Review - Callaham Guitars Vintage S Model Strat Bridge and ABR-1 Gibson Bridge

Bill Callaham really knows tone. Having grown up with all sorts of great instruments with which to develop his ear (Lloyd Loar mandolins and '50s Gibsons and Fenders), he has built his business on helping others reproduce quality vintage tone. With a strong background in machining, a great ear, meticulous attention to detail and a Mechanical Engineering degree from Virginia Tech, Bill and his company, Callaham Guitars, have introduced an unrivaled level of quality to the vintage guitar repro market.

I recently purchased two of his bridges, one a Vintage S Model Strat bridge for my Eric Johnson Stratocaster and the other an ABR-1 bridge with vintage studs, which is a direct replacement for the ABR-1 Tune-o-matic bridge on my '07 VOS Gibson R9 Les Paul. At the time of this writing I have only installed the Vintage S Model on my Eric Johnson Strat, but have not yet installed the ABR-1. I have also previously purchased and installed a couple of Callaham Limited Production Narrow Strat bridges in two of my other guitars, so this is not my first experience with Bill's product.

The first thing you notice when you take one of Bill's bridges out of the box is how much it weighs and the quality of the craftsmanship. These are made from specific steel alloys that Callaham Guitars has found to produce the widest range of frequency response, increase the guitar's sustain and improve note separation when playing chords. I can attest to the fact that these Strat bridges have greatly improved the tone on all the guitars I have installed them on. Immediately after installation I can hear that the guitar is much louder when strummed acoustically, the tone is crisper and more focused and sustain is greatly improved. Plus, the superior machining and quality steel alloy makes for a much smoother mechanical action when using the tremolo and tuning stability is never an issue with one of Bill's bridges.

I can 't wait to get the ABR-1 on my R9 Les Paul and I will post a follow up once it is done. If the Callaham Strat bridges are any indication, then this will be a major upgrade in tone for my Les Paul. If you are looking for that single mod that takes your guitar from ordinary to extraordinary, I would suggest trying a Callaham bridge first before spending money on anything else.

Ibanez Jem Bridge Radius Corrected

Most Ibanez guitars I've owned that have tremolos have needed some slight adjustment to the bridge radius and my Jem is no exception. Ibanez tremolos are really nothing more than soft, die-cast "pot-metal" that is molded much like Hot Wheels toy cars. It's unfortunate that Ibanez uses such inferior metal in their bridge parts, since I am sure tone must be adversely affected as a result. Often during molding processes, cheap pot-metal parts like these are not created at high tolerances, and therefore it is relatively common to see Ibanez bridge saddles not conforming to the exact radius of the bridge plate itself.

I bought this guitar new years ago, but I am just now getting around to fixing the bridge radius. It was only slightly off, so I was in no real hurry to correct it... I had many more pressing repairs that needed to come first. But today I was in the mood to fix it. :)

There were two saddles that were off... the high E was a fraction low and the D saddle was too high. To raise the high E saddle I cut a piece of 0.1 millimeter brass nut shim to the exact shape of the bottom of the saddle and reinstalled the saddle with the shim underneath. This was just the perfect amount needed to bring the high E saddle up to the same level as the B, G, A and low E saddles. Next up, lowering the D saddle.






To lower the D saddle I first removed it from the bridge, then carefully sanded the bottom of the saddle by hand to get the desired height. The only real way to do this effectively is to sand a little at a time, reinstall and check the height. I had to do this many times before I got the height just right. The trick is not go too far and take off too much. That is why it is so important to go slowly and check the height often before you've lowered it more than needed.

A quick check with the radius gauge confirmed that my job was complete. I certainly won't notice much of a difference since neither of these saddles were so far off that my picking mechanics would have been affected, but it is nice to know that the radius is correct and the guitar is setup as perfectly as possible.