Newport Roller Bridge

[fruhike]

I am having some tuning issues with my Newport and was considering a roller bridge. There are some reports of people using the Schaller, but I found a couple other ones too.

Schaller:

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bridges,_tailp...t=3&xsr=134

Locking:

http://www.stewmac.com/shopby/product/5276

GFS:

http://www.guitarfetish.com/Roller-Bridge-...aul_p_661.html#

I like the guitar fetish one because it is similar to the current one but I am concerned about the fit and quality. Does anyone have any opinion on these? Should I just stick with the Schaller? Do I need anything else when ordering like studs or posts? Will any of these fit my Newport?

Thanks

Chris

[murkat]

need more info on yur newport,

stoptail or bigsby (trem)

stock, or allready modded, etc.

picture plz

[gorch]

Shortly after purchase I put the Schaller on. After a year, I think it's a bit waggy and does not fully sit stable on the screws when I move the trem.

The Schaller was easy to replace since the screws had fit to the inserts and I haven't had to replace the inserts too. Which is always an issue. Fit the wholes in the wood for the new inserts or would I need to widen the wholes? And thinks like that.

That's something I would expect to be considered for the other two products, although, I think those are better designed than the Schaller bridge.

[burningyen]

I tried the Schaller on my old Newport. The rollers rattled, so I ended up switching to Graphtek saddles, which were ok, but they made the tone a bit midrangey. The import roller bridge on my Reverend Flatroc sounds great, doesn't rattle, and works perfectly. Joe Naylor says it's the same one sold by GFS. I don't know if it will fit the Newport, though.

[fruhike]

Here are some pictures. As for mods, I will probably be putting in a set of tort HD Z-90 pickups soon (likely with new pickup rings). I don't want to do any drilling, so replacing the posts would be as far as I want to go.

Thanks for the help guys, any other opinions are appreciated as well.

[gorch]

That's a pretty nice Newport, worth investing I'd say.

Concerning the pickup rings, my started to rattle recently and I moved a piece of paper at one contact position. Next time I change strings I may wrap the pickups with clear taper as I like the rings as they are.

[fruhike]

After a little more research, it seems that the GFS one will not fit, the posts are too big. However, I found a couple more that will seem to do the trick:

http://cgi.ebay.com/CHROME-Tune-O-Matic-AB...s#ht_1996wt_930

and these two, which seem to be the same:

http://www.allparts.com/Chrome-Roller-Tune...gb-0595-010.htm

http://cgi.ebay.com/Gotoh-ABR-1-Roller-Tun...es#ht_720wt_930

Any thoughts?

[gorch]

Just a thought. Are there tunomatic roller bridges with piezo available? I did not find any in a quick search.

[fruhike]

None that I saw with rollers, just saw this on my searches today:

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bridges,_tailp...s_T-Bridge.html

[murkat]

proper nut dress w/ lube

&

anderson mod on the bigsby, ask RoyB about that....

[jaberwock]

My Schaller tends to rock, rather than roll but actually stays in tune very well under average wobbling, and I'm using a stock Bigsby.

Jaberwock

[gorch]

proper nut dress w/ lube

&

anderson mod on the bigsby, ask RoyB about that....

PM sent to RoyB. Maybe he comes through with a comment.

[RoyB]

The mod Tom Anderson does is to remove the pins that hold the strings and drill out the holes, so the strings go through the bar. I love it because sting changes are faster and they just seem to stay put better. It's an easy mod to do (but getting the pins out can be a pain). You are looking at roller bridges, but I've always liked the TonePros Nashville style with the graphtech saddles because it locks to the post and does not move at all. Murkat is 100% right about the nut as well because 90% of tuning isuues are related to the nut or the way the strings are installed at the headstock.

[fruhike]

Thanks for all the feedback guys, it is appreciated.

I saw that TA mod earlier in a picture someone posted. Thanks for bringing that back up - I wondered if that was just drilled or you got a new piece. I haven't changed strings on a Bigsby in a while and that first time was a nightmare. Dad has a drill press, so I may have to pay him a visit soon. I will also address the nut issues too.

I went with the Wilkinson because it locks and matches all the specs (post size, post spacing, and fretboard radius). I also got another one just to try it out. This appears to be the same import model that Ben mentioned, but will fit the posts on the Newport. GFS did not sell these, but a dealer on the bay sold both.

In case anyone searches this in the future, the post spacing seems to be the same on all the roller models. The real concern is the post size - Newports need the smaller Nashville or ABR-1 posts, not the larger L15 posts. For the most part, if the posts are slotted on top like a screw, they are the larger size. The other concern is the fretboard radius, the Schaller and Wilkinson are both 14, all the rest seem to be 12.

[burningyen]

Cool, let us know how the different bridges compare.

[gorch]

Cool, let us know how the different bridges compare.

+1

[JohnnyB]

I didn't look at this before the OP bought something, but I'll weigh in anyway. I bought the Schaller roller bridge to provide more tuning stability on my Bigsby Newport. Stock out of the case the Newport was terrible at returning to pitch after giving the Bigsby a yank, but I got it to behave better by doing the following: 1. Switched to flatwounds (Elixirs work OK too), 2) lubricated the nut with graphite (you can either use a pencil or put on some of that fine graphite powder for unsticking door locks), 3) put on heavier gauge (11-50) strings to help return to center, 4) roller bridge.

