to. All my best, BH
you're welcome. I personally find it neither practical nor logical to put the intonation adjustment screws on the pickup side. That said everything always depends on the build, the hardware itself and of course the musician. There were builds where I had to put them on the pickup side because of some of the previously mentioned constraints or because it was more sound to do that in those specific cases, but my preference is the same as yours.
Great video! I am wondering, i have a left-handed Gibson Les Paul, and hoping and wondering will this work on it? I cannot find any information to confirm this? The diagram on their web page shos that there is an angle to the rollers and if so, that could be a big problem as I was thinking I could do as you did in the video and change each roller. Any help is appreciated.
Hello Greg, thanks for watching my videos. Well, I'm not a lefty so I can only assume a few things here. It seems to me that as far as the angle to the rollers that if the bridge were turned around 180 deg the angle would remain the same. One way to go about this would be to order one of these bridges and keep all the packaging in tact. You could then examine the bridge and make a judgement about whether or not it will work as you hold it in your hand. I suspect that it will work. If you don't think so, you could always return it for a refund. Most reputable companies will allow you to do this. That's my 2 cents. I hope it helps. All the best, BH
I helped a friend with a left hand LP a while back looking into this. Unfortunately the bridge is not compatible with left hand guitars at the moment. The angle of the saddles is set so that when mounted in a right hand LP the rollers are parallel with the strings. However, if you mount the bridge in a left hand guitar, the rollers will be at an up-angle and not parallel to the strings. This can result in noise, broken strings and strings popping out of the saddles. So the answer is no unfortunately.
I was getting a bit bored with the long, drawn out explanation, and I mentioned that, but there was this voice a few feet away saying, "Michael, you know you do exactly the same thing when you're trying to explain something, so shut up"! And well, yea, she's right, I do. Then all you were saying came to this great conclusion, and it all made perfect sense. I love the Les Paul body style, but my budget says "no" to Gibsons. Life goes on. I did however, pick up an ESP EC-50, and an Epiphone Wildkat for my recent 60th birthday, and I think they will both get roller bridges. I don't care to deal with the Schaller issues, so....whose?
Why can't you say something nice? Why do so many have to tell others what they should have done? The guy was nice enough to make a video of an issue he came across and by doing that, he enriched the wealth of knowledge of the guitar community. Just say thank you and move on. Thanks for the video Bobby.
@@TwistedMatter You could have and should have never got into the conversation if your sole purpose for looking was to denigrate an excellent, clear and lucid video. Now go buzz off.
hey great video, just got some myself and coming to install, you say you just used the original posts and inserts but just seems like it will have lots of play and tension putting the smaller threaded posts into original inserts ? any ideas other than removing anything? cheers
I've done several of these and a few the new inserts fit exactly into the original posts, others were either too tight or too loose. It seems to go on a case by case basis. On the ones that were too tight or too loose I had to pull the posts and replace the entire thing. It's not that hard ... described in the video. I hope this helps. All the best, BH
My Gibson Country Gent has tuning problems. You know the model, Bigsby, floating bridge with tune-o-matic. Will the Schaller work on my guitar? Like Gretsch which uses roller bridges. Do they help keep the guitar in tune better?
I think so but that's been my experience. They certainly won't contribute to the guitar NOT staying in tune. I can say though that in my experience, the sustain was much better or as I like to think of it, the guitar seems to "sing" as compared to the standard bridge that comes on the guitar. That's my 2 cents, I hope it helps. BH
Knowing what we know now, thanks to you, we right-handers should probably order these for lefties... Thanks for sharing! You've just saved a bunch of us much wailing and gnashing of teeth!
Great! One thing we surely don't want is waiting or gnashing of teeth! (grin) Thanks for watching, for your nice remarks and please subscribe to my UA-cam channel! All the best, BH
Yea, so I got bridge in about 2011 for another guitar actually and the intonation screws are accessed from the pickup side as you noted. I have never noticed that the slots were different sizes but I must have read the instructions when I mounted it that way. I can access the screws from the pickup side on the guitar it is on. However, I just bought another one ($70) for my recent Les Paul Standard purchase. I wish they would make one with individual string height adjustment. I will see which way I should best mount it. I also bought the TP-6 Tailpiece ($90) with the fine tuners right there at your finger tips that I like, even if it doesn't have a tremolo system. It is just convenient and definitely an upgrade from the stop bar. Together, they should be the ultimate combination. I agree with some other comments here that Gibson could and should make these upgrades standard. They waste time making decisions like removing the little "Treble/Rhythm " ring around the switch. I bought a 2017 Standard AND the little ring to put it back on. BS. At $2,500(plus) price point, we should expect better.
I don't think so, not without drilling new holes in the guitar body and I don't know anything about what wood is or isn't underneath the current bridge although I'd guess the body is solid, at least, that's how it is on my Epi Les Paul Elitist. So, as a direct replacement, no. If the guitar was modified to accept the screw post inserts, probably so but I'd consult a good luthier first. All the best, BH
I found out about the different roller saddles at some point after getting one of these bridges in a guitar that I purchased on ebay. I had to get the magnifying glass out to see the difference. I eventually changed them around too, but I didn't have to take the clips off and unscrew the intonation screw. Mine just came off the top, and I was able to put them back on where I wanted them. I might have used a little screwdriver to help take out off the stubborn ones, but I didn't use any force. The bad side of my particular bridge is that they can still fall out if something hits them when the strings are off. I don't think I broke anything, but maybe they are more prone to fall out after doing it my way..
Sorry for the late response ... I've changed 5 of these and as I recall, on one of them I did not need to change the posts, but the other 4 I did. All the best, BH
Bobby Howe I'm glad I saw this! I had one of these put on my Les Paul a couple of days ago when I had a new nut made. Sure enough, it was put on "backwards". Do you do (or have you considered doing) anything to make the individual rollers a little more resistant to rolling? I'm thinking spraying loctite or something. They're very easy to move a little bit and I'm worried I'll have to check them very carefully every time I string my guitar.
I don't see the point of that, that defeats the purpose of having the roller bridge. You want the rollers to move ever so slightly every time the string does as if when bending. When changing strings, the rollers don't move that much and even if they do, it's a simple matter to get them back into position. I haven't had any significant problem with it. I'd strongly advise against the Loctite.
I don't know something that is similar to loctite but that doesn't stop the action completely. Presumably such a thing exists. At any rate, the tech who put them on advised that they'd "move if you blow on them" and suggested I might be happier with the original nashville bridge I had because of it. Was worried they might drift while playing or something like that, though after some examination with the strings back on (after swapping them around to the right order) that seems unlikely. Was just curious whether you found it to be problematic, but thanks for the info!
I have a Les Paul with the original bridge and the screws face the pickups but I have room for the screwdriver to access the screws because the bridge pickup looks lower than yours. Perhaps you could lower your bridge pickup a bit and it would work.
Thanks for your reply. It is possible to do as you suggest but I don't want to turn the bridge around at the expense of lowering the pickup height. Up to a point, the closer I can get the pickup to the strings, the better: Closer to strings, more output, more power, better signal to noise ratio since I don't have to turn up the amp nearly as loud. With the intonation screws facing the tailpiece, as they were with the 1st Schaller bridge I ordered, I have the most latitude of adjustment with both the intonation screws and the pickup height.
Hello Bobby, I've got a different kind of roller bridge for my guitar but the 6th string, a 52 gauge, keeps falling off because the grove on the roller is not deep enough. What string gauge have you got there on the 6th? thx and great channel
Hello Oscar Fernando, Thanks for liking my channel. I use 9's ... 9-42 so the 6th string is a 42. Obviously much smaller than a 52. I hope this helps and best wishes. Bobby
Thanks for the video. Great information. I was considering the Schaller bridge for my LP, not for intonation issues but for tuning stability. I love my Gibby but getting frustrated with the constant need to tune.
I just got one of these used, and something I notice is that there are no set screws to anchor the bridge in place, it just kind of sits there. I was going to use it with a B5 bigsby, but now I am not sure it will be stable enough. It has some play in it, and there are little nubs that keep it on the posts and that's it. Anyone have experience with these with a bigsby, and does it stay in tune?
