Callaham Bridge

[curtisstetka]

It just arrived in the mail today.

Anyone else have one? If so, please tell me if this is common to all of them or if there's something wrong with mine...

The plate in front of the pickup hole is polished to a mirror-like finish. From the pickup back toward the saddles the plate has a matte finish.

Is this how it's supposed to be? If so, why the hell would you half polish a plate like that? I could live with either finish but half and half like that looks silly.

I've emailed Callaham but I have no patience whatsoever and figured I'd check with youz guys.

Thanks.

[curtisstetka]

Could I be a bigger ? I meant to put this in the Telecaster area.

[Williams]

Patience is a virtue with these guys. It takes them awhile but they do get back to you. Or you can give them a call. Ordering my own Tele bridge soon from Callaham so I'm curious as to what your findings are. Sounds fishy to me though -- not right to half polish the bridge...

-Kevin

[curtisstetka]

Yeah, I know what you're saying, Kevin. But frankly I am upset. I already waited a month for this thing. I had him do some custom work on it that he charged me an additional $20 for. See, I use Earvana nuts so the angle of the barrels had to be different. I asked for the E/A saddle to have the regular slant but the other two saddles to be straight.

When it arrived, the B/E saddle was compensated and the other two were straight. The saddle was clearly stamped B E on the underside. I hope I can just transpose the two outer saddles without a problem. The sales invoice clearly indicates the E/A saddle is supposed to have the compensation.

Between that and the stupid finish thing I'm sorely pissed off. I expected to have my doors blown off when it finally arrived. Instead I'm looking at trying to either get my money back and/or further delays if I can get him to take it back and fix things.

I mean, WTF? Letting this thing out the door looking like that is absurd!

What's killing me is that otherwise it looks so good! The metal is nice and heavy and probably will sustain for entire weekends. I was so freaking excited to put this thing on my latest project. Grrrr.....

[Williams]

Mmmmm you're giving me second thoughts about ordering one now. It really sounds like you got a bad deal. Sorry to hear about that I would complain big time if that happened to me....

Maybe I outta look somewhere else eh??

-Kevin

[curtisstetka]

Kevin,

Here's Bill Callaham's reply to my email:

Yes, just transpose the two outer saddles. The plate is finished that way because the early Fender bridges were done that way with a matte finish in the rear. The look is 50's vintage. I suggest you look at it when everything is assembled. If you don't like it, you can return it and I'll refund all but the $20.00 upcharge and the shipping.

I guess I'm somewhat mollified. At least he's willing to give me my money back.

A buddy of mine knows a motorcycle shop near work that could probably complete the chrome plating on this thing. I just wish I'd known ahead of time what this was all about.

Maybe if/when you order yours you could specify to him that you just want the whole plate to be matte finish. I think that would look better than this half and half business. I'm not building a replica of a 50's Tele here. The stupid thing is going on a Highway One fer cryin' out loud!

[Don]

Fender only polished half of the bridge plate because it was supposed to have the chrome cover over it.

If you peeked inside you'd only see part of the bridge plate.

It looks weird, but Fender still does it this way to satisfy the anal vintage types, in fact they're vintage bridge looks like shit to satisfy the anal vintage types!

It's hard to see the bridge's finish on Callaham's site. He might consider mentioning it, or offering a fully polished bridge plate for a small upcharge.

[curtisstetka]

Well, I'm just going to get used to it, I suppose.

Mr. Callaham has offered to refund my money.

What bugs me a bit is that his website isn't clear on the finishing. This is the relevant description from his website: "Callaham steel bridge plate in low luster nickel finish"

And really, the damned thing is NOT a vintage reproduction. Why adhere to totally vintage specs in this one regard while having compensated saddles, thicker metal, and that fingerpicking cutout thing?

Hopefully I'll get my guitar put together this week and have happy things to report about the tone and sustain.

[Don]

I'm looking forward to hearing how it sounds. I'm considering replacing the Fender vintage style bridge on my USACG T-Style with that same bridge.

[Williams]

Well...I'm just gonna get the saddles then because I have an extra chrome bridge with the shaved cutout lying around from one of my other Tele's. Let us know how the bridge works cause I'm not ordering until I hear some good reviews;)

-Kevin

[curtisstetka]

Oh, there are good reviews of Callaham's stuff all over the internet. Now that I've settled down a bit I'm once again excited about putting this thing in my Tele.

Had I known about the weird polish/matte thing I'd have asked Callaham to do either one or the other and maybe even paid a little extra for that. The matte finish is plenty attractive as it is.

Kevin, I'm sure you'd do alright with just the saddles but I'm positive the really heavy, thick plate is a big part of the bonus as well. That's why I bought it. And lemmee tell you, it's CLEARLY heavier, sturdier, better crafted than the stock Fender bridge I've got on there now.

