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Post subject: Tele bridge saddle swap ala Danny Gatton
Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2009 9:38 am
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I have a stock 2002 Fender Telecaster Standard that I am thinking of replacing the stock 6 saddle bridge saddles with the 3 brass units that can be intonated ala Danny Gatton. I do not recall who makes the brass saddles, but I have read that the 3 brass saddles improve tone and sustain. They are kinda pricey, and I was wondering if it is worth the swap. Has anybody used those intonatable brass triple saddles???


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Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2009 11:35 am
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Compensated Brass saddles take care of most intonation issues. I have a set of the Wilkinsons on my only 3 barrle Tele, and I like them a lot. Here's a Google search with different retailers listed:
http://www.google.com/products?q=compen ... 1&ct=title

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Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 3:08 pm
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Try Joe Barden's for the bridge and your pups. It will be very Danny Gatton like


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Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 7:22 pm
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Go for the real deal with Fenders :

http://www.instrumentpro.com/P-FEN01087 ... ce=froogle

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Post subject: Re: Tele bridge saddle swap ala Danny Gatton
Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2009 2:41 am
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paisley strat wrote:
I have a stock 2002 Fender Telecaster Standard that I am thinking of replacing the stock 6 saddle bridge saddles with the 3 brass units that can be intonated ala Danny Gatton. I do not recall who makes the brass saddles, but I have read that the 3 brass saddles improve tone and sustain. They are kinda pricey, and I was wondering if it is worth the swap. Has anybody used those intonatable brass triple saddles???


You should be able to intonate your guitar properly with either bridge system. If the issue is brass then that's not an intonation issue.

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Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2009 7:58 am
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I am looking to improve the famous Tele tone and sustain. I have read that the older Teles sound a little nicer with the vintage 3 barrel brass saddle set up. It was limited in its ability to intonate properly, but these new saddles solve that problem and look nice. The question is do they SOUND nice?


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Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2009 11:40 am
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I've changed the bridge on a a couple of MIM Standard Telecasters from the 6-saddle to the 3-saddle vintage type with brass saddles (both straight and compensated).

I think the swap makes the guitar sound more like a Telecaster than just some generic guitar with a single-coil pickup in the bridge. It's a cheap and fun mod and doesn't require anything more than a screwdriver and five minutes time, so why not try it and see what you think?

As for intonation, you can get good intonation with either straight or compensated saddles. Even if you're a little off with the straight ones, such as the traditional way of setting both Es and the G dead on and letting the B, D, and A be a tiny bit off, this is part of what makes a Tele sound rude and raw and, well, like a Telecaster. You can also tune individual string a few cents sharp or flat to compensate. And, if you're playing lead guitar on a Tele, you're probably bending strings like crazy anyway, so exact intonation isn't a huge deal IMO. Nor is sustain, in my opinion, but that's a matter of playing style and everyone is different.

I get very good intonation all over the neck with a set of Stewart MacDonald compensated brass saddles.

Link: http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bridges,_ta ... _Tele.html

One nice feature of the Stew-Mac saddles is, even if you can't hear the difference in intonation, is they have recessed allen-head adjustment screws that don't stick up and catch (or cut) your hand like the adjustment screws on a Fender '52 Reissue Tele.

While you're thinking about intonation, realize the nut is a huge part of this equation. If your nut slots aren't cut deep enough at the factory (a common problem with all guitars, not just Fenders), you may find you're sharp at the first few frets even with the 12th fret intonation set perfectly. A visit to a good guitar tech to have your nut slots at least polished to remove any burrs or bumps is a good idea, and you might find a paying for new bone nut and a full setup of your guitar is a better investment than any hardware changes.


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Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2009 3:20 pm
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I just changed my stock tele bridge with the Joe Barden bridge and saddles. It sounds really nice. The thing I like about the job barden bridge plate is the scoop out of the bottom bridge wall. It makes a big difference. otherwise the standard bridge plate wall seems to get in the way of either my fingers or pick.


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