Hello Célangé, without seeing it, I'm not sure what to say. I have little to no experience with a Bigsby although I know that it it the Rolls Royce of tremolo arms. I hope it works out for you. All the best, BH
Very informative! Thank you!👍🏼 It makes perfect sense to have the intonation-screws facing the tailpiece. The strings are pushing the saddles towards the headstock, so its ideal to have the screwheads resting tight on the bridge, contraire to having the c-bushings hold against that force (hope I‘m understandable, I‘m deutsch). Roller saddles allow a string to vibrate freely behind it. So the tailpiece begins to have a bigger influence. You get a more open, more trebly and kinda jangly sound. Although the access angle to the screws are the same from rear or front on my two LP-type guitars...(both have the screws towards pup, and I will change it on one of them), the chinese knock-off has the post-mount better done then a real Gibby: the posts are drilled at an angle in the body, exactly the precise middle of the break-angle of the strings at the saddles! Like the bridge on a violin! Thats perfect!! So, the stringtention is just pushing uniform towards the body, no left or right- the perfect middle 😮 On perpendicular to the middle-plane of the body mounted bridge posts, the strings are always pushing the saddles towards the neck. I think, the violin way is the better one I also wax-pot roller bridges. Moving parts can cause buzz, so filling gaps with wax at the roller axes prevent chirping and buzzing😉
The intonation screws on my LP face the pick up. Bought it brand new. It doesnt make sense. This is my first LP and thought it was strange because my strats intonation screws were facing the back of the guitar. Gibson says its suppose to be facing the pick up. Weird, but I do love my Les Paul.
I get everything you say and I don't challenge any of it. I must say though that Gibson is evidently not consistent with the "facing pickup/facing tailpiece" discussion about intonation screws because I bought my LP's brand new (I have several of them) and all the screws faced the tailpiece. Evidently with Gibson, it all depends on the day the guitars were made.
@@BobbyHoweGuitar It is strange because a friend of mine has an LP and the screws face the tailpiece. Youre right, probably depends on the day it was made or how drunk the assembler was the night before lol. Its a little annoying to me because I like things to be uniform.
@@BobbyHoweGuitar Take care. I have no scientific evidence but I think guitar players will weather this storm called the coronavirus pretty well because we usually try to find any reason to stay home and jam. 🎸
They actually sell the bridge,nonreversable, and reverse able. So you don't have to re-engineer the guitar. I own a flying v and I love the schaller non reversible rollers the tuneomatic is just Abad design. how many bridges fall off when you remove the strings???? Thank you for the video.
You are welcome and thanks for watching and liking my videos and for subscribing to my channel. Since this video was made, Schaller has evidently made a reverseable bridge or at least has made it so they can be ordered in a RH and a LH model. Peace. BH
I have one of these on my 77 Les Paul with a Bigsby and if the screws were on the 'tailpiece' side they would be inaccessible due to the bulk of the Bigsby itself. My guess is that a roller bridge is perhaps used more often in conjunction with a Bigsby and that could be why Schaller made the decision to put the intonation screws on the pickup side...?
Hi Brabazon, while I understand the logic behind your statement, I would not think that use of a Bigsby is behind the thinking of the engineers at Schaller. I understand what a Bigsby is for and why people use them and if a person want's that functionality, Bigsby is the Rolls Royce of tremolo arms but as I see it, the number of guitars with a Bigsby is far less than the number without them. That's what I see. I hope this helps. All the best to you and yours, BH
I just put one on my Epiphone Dot. The old one was an ABR-1 style. Had the retaining pin in it and was rattling, funny, I never heard it until a few days ago. Swapped it out, easy peasy. Sounds fantastic now.
I also checked the rollers, mine are also 'backwards.' Looks like with the .009 set of strings that it won't be an issue. If I decide in the future to use heavier strings, I might have to consider doing what you did.
Reversing the intonation screws by Schaller must've been an engineering decision made at a New Years or Christmas party after a few libations lol. I do like a roller bridge as opposed to a fixed point so thank you very much for this video and the details you discovered. May be my next upgrade :).
Schaller didn't decide that the screws should be facing the bridge pick up, you have the option to choose. Your dealer didn't know that or order just the regular. Just go to their webshop and you will see the option and the explanation.
I need to know because I have on my Roland GK 3 than I put the Gibson bridge on top I see the old strew is taller then schaller roller bridge and if it be ok to use the old ones
Great informative video! I've been looking at this bridge because I heard it offers a little more "room" when adjusting intonation - would you say that is true? I have a Jackson guitar that has poor intonation even with the saddles pushed as far as they can go.
Thanks for watching the video, glad you like it! All I can tell you is that when the guitars I have are brought into intonation, the rollers are mostly toward the center of their travel ... give or take. Nowhere near the limits of travel. I can recommend the bridge, I have two of them, but keeping in mind what I said about the smaller and larger rollers. I hope this helps.
Bobby Howe, thanks for the reply! I guess what I'm really asking is would you say if you've noticed that the saddles on these bridges have more area for travel than other bridges you've used? Like are they longer?
I can only speak about the Gibson stock factory bridge as compared to the Schaller Roller Tunomatic aftermarket bridges I purchased. The amount of travel for the individual saddles on the Gibson bridge is about 9mm. The amount of travel for the individual saddles on the Schaller bridge is about 12.5mm. Both of these as measured with my calipers. I hope this helps. Best, BH
Kinda late to this reply, but if your adjusted all the way out on your saddles, my next question is are you in a low tuning? I tuned my 6 string to C standard, in drop my intonation isnt perfect cause my scale length for the tuning
You could do that but the intonation adjustment screws would then be on the wrong side, the side closest to the pickups ... no room to get a screwdriver in there effectively when you need to make adjustments. It was explained in the video.
Hello MiracleMan, it's hard to say without trying it. The no-sweat way of finding out would be to make sure you could return the bridge if it's unsatisfactory for your needs. Then simply order it and try it. If you could return your order if it won't work for you then you can know for sure without incurring a significant cost ... you'd only be out the return shipping. All the best, BH
On the Gibson you may not be able to adjust the screws because of the pick-ups in the way but on an Epiphone Les Paul there is room to adjust the screws. Maybe that is why Schaller is making them this way. ( Schaller is sell more bridges to Epiphone owner)
I have this bridge on my guitars. One thing that annoyed me was that this is quite an expensive bridge and the posts supplied didn't fit. I had to separately order M8 posts for my guitars
Good video Bobby! I may be missing something here but are the threads on the posts the same size on your guitars? I have 2015 Epiphone Les Paul Standard and the threads on the stock bridge are way larger that the Schaller. Did you run into this also and if so what was the fix? Thanks!
I'm glad you like the video! Thanks! On the 2 bridges I ordered, each came with 1 set of press-in inserts (the part that presses in and/or glues in to your guitar body) and 2 sets of threaded posts. One set of posts fit into the threaded inserts that were already on my guitar, the ones for the stock, factory bridge (American threads). The other set of posts fit into the set of inserts that come with the bridge (metric threads, or at least, I presume so, I didn't actually check them). I didn't bother with trying to use the metric inserts and posts, I simply used the posts that were the American threads and they fit right into the inserts that were already there. So, metric posts and inserts, I set them aside. The American threaded posts, those are what I used to screw into the inserts that were already on my guitar. I hope this helps. BH
Duh! I had a brain freeze! I also have an Epi Les Paul and although the bridge is similar, the way it mounts is different. I now realize what you are talking about, the threaded posts that screw directly into the guitar body. I'm not sure what to say about those. The dialogue in the video really applies to a Gibson LP, not particularly to an Epi LP. Schaller should be able to help you, I'm sure they would like to have you as a customer. I'm sure if you send them some JPEG's of the bridge on your guitar, they will have a much better idea of how to advise you. All the best, BH
Schaller offer two variants of this bridge, non-reverse (part number 12080100) and reverse (part number 12080101). Non-reverse has the screws pointing toward the pickups and reverse has the screws pointing toward the tailpiece. Hope this helps.
It did, just ordered a reverse one. Thank you for pointing this out, really important.
I noticed that on Schaller's website, but some well known retailers on this side of the pond make no mention of the different versions.
I asked a parts supplier and they didn’t know the difference between “reversed” with intonation screws away from the pickup and “non-reversed” with intonation screws toward the pickup. The part number difference is new to me! Thank you! I reviewed the video and both boxes had the same part number!?!
I have reverse them myself. You just unscrew them until the little e clamps come loose. You have to do it slow and make sure the clamps fall naturally. Put them aside. Change the saddles so they go reverse, take a pair of locking tweezers and pick up the clamps. Give the clamps a slight bend in. Clip them back onto the screws. Take the locking tweezers on either side and squeeze them back tight around the screws. They are done.
Is the one made for left hand guitars..?
