Bring on the Twang

It is amazing the differences between the vintage and modern bridges on my Teles. My first tele is a 2009 Fender Standard Telecaster. It has the modern bridge...six individual adjustable saddles. Each saddle can be intoned and height adjusted seperately. This makes setting up your guitar very simple and easy. It also give a long sustain to the guitar. The draw back...it is really big...and  in my opinion it takes away from the astetics  of the guitar. No longer is there the clean simple lines of a Tele. Now, don't get me wrong, I do love this bridge. The amount of sustain that the guitar has makes it really great for soloing and classic rock. My second Tele is a 2009 Fender Highway 1 Telecaster. This has the vintage 3 barrel bridge, grease bucket tone circutry and nitrocellulose finish. The vintage 3 barrel compensated bridge, now that is a masterpiece of engineering. Each barrel has 2 strings on it, and one intonation screw and two height adjustment screws. Setting the intonation and action on this for some is a mystery....but after a few times of working through the process...it is actually pretty easy and in alot of ways alot of fun. This bridge gives the Tele its signature TWANG...that very distinctive sound that no other guitar can emulate, immitate, reproduce. To take it a step further...add brass barrels and you are in Twangville USA. In fact it is so twang and bright that some folks find that they have to roll off the tone on the guitar and the highs on their amps to tame it down. Personally as a die hard Teleman...I say bring on the Twang!!
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