I didn't have any of the rattling reported by others, and even then it's an easy fix--just put some Loc-Tite (not the crazy glue version, just something to fill in threads and hold something in place) on the on the threads and roll the roller saddles into place.

I also like how the Schaller roller bridge enables you to center the strings on the polepieces pretty much regardless of spacing, and yes, it is a direct drop-in replacement for the studs supplied with the stock bridge.

For all that, the post-yank tuning stability improved, but it didn't fix it. One thing I like about Strat-type bridges is that you can add more springs until it really snaps the strings back to proper tuning. I even got a $159 Peavey Predator to behave that way. Unfortunately, I don't know how you can stiffen the spring mechanism on a Bigsby. Does anyone make a stiffer replacement string to do that?

Also, the Schaller isn't unreasonable; the chrome one is less than $50 from Stew-Mac. I do think that the stock tunamatic does sound slightly better--a little more weight to the midrange and upper bass.

[gorch]

...One thing I like about Strat-type bridges is that you can add more springs until it really snaps the strings back to proper tuning. ...

The most important thing effecting the tuning stability with floating tremolos is that they require straight string routing up to the tuners. Any angle left or right behind the nut keeps the strings from rolling back to tune after trem usage.

That's the reason why floating trems work much better on Strats. The headstock is build so that the strings go straight over the nut with no angle left or right at all.

Concerning the Newport, I see the tuner positioning on the headstock being a construction failure for the Bigsby version. Especially, since the Newport seems to have that problem built in as a feature.

[ZR]

...One thing I like about Strat-type bridges is that you can add more springs until it really snaps the strings back to proper tuning. ...

The most important thing effecting the tuning stability with floating tremolos is that they require straight string routing up to the tuners. Any angle left or right behind the nut keeps the strings from rolling back to tune after trem usage.

That's the reason why floating trems work much better on Strats. The headstock is build so that the strings go straight over the nut with no angle left or right at all.

Concerning the Newport, I see the tuner positioning on the headstock being a construction failure for the Bigsby version. Especially, since the Newport seems to have that problem built in as a feature.

I just received this and although I haven't installed it yet I'm impressed by the build quality and plating work. This is for M8 threaded inserts. It looks like it could fit on regular skinny ABR type posts as well but can't confirm this.

roller bridge on ebay

[holLoWskull]

I put the Wilkinson one on my Newport, and so far I think it sounds a little better than the stock tailpiece. Perhaps the feature of locking it to the adjustment posts helps? The bridge does still rock a little with some generous Bigsby use, but not as much as prior. Tuning issues were never a huge problem on mine, but they seem gone with the Wilkinson roller bridge/Grover locking tuners (the newer kind with the wheel mechanism similar to Schallers and Sperzels). Only gripe is that setting the intonation (yeah I know it's for pussies) was a bit of a challenge with the Wilkinson. I had to move the bridge fully forward on the bass side and midway on the treble side and then set the individual saddles (which don't have an awful lot of travel to them). Not sure how much of an improvement I hear (or maybe it's the old I added this so it must be better syndrome), but I'd recommend trying the unit in place of the stock ABR style bridge on a Newport.

BTW...$14.99 for a gold plated one is a freakin' steal! I paid double that for a chrome one.

[fruhike]

Update. I got the bridges and went with the Wilkinson. I tried the import bridge first, but it the action was too high. It would need different inserts or posts (traditional Nashville style) to work. Good quality though. Here are a few shot of all three (Hamer, import, Wilkinson).

The import bridge installed on the Newport. You can see the action is about 1/2 inch, a little higher than I like it.

I like the Wilkinson bridge alot. It is very comfortable - like it was dehorned/melted. Also, it increased the acoustic projection of the guitar. Not sure if it is the increased mass or locking it down, but it is noticeable. The rollers can get a little buzzy. I may try some grease or White Lightening (wax, bike chain lube) to see if it helps any. I dressed the nut with chapstick and a little sanding. The guitar now stays in tune with even heavy Bigsby usage. I am pleased with the changes.

With the Wilkinson bridge.

[burningyen]

That's disappointing that the rollers are rattling. To me that's a dealbreaker for a roller bridge. Some people have dealt with roller saddle rattle by supergluing the saddle in place so it doesn't rotate. I guess the theory is that the string can still slide over the round surface of the saddle, but I would be worried about wearing a notch in the saddle.

[cmatthes]

Is it possible to put a thin strip of teflon or something in there to prevent the rattling?

[DaveH]

I recently tried both the Schaller and the Wilkinson type bridges in the same guitar....I liked the Schaller better. To me the tone with the Schaller was slightly better (as in clarity, for lack of a better descriptor), but I expected the opposite before I actually tried them. It wasn't much, maybe like the difference you would get when changing out a set of one or two week old strings. Before actually trying them I would have guessed that the Wilkinson would have been better, but like I said it isn't a big difference. I didn't notice any issues with rattling rollers or wobbles with either bridge. Also, the Schaller has slightly lower string height than the Wilkinson. IME anyway.