Based on e-mails I've received, I want to clear up an area of possible confusion. The points covered in this video are intended to address and help those players who have invested in a Gibson Les Paul but now have a difficult time keeping it in tune. It then goes on to say what can be done about those problems. Some are under the mistaken impression that I'm suggesting they buy the guitar, then make upgrades to the hardware. I myself might do that but at least I'm going into it with the full knowledge of what to expect with a Gibson Les Paul. Some have asked the question, why buy one in the first place if it is known to have issues? The answer for me is that in spite of the need (IMHO) to upgrade the bridge, pickups and tuners, it is an otherwise outstanding guitar. The neck either feels right in your hand or it doesn't. The body either feels right when you hold it or it doesn't. Those factors plus the bound neck and the fact that I want to support a USA company do it for me. I realize what these guitars cost vs imports and USA Fenders but I'm willing to pay it to have what I consider to be the quality in the areas I mentioned. By the way, I have owned many USA Fenders including a customized Tele I now have. If you would like to make civil, rational comments, feel free. Those who post vitriolic, argumentative comments, especially those using foul language will be deleted. Peace. BH
Bobby Howe dude it was just a review on the bridge.
People who use foul language are just rude.. my dad used to say people that swear are uneducated
Hi, Just wanted you to know my 1996 Giby LP Classic has a slightly wider spacing than acceptable between the two bridge posts for this bridge to fit properly and the Schaller roller bridge now sits atop two slightly tilted stems. I have kept it, but was afraid to try to grind out the difference on the underneath of the bridge as I was afraid I’d have trouble getting both equally matched and mess up the string locations across the adjustment screws of my humbuckers.
@@robertrraineyjr967 Sorry this is so late but thanks for the info. Thanks also for watching and liking my videos and for subscribing to my channel. All the best, BH
If you buy this bridge from the manufacturer in Germany they provide them with the intonation strings facing the pickups, or the bridge. Chose reversed or non reversed, simple.
@@koaguilds Yes.
Basically left or right handed.
Yes, but the US vendors do not normally specify that option.
@@randallabracadabra Has nothing to do with left or right.
They offer the non-reversed, i.e the one where the intonation screws face the pickups, because of the ABR-1 bridge. Back when Gibson launched the Les Paul and for many years forward, the original narrow ABR-1 Tune-O-Matic bridges came with the screws facing the pickups. Then when Gibson introduced the wider Nashville bridge we all have come to loathe and hate today, they moved the intonation screws to the side facing the tail piece. So to put it simply, the screws facing the pickups is a styling cue, a throw-back to the 57-59 Les Pauls featuring the ABR-1 bridge. This is also why a bridge with the screws facing the tail is referred to as a reversed bridge, because originally the screws faced the pickups.
@@AB-80X The Schaller bridge doesn't fit on the abr-1 posts, so what would be the point of making one reversed simply for the screw location? It makes much more sense that they offer standard and reverse for right and left handed players, so they don't have to fuss with moving the bigger rollers saddles to the other side of the bridge. Remember, this bridge is a direct replacement for the Nashville series bridges, not the ABR-1.
I played with an upside-down Schaller roller bridge for 7 years...
...until I watched this video yesterday.
That's what I get for blindly copying pictures online!
It sure plays a lot better now.
Many, many thanks sir!
Greatly appreciated!!!
Thanks Surge. I'm glad you found the videos helpful. All the best, BH
Great video. You're an articulate speaker and detailed in your process. Very useful video.
Thanks David! More videos coming, keep checking back! ;-)
Schaller's website sells both non-reversed and reversed bridges. I assume the reversed is for a left-handed guitar.
Use small needle nose pliers to put the e-rings back on. There is a special tool for working with them, too. It's fairly inexpensive.
I agree that the screws should face to the rear.
Nice video.
I am unable to turn the thumb screws wheels on the bridge with my fingers to lower or raise the bridge. Is there a tool for this, or do I need to loosen something to take the tension off of the bridge?
Did you loosen the strings?
Rob Zombie yes. I am able to turn now with strings loosened and small rubber grip.
I have reverse them myself. You just unscrew them until the little e clamps come loose. You have to do it slow and make sure the clamps fall naturally. Put them aside. Change the saddles so they go reverse, take a pair of locking tweezers and pick up the clamps. Give the clamps a slight bend in. Clip them back onto the screws. Take the locking tweezers on either side and squeeze them back tight around the screws. They are done.
Just installed the Schaller STM bridge mon reverse on my Epiphone Les Paul studio. These are awesome. Combined with tusq nut and dusenberg Les trem 2 the tuning stability is awesome.
Thank you for your video.
You are welcome and thank you for watching my videos!
My Epi SG has the intonation screws on the pickup side from the factory.
Same as the three Gibson SG's I have looked at in the store.
LP's arent the only guitar with a tune-o-matic so maybe there are more guitars with the screws on the pickup side than the other way round so Schaller reversed the bridge?
The screws facing the pickups is how it originally was on the ABR-1 bridge. The Nashville bridge which is the fatter modern style bridge found on most Les Pauls from the 80's, 90's, and on, are the ones which are reversed. Reversed is when the screws face the tail. Schaller basically offers the non-reversed as a throwback to the original Les Pauls of the 50's and 60's when they used the slim ABR-1 bridge. Be glad that you have the ABR-1 style bridge, because it is much better than the Nashville bridge.
My Gibson Les Paul Standard 2016 HP is already with the new bridge after your recommendations. It was an ideal placed instead of the old bridge. With the Schaller bridge, I was able to lower the stop bar bridge below. The sound now is a completely different guitar! The sound is just fantastic now!!! Thank you for advising this modification!
You're welcome!
Good information! I just experienced some issues with a TonePros roller bridge myself & made a video about it.
To your point, the ABR-1 bridge on the original Les Pauls (late 50s) had the screws facing the pickups. I have mine this way, & I’m able to get a small/skinny screwdriver in there just fine. But of course you need it to fit your own needs & preferences. 👍🏻
Nathan, thanks for watching my videos and for your nice words! Please subscribe and hit the thumbs up button, I thank you in advance. All the best, BH
Very helpful. I am planning to upgrade my classic Gibson guitar. I watched the other video about tunning and it was helpful too. One question, what is your opinion about the String butler V3? I want to solve forever the tunning problems.
Hi Lyonen Official! Thanks for your nice words and thanks for watching my videos! Regarding the string butler, I don't see the need, it's just another component added to a guitar that has the potential to cause issues. That's what I see. Any guitar made my any manufacturer will go out of tune as it is being played. The question is a matter of degree ... how much out of tune? I solved my tuning problems to my satisfaction, (and I'm somewhat picky about that), by doing the things shown in the videos. I hope this helps and answers your questions. All the best, BH
Thank you for the informative review of that bridge.
I was just looking at one. That’s how I found your video. I just unboxed my new Gibson Les Paul this afternoon.
It’s good to know how to change this bridge around.
Thanks again.
Thanks George for watching my videos and for your nice words! Pleas subscribe to my UA-cam channel, click the thumbs-up button and the bell on any you watch and you will be informed when I post new ones. Thanks again!
Thanks Bobby, it very nice of you to share your experience and ideas on the Schaller roller bridge. I changed the bridge to Schaller on my Gibson Les Paul too, but immediately I put the original back on because it killed the sustain of my guitar.
Rusty, thanks for your nice note. I'm sorry to hear about your negative experience with the roller bridge. My experience was the opposite ... I felt that the guitar had lots better sustain and tone. Whoda known? All the best, BH
Also, update: Schaller sells these bridges with the intonation adjusters in both the reverse and non-reverse position. So, they will face the neck pickup or the bridge pickup (reverse).
Great!
Reversed is not where the screws face the pickups. Reverse is when the screws face the tail. This is because the original ABR-1 bridge had the screws facing the pickups. Any bridge with the screws facing the tail are considered a reverse, or sometimes a "modern style" bridge. The screws facing the pickups is how it was on the classic 50's and early 60's Les Pauls with ABR-1 bridges.
So while it may not be the most practical thing, it is the most original.
@@AB-80X Schaller sells the bridge in both configurations is what I am saying. The screws can be facing the bridge pickup or not, depending on what you order from Schaller.
The intonation screws face the pickup on all my Les Pauls. The original bridge on your green LP they did as well as you can see from the pic of the original bridge in your video. Thank you for showcasing this product. I've been considering this mod for a while.
Thanks very much, First well done roller bridge video I came across. Exactly what I was looking for !
