Do roller bridges suck tone?

Help!I'maRock!

Help!I'maRock!

Mediocringly Derivative
TGP says yes.

Steve Kimock chimes in:

kimock said:
Two problems, one being any “lots of little bits” complicated hardware will inevitably suffer some inefficiencies compared to a single lump of steel. You’ll lose some fundamental and sustain any time things aren’t rigid, tight. Loose is just loose, not the best sound for a bridge or string termination stuff in general.

The main bitch for me about the roller bridge is the tendency for the string to “walk up the wall” of the individual roller when you bend a string. More noticeable in higher register, but the string sustain just dies prematurely.

I had a roller bridge, Schaller, on a ridiculous ebony and maple neck-thru Strat type, the guitar had beautiful coherent sustain *sometimes* but overall kinda laid there for what it was. Swapped the roller for the big harmonica Schaller and stop-tail Gibson style arrangement and the improvement in the bent string department was dramatic.
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What say you?

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not sure i've ever used a guitar with roller saddles. i can see how it could screw up string bending, if the strings do indeed "walk up the wall". as far as tone, i suspect it's one of those things that nobody would notice unless you're playing alone in your gazebo with the dumble cranked.
 
Under string tension, I'd imagine the sustain isn't lessened as much as we think. I wonder how tight the roller tolerances are (think contact area here)?
 
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No, I have many guitars with them. They're great really help with tuning stability on bigsbys.
 
reverend1 said:
No, I have many guitars with them. They're great really help with tuning stability on bigsbys.
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I actually took out the Bigsby comments. But the general gist was once you add a Bigsby, it's a different ballgame. And I agree with that. But I think there's a point here about stoptails that definitely falls under minutiae, but does impact the overall tone. Because everything matters. That said, if you don't miss it, then it doesn't matter.
 
Agree w/ Steve up there...That was the main thing about my Steinberger Trans Trem that I didn't like.
 
Just added one to my Gretsch G6120 Bigsby equipped to help keep it in tune - I noticed no issue. What I did notice though, was increased sustain. I would suspect that it depends on the material being used. Besides, when these people are trying to determine the tone suck, are they playing by themselves or live with a group? Live is where it is at for me.
 
Help!I'maRock! said:
I actually took out the Bigsby comments. But the general gist was once you add a Bigsby, it's a different ballgame. And I agree with that. But I think there's a point here about stoptails that definitely falls under minutiae, but does impact the overall tone. Because everything matters. That said, if you don't miss it, then it doesn't matter.
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If you don’t have a bigsby I can’t imagine why you would need one.
 
I'm not a fan of them, beyond the complexity, too much energy lost to poor cohesion and I think it dampens the strings. Enough to offset a pickup's effect on tone and sustain? I dunno, but I don't need to bother with them. I prefer rigid graphtech saddles for something like a Bigsby.
 
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I think the whole concept of "sucking tone" is stupid. tone is not a quantity that you can have less or more of, it's a quality or descriptor. there's not more or less, there's different.

I installed one on an SG when I installed a bigsby, and if anything I think the sustain increased. (but that could also be the bigsby and not the roller bridge. also never had any issues with bending.
 
No but they are also not necessary in my opinion.

My Epi Dot (that lives in Atlanta now) has a Bigsby with a roller bridge, and stays in tune fine.
My Bigsby'd Telecaster has a Mastery bridge, and stays in tune fine.
My Gretsch Anniversary has their (apparently hated) Space Control bridge and a Bigsby, and stays in tune fine.
 
smurfco said:
No but they are also not necessary in my opinion.

My Epi Dot (that lives in Atlanta now) has a Bigsby with a roller bridge, and stays in tune fine.
My Bigsby'd Telecaster has a Mastery bridge, and stays in tune fine.
My Gretsch Anniversary has their (apparently hated) Space Control bridge and a Bigsby, and stays in tune fine.
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Wouldn't the Space Tone be the very first roller bridge?
 
smurfco said:
No but they are also not necessary in my opinion.

My Epi Dot (that lives in Atlanta now) has a Bigsby with a roller bridge, and stays in tune fine.
My Bigsby'd Telecaster has a Mastery bridge, and stays in tune fine.
My Gretsch Anniversary has their (apparently hated) Space Control bridge and a Bigsby, and stays in tune fine.
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Ive always felt it was the nut and the spring in the Bigsby are the biggest factors in it staying in tune.
 
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