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Products
& prices -
Available finishes
- chrome, nickel or gold
T3B Nashville bridge
with std. small posts - $64, $69.75 gold
T3B-T Nashville bridge
with large posts - $64, $69.75 gold
TP6 Nashville bridge
with un-notched saddles - $ encq.
AVR-II Nashville bridge,
vintage appearance - $ encq.
AVT-II Wrap around
bridge with intonation adj. - $129.50, $144.50 gold
T1Z metric & T1ZS
US stopbar - $52.50, 62.75 gold
Locking stud posts
- $ 34.95, $39.95 gold
Available from
- www.stewmac.com
or - wdmusicproducts.com
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TonePros
locking guitar bridges & tailpieces reviewed
With guitars, what
may seem like very small changes can make all the difference between
a merely adequate instrument and a players dream.
The great thing about
this is that, if you know what you are doing, with only a little
work, many instruments can easily be transformed into great guitars.
TonePros products can definitely help acheive this transformation.
At first sight what
the guys at Tone Pros have done may seem almost too simple. In
practice its resulted in a range of replacement bridges and stopbar
tailpieces that can easily be fitted as a very worthwhile upgrade
to an existing instrument or fitted by guitar manufacturers to
improve the value of their products.
All the TonePros components
are precision molded and immaculately finished in a mirror polished,
thick coat of electroplating. This should retain its lustre over
years of use.
As well as making great
products, personal experience has proven TonePros customer service
to be very, very good indeed. |
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The
engineering principles behind TonePros products
Musical instruments
are all about vibration. In a well made instrument only the tone
producing elements should be able to vibrate. If anything else
moves its only going to deaden the tone, sap sustain and lead
to buzzes and rattles. Unwanted movement may also lead to tuning
problems.
Tone Pros have taken
the classic bridge and stop bar, originally found on the Gibson
range of electric guitars and re-engineered them to improve tone,
tuning stability and general usability.
The first TonePros
modification was to simply drill and thread small holes in the
ends of the Gibson style bridge and stopbar tailpiece and add
hex locking screws. The bridge and tailpiece would normally be
held in place on the guitar purely by string tension. The normal
manufacturing tolerances of these parts meant that it was possible
for them to shift around during use and this could compromise
tuning and playing action. In addition, during a complete string
change, the bridge and tailpiece could slip out of position and
possibly bang into the guitar surface, damaging the finish.
By adding the locking
screws TonePros have ensured that the bridge and tailpiece can
be locked firmly in place, eliminating these problems.
But the TonePros wizards
didn't stop there, they then came up with a new design of locking
post for the tailpiece that offers even greater stiffness and
integrity with an un-modified tailpiece. They also machined a
dish into the underside of the knurled bridge adjusment screws
that allows the screw to screw down, almost flush with the guitar
body, rather than being stopped by the flange at the top of the
screw insert. This means the bridges can be lowered an extra millimetre
or so for extra low action.
All of these innovations
have been made while retaining the appearance of the original
parts and compatibility with the original parts. |