Thanks for watching Patrick! I'm glad this met your need! All the best, BH
Fitted one of these this week. I mounted it like my old bridge with the screws facing the pickups but the u shaped grooves were under the treble strings and the v shaped under the bass. I’ve switched it up now having watched this. Makes a bit more sense now.
Hi Paul, I'm glad you got it the way you want it. Thanks for watching my videos. Please subscribe to my channel! All the best, BH
Ty! Great video. You answered a question I had. I was wondering if the saddles were made for the thickness of string gauge.
Thanks! Glad my video was helpful to you! All the best ... BH
Hi, I have finally come round to ordering one of these bridges for my paul. Does this affect sustain in any way? I am wondering if it does with the way the roller will fall off the string. I'm in between a rock and a hard place in terms of installing it. Yes I want to stop snapping strings before its the strings time, but I also don't want to affect the sound of the guitar in any way.
In my opinion, the tone and sustain are better. I noticed a definite improvement especially in the sustain. Not to the point where it was too much but pleasingly better, more. I was very pleasantly surprised. Keep in mind that it's my experience and opinion. I think you will have the same experience but I can't guarantee it. All the best, BH
Hello Bobby. I need know which tool do use to lift this bridge ( to adjust string action on 12 fret) I am going crazy because I can't find a proper tool to do it. Best regards
AMP, I just use both of my thumbnails both pushing in the same direction at the same time. Easy for me. You could always loosen the strings to make it easier as well. Best, Bobby
@@BobbyHoweGuitar Thanks a lot Bobby. Best regards 💪😉
Thanks! I bought my roller bridge for my new baritone guitar with Bigsby.. The strings are getting caught up on the stock saddles whenever I use the Bigsby… I’m hoping that the set of 14 gauge strings will fit in the rollers..🤔
I’ll find out this afternoon..🤞🏼
You're welcome! I hope you can make it work!
@@BobbyHoweGuitar I’ll let y’all know..
Technically the "correct" way is the screws towards the pickups. I also prefer it the other way. I appreciate your video, helped me make my decision to buy this bridge!
Glad you've found a solution that works for you! All the best, BH
Why is that correct though? I’m seriously curious if anyone knows. I mean, I prefer the screws facing the tail end of the guitar. They’re easier to get to that way. Why do the manufacturers install them with the screws facing the pups? I’m sure most of us don’t have guitar techs in our home studios, so we do our our guitar work. I would think the majority of people like the screws the opposite way round.
@@ericevans9507 the only reason I've seen is so the strings don't contact the screws (such as on a string through guitar where the string angle would be steeper). I honestly don't know, I just know that the screws facing the pickup is the standard way. It doesn't bother me either direction, feels like the same amount of obstruction either way, at least on my guitar with the tail piece.
@@ericevans9507 Hello Eric, thanks for watching my videos. I agree with you, I don't think it is correct. As far as I'm concerned, it's not written down anywhere that it's correct and furthermore, I've bought several Les Paul's brand new and they all came from the dealer/factory with the screws facing the tailpiece, IMHO, the way they should face. The only reason I can think of to face the pickups is that some feel that it looks better cosmetically which I don't agree with. It only makes sense to me to face the tailpiece for easy access. Intonation needs to be checked/adjusted periodically and why have them face the pickups? They are more difficult to adjust that way. All the best, BH
Thanks for the video Bobby. I will be putting the same bridge on a strat style guitar build I'm doing and the bridge I received from Schaller has the intonation adjustment screws facing forward. I'll see how it works the way it came before changing the orientation of the saddles as you have done. Great explanation and photos of the e-clips and other bridge parts.
the flame on that standard is beautiful
:-)
Thank you sir for taking SO much time to cover EVERY detail of your experience. I think you would be a wonderful pre-school teacher.
Thanks. I would be more than happy to be a teacher. :-)
redrock1963 come on lmao. Are you that pathetic that you need to complain to someone you don’t know, who is just trying to help you? It’s his review, he can share what he wants to. He learned from his mistakes, and I learned new information.
Thank U
Tx for sharing. I have only ever changed to a roller bridge on guitars with a Bigsby... and I think you might know why.
Got the desired result. Will change my Les Paul and see if your recommendation works for me.
Tx again.
I hope it does work for you. All the best, BH
I bought this bridge for an Epiphone Les Paul Standard, I got the non reverse model with intonations screws show to the Pickup, but I noticed that the saddle rollers they are not in this order: wide flat rollers for low strings and tight U-shaped for high strings.
If it were me, I would simply turn the bridge around 180 deg. to put the rollers in the correct positions and to put the intonation screws towards the tailpiece.
@@BobbyHoweGuitar Thanks for the answer, but of course it's very strange, at this point I was buying the reverse one directly.
hi, thank you so much for the information. I was looking for a video with the Schaller STM TOM-Style Bridge N, but installed to a jaguar, I could find any and I know this one goes good fit on a gibson but I would like to know if its worth put it on a jaguar. Thank you
I have one of these for years but never went all the way with putting on simply because there is so little of the spin wheel exposed that it seems it would be next to impossible to raise and lower it without removing 100% of the string tension. The spin wheels that come were smaller if I remember correctly but are the only ones that will support the bridge design properly. In other words, I'm thinking I would have to literally loosen the tension enough to pull back the tailpiece and lift the strings off the bridge just to tweak the height which seems like an endless nightmare just to get the setup correct to taste. What are your experiences in this matter?
Hi RockNRoller66, sorry this is so late.My experience has been that it's not been difficult to adjust the height wheels even with full tension of the strings on the bridge. I keep in mind that adjustments such as these and others relating to guitar set up are a little bit at a time or "a little dab'l do ya" as they used to say back in the 50's and 60's. Lowering the wheels is not as much of a problem as you might imagine. I found that raising them is not that difficult ... I simply place the thumbnails of both thumbs on the wheels in such a way (spaced apart at points about 1/3 of the wheel's circumference from each other) and then turn the wheel in the same direction at the same time. Once again, "a little dab'l do ya". It may take 2 or 3 times to get it where you want it but I use that technique every time I need it and it's worked for me. I hope this helps you. Thanks for watching and liking my videos and for subscribing to my channel. Let me know if this works for you. All the best, Bobby H.
I wounder if that Schaller bridge will fit my Epi Les Paul Standard. I bought a cheap-ish Allparts rollerbridge but it actually eats some of the string harmonics. It works fine with my tremolo and Stringbutler, the guitar stays tuned, but I miss those overtones.
Without seeing your guitar, I wouldn't have any idea. I've had an Epi in the past that the Schaller bridge would not fit and I now have another Epi that the bridge will fit so you'll simply have to go to the Schaller website, look at their blueprints and you should be able to determine for yourself whether or not it will fit. Good luck, all the best, BH
nice playing at the end!
The cap on that LP is one of the most beautiful I have ever seen. You sir, own a gorgeous instrument. Also, thanks for the info on this product. Was considering replacing my bridge with one of these. Probably still worth the extra effort needed to get the adjustment screws facing the proper direction(rearward). Sad they don't see that.
Just checked out Schaller. They sell both reverse and non-reversed bridges.
Gibson needs to offer these type of bridges & a better headstock design for better tuning on at least some models. Why could they not have the old design for those who are traditionalists and a new design with a roller bridge & improved headstock for those who want better tuning stability and improved playing. It does not have to be either/or, they can offer both? Thanks for your review and explanation.
You're welcome. To me, a Gibson Les Paul (and probably their other models as well) is/are like spec houses: In a spec house, they put in cheap windows and doors, you have to come along later and upgrade those if you want something that's high quality. That's what I feel about the Les Paul's I own. I love them all but what I love about them is the neck, frets, fret markers, body shape and feel and the finishes. The hardware, especially the pickups and bridge leave something to be desired and so therefore, I change them with something else. Most of the Gibsons I've had have had the holes in the truss rod cover plate and the output jack cover plate split open because of too much torque used to tighten them down. I really expect more for a guitar that I paid $2,500 for. Oh, one more thing I almost forgot, their soldering is poor quality. I've changed the electronics in 4 Les Paul's so far and I'm preparing to do another. Some of the solder joints (from the factory) in the volume and tone control cavity were so bad (cold solder joints), I could pull them apart with only a gentle tug of the wire. That shouldn't be. I know something about soldering, I did it almost every day of my over 40 years in the electrical/electronics industry. Gibson doesn't place much importance on placing skilled people in that job category.
Ray Ross they do seem h-bent on running their company into the ground. There's retaining the magic of a classic design, but then there's becoming obsolete by refusing to evolve with technology and customer need. Truly a shame for such a majestic/iconic brand.