I hope to have the guitar back together and reviews posted within a week. I'm still waiting on a switch. I got word that it shipped today. With a lotta luck it'll be here for the weekend!!!

[NeoFauve]

I had a Wilkenson bridge from StewMac that was finished like that.

I have the new Callaham with the notched edge and comp saddles. It's a much thicker guage than a vintage Fender bridge. Mine's completely polished. It just so happens I ordered mine just days after the new plate first showed up on their site. Maybe some "transitional pieces got finished that way. I was expecting to pay like $50 for something just like an old Fender plate and lo and behold there's this heavy duty shiny item listed for $75.

BTW- as you pointed out, you probably will notice a difference from that hefty new plate. I did.

[jim in texas]

I ordered the compensated three brass saddle bridge for my American Standard tele. It took about 1 1/2 months to receive and there were no finish issues. It really woke this tele up. In fact, the bridge could have looked like ass and I wouldn't mind based purely on the sound.

I highly recommend the bridge and everything else that I've tried from Callaham (strat saddles and bridge pup base plate). He's expensive for sure but the product is first rate.

[pbradt]

I would never ever put an aftermarket bridge on my Tele. For starters, it sustains for days anyway, being lightweight ash and resonant as all getout.

Second, it's my opinion that brass, nickel, stainless and so forth detract from real Tele tone, esp in terms of the middle pickup selector position. They don't sound bad, they just don't sound right.

Now a STRAT bridge and trem block? SIGN ME UP!

[Williams]

I would never ever put an aftermarket bridge on my Tele. For starters, it sustains for days anyway, being lightweight ash and resonant as all getout.

Second, it's my opinion that brass, nickel, stainless and so forth detract from real Tele tone, esp in terms of the middle pickup selector position. They don't sound bad, they just don't sound right.

Now a STRAT bridge and trem block? SIGN ME UP!

Well the thing is pbradt is that I'm putting together a custom thinline from USA CG parts, and was thinking about using a Callaham bridge since I already love their knobs....

-Kevin

[pbradt]

Well the thing is pbradt is that I'm putting together a custom thinline from USA CG parts, and was thinking about using a Callaham bridge since I already love their knobs....

-Kevin

OK.

[curtisstetka]

I've got the Tele back together and almost finished setting it up. The bridge is super-groovy. A full report is forthcoming.

Pete, you're going to want to hide your eyes. Not only did I shield all the cavities, there's an Earvana nut, the Callaham bridge, Kinman noiseless pickups, and most disturbingly, a 3 position toggle!

I guess I've been rather LIBERAL in my modifications...

[pbradt]

I've got the Tele back together and almost finished setting it up. The bridge is super-groovy. A full report is forthcoming.

Pete, you're going to want to hide your eyes. Not only did I shield all the cavities, there's an Earvana nut, the Callaham bridge, Kinman noiseless pickups, and most disturbingly, a 3 position toggle!

I guess I've been rather LIBERAL in my modifications...

Well where are the sound clips? Let's see if it SOUNDS like a Tele! My money's on no.

[curtisstetka]

Well, the setup isn't done. I need to adjust the nut for the guage of string I use.

I don't readily have the means to make a soundclip. My band is playing a party in about 2 1/2 weeks that we're going to record. I will do my best to post some clips from that show. I'll play both my Teles for that one.

Maybe it won't sound precisely like your Tele, Pete, but it sounds the way I like it.

[pbradt]

Well, the setup isn't done. I need to adjust the nut for the guage of string I use.

I don't readily have the means to make a soundclip. My band is playing a party in about 2 1/2 weeks that we're going to record. I will do my best to post some clips from that show. I'll play both my Teles for that one.

Maybe it won't sound precisely like your Tele, Pete, but it sounds the way I like it.

Welp. if yyou like it, what I think doesn't matter. You know, I'm just a purist about that. Sort of a CONSERVATIVE when it comes to that sorta thing.

Except for pickups. these Hamels are the bee's knees.

[Williams]

I'd be interested in how it sounds too. And I'm not as much of a purist as our friend pbradt

-Kevin

[pbradt]

I'd be interested in how it sounds too. And I'm not as much of a purist as our friend pbradt

-Kevin

Ya know, last week I was hammering away at that "yet another blues jam" with the Tele through the Deluxe, and there were a couple of cases where some pinched harmonics sounded like Roy. I had NEVER heard that sound from my guitar before, at least not when it was in my hands.

That was when I knew for sure I had the right pickups in the beast. I don't try to sound like Roy, but it was nice to hear that sound, just the same.

[Williams]

So let me guess...you like a stock '52 style Tele with Hamel pups through a Fender Deluxe Reverb, and anything else is NOT a Tele -- right??

-Kevin

[pbradt]

So let me guess...you like a stock '52 style Tele with Hamel pups through a Fender Deluxe Reverb, and anything else is NOT a Tele -- right??

-Kevin

Deluxe REVERB? BLEH!



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