Ray, agreed, totally!! I'd love to get a Gibson with the 14 degree headstock like the Epis...
Mark agnesi claims they are great innovators and I'm sitting here going why don't they put rolling nut and rolling bridge on every one of their guitars
Hey, Bobby...Can you explain the reason for the wire that goes over the saddle screws on the ABR-1 bridge. It's a nuisance! Sometimes I have to reverse the saddles to obtain good intonation & that wire's a pain!...Will it hurt if I just remove it?...Thank you!...
I'm fairly certain that those wires are to hold the screws in place.
great video, thank you. Hey I'm wondering if you can raise and lower each individual roller on the bridge? can you?
Hello Alvaro, no you cannot. Maybe someone, somewhere will be able to make one that can be individually adjusted but I haven't seen it yet. Thanks for the question, thanks for watching my videos and all the best. BH
If you didn’t find it yet, Babicz makes a Tune’o’matic replacement where each string has its iwn height adjustment.
I can’t tell how good they are, only used ABM and recently a Schaller, personally I find the ABM better since I can have it all the way down to the body.
Got 3 strats with the Babicz trem that has sidelocking for the saddles, absolutely my favorite trem both with 6 screws as 2 posts, with 3 of the spring on 09-46 they provide great tuning stability, besides not chocking sustain to early.
Strumming hand placement for palm mutes is slightly different with the cam system, I found it relative easy to adjust though.
Hello Mr. Howe. Did you felt that it lost harmonics in your play? Thank you for this video.
You're welcome. No, I didn't find that to be the case. My own opinion is that this bridge meets and exceeds my expectations in every way. I hope this helps. Best regards, BH
Thank you sir. I’ll definitely get one now for my SG! Did it improve tuning stability as well?
Hello Daniel, I definitely think so. The extra drag that a stock bridge has built in won't allow the strings to move freely across the bridge therefore introducing another factor affecting the strings. What I've found is that with the roller bridge, the things that influence how the string is allowed to move or not move as needed will of course affect tuning. Any drag at the nut causes the strings to bind, any looseness at the tuning machines causes instability in how the strings are allowed to hold their pitch. In addition, there are a couple of other things that make replacing the stock bridge advantageous. First, when changing strings, one can put the rollers to the position they want or need, that is, adjust the string spacing to their own preferences if desired. I've done this because I wanted an offset in the spacing moving the lower pitched strings a tiny bit closer to center. Second, IMHO, the bridge provides some extra sustain allowing the strings to resonate a bit better. It's not a tremendous amount but I think it's noticeable. Too much extra sustain and it could cause feedback problems. Just a little bit allows the guitar to "sing" just a bit more. I hope this helps. All the best, BH
My lp. Special has the intonation screws facing the pickup on stock tune o matic the clips are called e clips cause looks like the letter e
sweet, a pod in the background. I had a 2.0 for a number of years (2002-2015) but had to part with it when times were tough. easily my favorite accessory.
:-)
You should of show from the start how you put it on and everything you did
He should have also hid that Line6 pod imo
Amazing Mr Bobby COOL CALM COLLECTED ! Did Shaller do something with your feedback on the intonation screw on the "Wrong side"? It makes so much more sense right
HI Rob, thanks for watching my videos and for your nice words. Quite honestly, I didn't bother. I lived in Germany for 3 years and in my experience, the German way of thinking is " ... we make it, you use it ... ". Don't get me wrong, IMHO, and I said so in the video, the German's renown for precision engineering is well known, 2nd to none. They are also know for their " ... be reasonable, do it my way ... " demeanor. I liked my time in Germany, I'd like to go back. Lot's of good things to say about the people and country but a bit of realism is in order as well. I hope this answers your question. BTW, I have a good bit of German blood in me as well. All the best, BH
I am Dutch livinging in SIngapore , Thank you for your kind answer Bobby
Veel dank, Rob!
Graag gedaan Bobby :-)
Thank you for the video. I have been looking at Schaller today and wanted to understand more about it. I also agree with you about the intonation screws. I am not sure why they would make them towards the pickups side. More of a mess to get to them, rather than the tailpiece side.
P.S. Awesome guitar playing.
I noticed that golden age make a very similar bridge, I was wondering if it was the same bridge just with a rebrand
You can use a ninety degree screw driver when intonation screw are facing toward pickup.
I have the standard (non-reversed) version of this Schaller on my Heritage H-150.. I find that the height adjustment wheels must move counter-clockwise to RAISE the bridge, and clockwise to LOWER the bridge. Is that correct(?) Somewhere I thot I read that Gibson Tune-a-matics will turn *clockwise* to raise them. Any comment? (I have a Les Paul, but the bridge is set nicely and I'd rather not mess with it to find out) Great video, as are all of your videos.. Thank you.
You always screw "in" when you turn clockwise
Gibsons with ABR-1 bridges have screws towards pickup. Nashville bridges are towards tailpiece. Because the screws on the abr1 bridge would interfere with the string path
I've installed a couple of these bridges and even special bridge ant tail pieces Schaller has in Antique Bronze along with matching tuners. Made my Hamer look beautiful. But the main thing is I like them very much and there are extremely well made.
A.R., Yes, I like them very much as well. Glad your experience with them was good. Please subscribe to my UA-cam channel! Thanks, in advance! All the best, BH
From what I’ve seen and noticed Gibson bridges are installed both ways with the adjusters toward the tailpiece and toward the pickup. There’s no right way of installing the bridge but like you said you gotta install it to what makes sense to you but ultimately you gotta make sure your saddles are in their right spot. Now the question have you check string radius at the bridge location Because if they’re not radius is not right this means you gotta file and how to file roller saddles. This is the one thing that keeps me from shelling out the cash for one of these
Excellent info, thank you. Very nice tone from the finished article too!
Thank you Martin and thanks for watching my videos! Best regards, BH
I was just on the Schaller website and you have a choice which way the screws are facing. You can order the bridge in reverse so the screws face the tailpiece.
I'm thinking that is a recent development. At the time that video was made, they weren't offered. Maybe they saw my video and made the changes? I don't know.
I got mine today, is the rollers going from side to side when it rolls a problem? If you bend alot, won't it adjust it self over time?
I just checked Gibson's website. A quick look at two guitars and this is what I see: Les Paul, intonation screws towards the bridge; 335 Dot, intonation screws towards the nut. Any ideas or comments why they face different directions on these guitars? I looked at my Ibanez hollowbodies and they too have the intonation screws facing the nut. Maybe it has something to do with hollow/semi-hollow vs solid body?
I don't know why Gibson or any other manufacturer does what they do regarding intonation screws ... facing the nut, facing the tailpiece. What I can tell you is that of the 5 Les Paul's I own, 6 including one I just sold, the intonation screws faced the tailpiece. That is, IMHO, the way they should be so that a person can get a screwdriver in there to make adjustments when needed. The only reason I can think of that some manufacturers would face the intonation screws towards the nut is for what they perceive as being cosmetic reasons, which I don't quite get because there's no real cosmetic downside to facing the screws towards the tailpiece, at least the way I see it. I hope this helps and all the best to you and yours. BH
There are two different Gibson bridges, the green LP classic had a ABR1 bridge, it's narrow and has traditionally adjustment screws toward pickups. The burst had a more modern Nashville bridge that's wider and has screws toward the tailpiece.
Bobby I have the same bridge on my Heritage H-550 and I'll be damned if I can get the bridge height adjustment wheels to turn when the strings are tuned up. There is so little knurled surface exposed that they are almost non-functional unless you loosen all the strings. Do you find the same issue on your LP guitars? Thanks, Alan
Alan, it can be done. I just use my two thumbnails and dig into the knurled wheel at two different places on the wheel ... maybe 120 or 180 degrees apart. Push in the same direction with both thumbnails and it should move even against tension and with the strings tuned to pitch. At least it does for me. I hope this helps and all the best. BH
Thanks for that, I will watch out for that reversed situation as I concur with you it seems a stupid change. I am just building a kit guitar that came with the Std Tune O Matic bridge and decided to order the Schaller bridge as it appears to have a greater movement for intonation, and also seems to have sideways adjustment for string spacing that could also be useful to me as I am building a Jaguar and The Trem arm busing sits between the high e and b strings, and can interfere with the bushing if not spaced correctly. and can you tell me if these sideways adjustments are likely cause the rollers to move sideways during playing. thank you, maybe a little locktite once adjusted?
I've had no problems such as side-to-side shift as you suggest. I'd avoid Loctite for this application if I were you.
Im sorry if this has been asked before but will this bridge work with vintage bridge posts? I have a 70s explorer that im bringing back from the dead and would like one of these on it. Unless i can find the right vintage Leo Quan badass bridge.
Hi Loose Cannon 1919, All I can say is that I've replaced the bridges on 5 Les Pauls and some of them I was able to leave the bridge post bases ... the part that is metal to wood contact ... in the guitar and simply screw in the part that interfaces it to the bridge itself and some I had to remove and replace the bridge post bases with the ones that came with the new bridge. It's in the video of how to do that. It's not that difficult if one simply is careful. If I could do it, you can too. I hope that helps. Best, BH
Intonation access on the pickup side makes more sense with a Bigsby, which I suspect is the main reason people would go the roller bridge route.
Disagree. Precious few LP's have a Bigsby mounted to them.
Every new Gibson (Les Paul and SG) I've bought came from the factory with the intonation screw heads towards the pickups. A few of my used vintage ones have the screws facing the tail piece. I've had no trouble intonating either way. But whatever works for you. Like he said, just be aware of what you're getting.
Hello again Bobby. Can you please tell me if the roller saddles on the Schaller are taller than the original Gibson ones? The reason I ask is because I own a Dean Thoroughbred, which is essentially a Les Paul copy, but the 1st and 6th strings rest on the back of the tune o matic. If I raise the height of the tailpiece any more, then the strings will be too slack. I would therefore like a bridge with taller saddles. Thank you. Best wishes from England.
Hi again John, It's difficult to give an answer but I'll do the best I can. I can't really get in there to do any measuring with calipers, it's just too tight, not enough clearance to get the calipers in there. The alternative is to take the guitar and bridges apart to compare them, I'm a little reluctant to do that as I've spent much time, trial and error to get them adjusted how I want them, I hope you understand. Getting a guitar to play exactly as you want it to be is an elusive thing and I don't want to have to do it all over again. I will say that just putting an eyeball on it, the Gibson bridge looks to be taller top to bottom. That shouldn't pose you any problems though. The Schaller roller bridge is made to be a replacement that you can adjust to approximate the properties of the original Gibson bridge, only better. You can adjust it to have the same height as the original or lower or higher if you wish. As far as the tailpiece, if the new bridge causes the height of the tailpiece to not provide enough tautness to the strings, I've had no problems raising it or lowering it as needed. Finally, I bought the bridges for my Les Paul's from a dealer who will allow returns if I'm not satisfied with how they will work out, as long as the original packaging is in tact and they can re-sell it. I hope this information helps. All the best, nice to hear from you again in Jolly Old England. BH
I'm pretty sure that the option to have the intonation screws facing the neck is because a lot of people want roller bridges to work in conjunction with a vibrato. If you need to adjust intonation and there's a bigsby in the way, you're going to have an even harder time than if your bridge pickup is kind of in the way.
Daniel; perhaps. There is some logic to that idea. Thanks for watching my videos! All the best, BH
Most les Paul’s come from the factory with the intonation screw facing the pickup. You can, however, loosen every screw and reverse the rollers if you wish to have the intonation screws facing the bridge. I can tell by the direction the saddles are facing in the original bridge, that it was originally installed with the intonation screws facing the pickups. At some point it was flipped around.
All the LP's I own have the screws facing the tailpiece. 4 of them I bought brand new. Thant's the way they came to me, brand new.
Bobby Howe; I see. The reason I commented is because the flat side of the saddles for E, A, and D should be facing the bridge, and the flat side of the saddles for G, B an high E usually face the pickup for maximum range when setting intonation. I just happen to notice that the footage of your les Paul before installing the roller bridge, the intonation screws were facing the bridge, and the saddles were “backwards.” I’ve only recently been studying up on intonation, so I could be wrong. It really comes down to preference, but you also have to check the bridge to see which direction the manufacturer originally set it up for. If you like it the opposite way, it’s just a matter of disassembling the bridge and swapping the saddles/ rollers to be in the correct place for each string. Thank you for the video and for replying to my comment. I plan to swap out to a roller bridge for my Epiphone wildcat. It has a bigsby vibrato and from my research, the roller bridge may solve some of my tuning issues.
Bobby Howe; if you do a google search of “Gibson Les Paul tune o matic bridge set up,” you’ll see that the biggest share of videos and pictures show the intonation screws facing the pick up. But as I said, it can be done either way you prefer. I guess I’m just saying that there is no wrong or right way. It is a pain though when you expect something to be a certain way, and it shows up different than you expected it to be. I can agree with that!
I happened to come upon a video that demonstrates what I was saying. In the end, all that really matters is whether or not the setup allows for proper intonation. ua-cam.com/video/IYxXbeswraU/v-deo.html This video details what I was trying to type. Having visuals makes more sense.
I bought a Schaller stm roller bridge for my LP from Musicstore in Germany and sure enough as in your video the screws for adjusting the intonation were facing forward, you cannot adjust the intonation without taking the pick up out which is ridiculous ,I took out the c clips as in your video and moved the rollers one at a time from one end to the other so the intonation screws faced backwards it is a fiddly job for sure but well worth it, the difference in feel and sound to me is huge.Thanks for putting your experience on UA-cam i found it very helpful in sorting this problem out .Why they manufacture them like this i have no idea .
Thanks for your nice words and thanks for sharing your experience. I lived in Germany for a few years and although I admire their dedication to precision, the logic of some of their ways baffles me. Except for the issue that both you and I are talking about, the Schaller bridge is otherwise an excellent product. I would't buy one if I didn't think so. I'm glad you found my video helpful. All the best as you move forward. BH
Im looking at my lp classic that has a abr-1 on it and i dont have to take out the pickup or loosen the strings and raise the bridge.i guess maybe the yrs matter,the shape of the top,how high or low your bridge seys for the correct string heigth.If i turn the screw heads toward the tail peice then the tail peice is jacked up high as to not have the strings hitting the screw heads and it therefore isnt putting full pressure on the saddle,but instead the head of the screw and if you think about it,it then is trying to lift up on the screw and saddle and is trying to lean the whole bridge back.Atleast thats what ive learned,i even asked Gibson,i would post the answer they gave me but they said the wire and head of the screws face the pups. Nashville bridges are wider and the screw heads barely stick out,so with that bridge it making sure the screws dont hit the back side of the bridge. .......that was a mouthfull😄
yeah as a luthier I've been there too a few times and I do agree with your opinion on having the screws on the outside.
Thanks, Steve. It means a lot to me to have your opinion as a luthier on my page. There are those who don't see it as you and I do and they have let me know it, too. But I stand my ground (we stand our ground together). The only argument for having the intonation screws closest to the pickups is for some cosmetic reason (to hide them) but I don't see that that is so important. The screws are not cosmetically a problem therefore, why not make them easy or perhaps I should say, the easiest to get to. All my best, BH
you're welcome. I personally find it neither practical nor logical to put the intonation adjustment screws on the pickup side. That said everything always depends on the build, the hardware itself and of course the musician. There were builds where I had to put them on the pickup side because of some of the previously mentioned constraints or because it was more sound to do that in those specific cases, but my preference is the same as yours.
Great video! I am wondering, i have a left-handed Gibson Les Paul, and hoping and wondering will this work on it? I cannot find any information to confirm this? The diagram on their web page shos that there is an angle to the rollers and if so, that could be a big problem as I was thinking I could do as you did in the video and change each roller. Any help is appreciated.
Hello Greg, thanks for watching my videos. Well, I'm not a lefty so I can only assume a few things here. It seems to me that as far as the angle to the rollers that if the bridge were turned around 180 deg the angle would remain the same. One way to go about this would be to order one of these bridges and keep all the packaging in tact. You could then examine the bridge and make a judgement about whether or not it will work as you hold it in your hand. I suspect that it will work. If you don't think so, you could always return it for a refund. Most reputable companies will allow you to do this. That's my 2 cents. I hope it helps. All the best, BH
I helped a friend with a left hand LP a while back looking into this. Unfortunately the bridge is not compatible with left hand guitars at the moment. The angle of the saddles is set so that when mounted in a right hand LP the rollers are parallel with the strings. However, if you mount the bridge in a left hand guitar, the rollers will be at an up-angle and not parallel to the strings. This can result in noise, broken strings and strings popping out of the saddles. So the answer is no unfortunately.
can't really use bigger string gauge like 60 and 65 with theses eh? the little bearing rolling thing has a fixed width
I was getting a bit bored with the long, drawn out explanation, and I mentioned that, but there was this voice a few feet away saying, "Michael, you know you do exactly the same thing when you're trying to explain something, so shut up"! And well, yea, she's right, I do. Then all you were saying came to this great conclusion, and it all made perfect sense. I love the Les Paul body style, but my budget says "no" to Gibsons. Life goes on. I did however, pick up an ESP EC-50, and an Epiphone Wildkat for my recent 60th birthday, and I think they will both get roller bridges. I don't care to deal with the Schaller issues, so....whose?
Could have and should have been a four minute video
Why can't you say something nice? Why do so many have to tell others what they should have done? The guy was nice enough to make a video of an issue he came across and by doing that, he enriched the wealth of knowledge of the guitar community.
Just say thank you and move on.
Thanks for the video Bobby.
@@TwistedMatter You could have and should have never got into the conversation if your sole purpose for looking was to denigrate an excellent, clear and lucid video. Now go buzz off.
Thanks for posting this video - nice tone and style you have there sir!
Thanks Wayne! Please subscribe to my UA-cam channel! All the best, BH
hey great video, just got some myself and coming to install, you say you just used the original posts and inserts but just seems like it will have lots of play and tension putting the smaller threaded posts into original inserts ? any ideas other than removing anything? cheers
I've done several of these and a few the new inserts fit exactly into the original posts, others were either too tight or too loose. It seems to go on a case by case basis. On the ones that were too tight or too loose I had to pull the posts and replace the entire thing. It's not that hard ... described in the video. I hope this helps. All the best, BH
@@BobbyHoweGuitar thanks man, attempted to order new studs and if that fails i will just pull plugs, thanks for your help ;)
@@alnx765 You're welcome!
My Gibson Country Gent has tuning problems. You know the model, Bigsby, floating bridge with tune-o-matic.
Will the Schaller work on my guitar? Like Gretsch which uses roller bridges. Do they help keep the guitar in tune better?
I think so but that's been my experience. They certainly won't contribute to the guitar NOT staying in tune. I can say though that in my experience, the sustain was much better or as I like to think of it, the guitar seems to "sing" as compared to the standard bridge that comes on the guitar. That's my 2 cents, I hope it helps. BH
Knowing what we know now, thanks to you, we right-handers should probably order these for lefties...
Thanks for sharing! You've just saved a bunch of us much wailing and gnashing of teeth!
Great! One thing we surely don't want is waiting or gnashing of teeth! (grin) Thanks for watching, for your nice remarks and please subscribe to my UA-cam channel! All the best, BH
Concur lol
5:35 What is the problem with the new bridge?
The explanation follows after 5:35
You can now order whatever orientation you want from the Schaller website, reversed or non reversed.
Yea, so I got bridge in about 2011 for another guitar actually and the intonation screws are accessed from the pickup side as you noted. I have never noticed that the slots were different sizes but I must have read the instructions when I mounted it that way. I can access the screws from the pickup side on the guitar it is on. However, I just bought another one ($70) for my recent Les Paul Standard purchase. I wish they would make one with individual string height adjustment. I will see which way I should best mount it. I also bought the TP-6 Tailpiece ($90) with the fine tuners right there at your finger tips that I like, even if it doesn't have a tremolo system. It is just convenient and definitely an upgrade from the stop bar. Together, they should be the ultimate combination.
I agree with some other comments here that Gibson could and should make these upgrades standard. They waste time making decisions like removing the little "Treble/Rhythm " ring around the switch. I bought a 2017 Standard AND the little ring to put it back on. BS. At $2,500(plus) price point, we should expect better.
Hello IB, you make some good points. I think we are on the same page with all of it. All the best to you and yours, BH.
Can this bridge be placed as a direct replacement for ABR-1 bridge (small bridge posts, direct to body, Epiphone Elite LP)? Thanks.
I don't think so, not without drilling new holes in the guitar body and I don't know anything about what wood is or isn't underneath the current bridge although I'd guess the body is solid, at least, that's how it is on my Epi Les Paul Elitist. So, as a direct replacement, no. If the guitar was modified to accept the screw post inserts, probably so but I'd consult a good luthier first. All the best, BH
I found out about the different roller saddles at some point after getting one of these bridges in a guitar that I purchased on ebay. I had to get the magnifying glass out to see the difference. I eventually changed them around too, but I didn't have to take the clips off and unscrew the intonation screw. Mine just came off the top, and I was able to put them back on where I wanted them. I might have used a little screwdriver to help take out off the stubborn ones, but I didn't use any force. The bad side of my particular bridge is that they can still fall out if something hits them when the strings are off. I don't think I broke anything, but maybe they are more prone to fall out after doing it my way..
If you found a solution that works for you then you've solved your problem. All the best, BH
Got mine used, so I don’t know if a new bridge will let the roller and screw shaft fall out like they did for me.
Do I have to change out my existing post to install this roller bridge ?
Sorry for the late response ... I've changed 5 of these and as I recall, on one of them I did not need to change the posts, but the other 4 I did. All the best, BH
I hope you now know that the rollers can be popped out and changed to how you want without touch the screws or e-rings?
Yes
Bobby Howe I'm glad I saw this! I had one of these put on my Les Paul a couple of days ago when I had a new nut made. Sure enough, it was put on "backwards". Do you do (or have you considered doing) anything to make the individual rollers a little more resistant to rolling? I'm thinking spraying loctite or something. They're very easy to move a little bit and I'm worried I'll have to check them very carefully every time I string my guitar.
I don't see the point of that, that defeats the purpose of having the roller bridge. You want the rollers to move ever so slightly every time the string does as if when bending. When changing strings, the rollers don't move that much and even if they do, it's a simple matter to get them back into position. I haven't had any significant problem with it. I'd strongly advise against the Loctite.
I don't know something that is similar to loctite but that doesn't stop the action completely. Presumably such a thing exists.
At any rate, the tech who put them on advised that they'd "move if you blow on them" and suggested I might be happier with the original nashville bridge I had because of it. Was worried they might drift while playing or something like that, though after some examination with the strings back on (after swapping them around to the right order) that seems unlikely.
Was just curious whether you found it to be problematic, but thanks for the info!
I have a Les Paul with the original bridge and the screws face the pickups but I have room for the screwdriver to access the screws because the bridge pickup looks lower than yours. Perhaps you could lower your bridge pickup a bit and it would work.
Thanks for your reply. It is possible to do as you suggest but I don't want to turn the bridge around at the expense of lowering the pickup height. Up to a point, the closer I can get the pickup to the strings, the better: Closer to strings, more output, more power, better signal to noise ratio since I don't have to turn up the amp nearly as loud. With the intonation screws facing the tailpiece, as they were with the 1st Schaller bridge I ordered, I have the most latitude of adjustment with both the intonation screws and the pickup height.
@@BobbyHoweGuitar Raise the pickup back up once the intonation is set, however, I would prefer it pointing towards the tail piece.
Thanks Bobby - Hadn't realised mine was backwards as well. Did the swap around of saddles and all is good.
Thanks Mike! I'm glad to have been of some help to you! Thanks, in advance, for subscribing to my UA-cam channel! All the best, BH
Hello Bobby, I've got a different kind of roller bridge for my guitar but the 6th string, a 52 gauge, keeps falling off because the grove on the roller is not deep enough. What string gauge have you got there on the 6th? thx and great channel
Hello Oscar Fernando, Thanks for liking my channel. I use 9's ... 9-42 so the 6th string is a 42. Obviously much smaller than a 52. I hope this helps and best wishes. Bobby
Thanks for the video. Great information. I was considering the Schaller bridge for my LP, not for intonation issues but for tuning stability. I love my Gibby but getting frustrated with the constant need to tune.
Thanks 69 Indian for watching my videos! Please subscribe to my UA-cam channel! All the best to you and yours! BH
Get a String Butler. Amazon. Straightens strings at the headstock. Fixed tuning issues for me
I just got one of these used, and something I notice is that there are no set screws to anchor the bridge in place, it just kind of sits there. I was going to use it with a B5 bigsby, but now I am not sure it will be stable enough. It has some play in it, and there are little nubs that keep it on the posts and that's it. Anyone have experience with these with a bigsby, and does it stay in tune?
Hello Célangé, without seeing it, I'm not sure what to say. I have little to no experience with a Bigsby although I know that it it the Rolls Royce of tremolo arms. I hope it works out for you. All the best, BH
Very informative! Thank you!👍🏼
It makes perfect sense to have the intonation-screws facing the tailpiece. The strings are pushing the saddles towards the headstock, so its ideal to have the screwheads resting tight on the bridge, contraire to having the c-bushings hold against that force (hope I‘m understandable, I‘m deutsch).
Roller saddles allow a string to vibrate freely behind it. So the tailpiece begins to have a bigger influence. You get a more open, more trebly and kinda jangly sound.
Although the access angle to the screws are the same from rear or front on my two LP-type guitars...(both have the screws towards pup, and I will change it on one of them), the chinese knock-off has the post-mount better done then a real Gibby: the posts are drilled at an angle in the body, exactly the precise middle of the break-angle of the strings at the saddles! Like the bridge on a violin! Thats perfect!! So, the stringtention is just pushing uniform towards the body, no left or right- the perfect middle 😮 On perpendicular to the middle-plane of the body mounted bridge posts, the strings are always pushing the saddles towards the neck.
I think, the violin way is the better one
I also wax-pot roller bridges. Moving parts can cause buzz, so filling gaps with wax at the roller axes prevent chirping and buzzing😉
Ich verstehe dich sehr gut. Ich bin beeindruckt von deinem Englisch.
The intonation screws on my LP face the pick up. Bought it brand new. It doesnt make sense. This is my first LP and thought it was strange because my strats intonation screws were facing the back of the guitar. Gibson says its suppose to be facing the pick up. Weird, but I do love my Les Paul.
I get everything you say and I don't challenge any of it. I must say though that Gibson is evidently not consistent with the "facing pickup/facing tailpiece" discussion about intonation screws because I bought my LP's brand new (I have several of them) and all the screws faced the tailpiece. Evidently with Gibson, it all depends on the day the guitars were made.
@@BobbyHoweGuitar It is strange because a friend of mine has an LP and the screws face the tailpiece. Youre right, probably depends on the day it was made or how drunk the assembler was the night before lol. Its a little annoying to me because I like things to be uniform.
@@jamesnewton485 Me too! Guess we all have to be flexible! All the best, brudda! BH
@@BobbyHoweGuitar Take care. I have no scientific evidence but I think guitar players will weather this storm called the coronavirus pretty well because we usually try to find any reason to stay home and jam. 🎸
They actually sell the bridge,nonreversable, and reverse able. So you don't have to re-engineer the guitar. I own a flying v and I love the schaller non reversible rollers the tuneomatic is just Abad design. how many bridges fall off when you remove the strings???? Thank you for the video.
You are welcome and thanks for watching and liking my videos and for subscribing to my channel. Since this video was made, Schaller has evidently made a reverseable bridge or at least has made it so they can be ordered in a RH and a LH model. Peace. BH
I have one of these on my 77 Les Paul with a Bigsby and if the screws were on the 'tailpiece' side they would be inaccessible due to the bulk of the Bigsby itself. My guess is that a roller bridge is perhaps used more often in conjunction with a Bigsby and that could be why Schaller made the decision to put the intonation screws on the pickup side...?
Hi Brabazon, while I understand the logic behind your statement, I would not think that use of a Bigsby is behind the thinking of the engineers at Schaller. I understand what a Bigsby is for and why people use them and if a person want's that functionality, Bigsby is the Rolls Royce of tremolo arms but as I see it, the number of guitars with a Bigsby is far less than the number without them. That's what I see. I hope this helps. All the best to you and yours, BH
I just put one on my Epiphone Dot. The old one was an ABR-1 style. Had the retaining pin in it and was rattling, funny, I never heard it until a few days ago. Swapped it out, easy peasy. Sounds fantastic now.
Glad it worked out well for you!
I also checked the rollers, mine are also 'backwards.' Looks like with the .009 set of strings that it won't be an issue. If I decide in the future to use heavier strings, I might have to consider doing what you did.
Reversing the intonation screws by Schaller must've been an engineering decision made at a New Years or Christmas party after a few libations lol. I do like a roller bridge as opposed to a fixed point so thank you very much for this video and the details you discovered. May be my next upgrade :).
Thanks, William! All the best to you and yours. Please subscribe to my UA-cam channel and I thank you, in advance! BH
Schaller didn't decide that the screws should be facing the bridge pick up, you have the option to choose. Your dealer didn't know that or order just the regular. Just go to their webshop and you will see the option and the explanation.
Thanks for the info!
Sir what kind of Amp I love your sound !
A dinosaur ... Peavey XR600F ... old but still works well.
I need to know because I have on my Roland GK 3 than I put the Gibson bridge on top I see the old strew is taller then schaller roller bridge and if it be ok to use the old ones
Great informative video! I've been looking at this bridge because I heard it offers a little more "room" when adjusting intonation - would you say that is true? I have a Jackson guitar that has poor intonation even with the saddles pushed as far as they can go.
Thanks for watching the video, glad you like it! All I can tell you is that when the guitars I have are brought into intonation, the rollers are mostly toward the center of their travel ... give or take. Nowhere near the limits of travel. I can recommend the bridge, I have two of them, but keeping in mind what I said about the smaller and larger rollers. I hope this helps.
Bobby Howe, thanks for the reply! I guess what I'm really asking is would you say if you've noticed that the saddles on these bridges have more area for travel than other bridges you've used? Like are they longer?
I can only speak about the Gibson stock factory bridge as compared to the Schaller Roller Tunomatic aftermarket bridges I purchased. The amount of travel for the individual saddles on the Gibson bridge is about 9mm. The amount of travel for the individual saddles on the Schaller bridge is about 12.5mm. Both of these as measured with my calipers. I hope this helps. Best, BH
Bobby Howe thanks so much.
Kinda late to this reply, but if your adjusted all the way out on your saddles, my next question is are you in a low tuning? I tuned my 6 string to C standard, in drop my intonation isnt perfect cause my scale length for the tuning
oh And great video. I am about to change two guitars to these bridges when they arrive.
Thanks David for your nice comments and I'm sure you'll be happy with the bridges. Best regards, BH
Why wouldn't you just have flipped the bridge?? Screws need to be on backside with the width of this Schaller anyway. Please explain.
You could do that but the intonation adjustment screws would then be on the wrong side, the side closest to the pickups ... no room to get a screwdriver in there effectively when you need to make adjustments. It was explained in the video.
Would that Bridge Swap work for a Epiphone SG Pro without changing the posts ?
Hello MiracleMan, it's hard to say without trying it. The no-sweat way of finding out would be to make sure you could return the bridge if it's unsatisfactory for your needs. Then simply order it and try it. If you could return your order if it won't work for you then you can know for sure without incurring a significant cost ... you'd only be out the return shipping. All the best, BH
On the Gibson you may not be able to adjust the screws because of the pick-ups in the way but on an Epiphone Les Paul there is room to adjust the screws.
Maybe that is why Schaller is making them this way. ( Schaller is sell more bridges to Epiphone owner)
I have this bridge on my guitars. One thing that annoyed me was that this is quite an expensive bridge and the posts supplied didn't fit. I had to separately order M8 posts for my guitars
What year is your Les Paul, and is it a Standard? It also matters whether your have an Epi or Gibson.
Good video Bobby! I may be missing something here but are the threads on the posts the same size on your guitars? I have 2015 Epiphone Les Paul Standard and the threads on the stock bridge are way larger that the Schaller. Did you run into this also and if so what was the fix? Thanks!
I'm glad you like the video! Thanks! On the 2 bridges I ordered, each came with 1 set of press-in inserts (the part that presses in and/or glues in to your guitar body) and 2 sets of threaded posts. One set of posts fit into the threaded inserts that were already on my guitar, the ones for the stock, factory bridge (American threads). The other set of posts fit into the set of inserts that come with the bridge (metric threads, or at least, I presume so, I didn't actually check them). I didn't bother with trying to use the metric inserts and posts, I simply used the posts that were the American threads and they fit right into the inserts that were already there. So, metric posts and inserts, I set them aside. The American threaded posts, those are what I used to screw into the inserts that were already on my guitar. I hope this helps. BH
Bobby Howe Thanks for the info. Mine only came with the press in small adjustment screws. I have contacted Schaller so hopefully I'll hear back.
Duh! I had a brain freeze! I also have an Epi Les Paul and although the bridge is similar, the way it mounts is different. I now realize what you are talking about, the threaded posts that screw directly into the guitar body. I'm not sure what to say about those. The dialogue in the video really applies to a Gibson LP, not particularly to an Epi LP. Schaller should be able to help you, I'm sure they would like to have you as a customer. I'm sure if you send them some JPEG's of the bridge on your guitar, they will have a much better idea of how to advise you. All the best, BH