A note regarding Teisco "Roller Bridges"

[mcphoto]

Hi guys - what a great forum, picked up a couple Del Rays this year and loving 'em.

I've seen a post or two here mentioning the roller bridges on Teiscos, with advice on lubing the saddles so they "roll" better.

From what I've seen, Teisco had two main roller styles; one (less used) being similar to a Gibson bridge, with intonable saddles that have integral rollers. On most Del Rays you'll see a bridge that's comprised of a long, threaded bar running perpendicular to the strings, with round "rollers" threaded across it, one for each string.

Those saddles aren't intended to "roll" when the whammy is used; they're how you adjust the intonation. By rolling them, they move across the threaded bar (much like a hex nut would), across the axis of the strings. Doing this changes the length of the string (albeit subtly) but enough to affect intonation.

You'll note that they don't roll with whammy use; the string slides across them, and their rounded shape keeps the string from breaking or hanging as it would on a "normal" notched saddle. Graphite, chapstick, etc. will allow the string to slide more freely over them. If the bridge on your Teisco/jap electric is pitted or rusted, check the rollers for a smooth string groove and clean/sand/replace as needed.

It's really not a "bad" system, and upgraded nut & tuners can help. If you're into Jeff Beck-style whammy "expression" (vs. dive bombs), you might try removing the bar and slightly bending it towards the body, where you can keep a finger on it.

It's not a vintage fender trem, but I really enjoy mine; guitar fetish sells a nice replacement for solid guitars, which you could screw onto all kinds of axes. Hope that helps someone out!

[johnnyb]

ive been through all kind of whammys since the 80's. kahler, floyd rose, fender, wilkinson etc... eventually going to hard tail bridge because they all have their problems. not until recent years i picked up some teiscos and found that the old style bar, with a little prep, work much better. since divebombing has been out of style since the 80's, and steve vai kind of cornered the cricket style. i find these older style trems have a feather touch, up and down, and have a lot nicer, more subtle feel. and they always return in tune. i have 3 that i play quite regularily (intonatable rollers only). with lubed rollers and a bone nut, i rarely have to tune them. even if i really yank on the bar. i guess sometimes simple is better.

[mcphoto]

Yeah, I even have an 84 "two knob" USA strat with that god-awful "free-flyte" trem - but it hasn't broken in 25 years, knock on maple.

I've got a Teisco Tulip-200 with an aluminum bar from Lawman Guitars on eBay - not as pretty as that graceful stock bar, but man, you can go all Jeff Beck with that thing, sits right in your hand. Those Teisco trems have a really nice "rubbery" sound that's great for the subtle note bending.

The main problem with the Teisco tailpiece - on some of 'em, the string holes are all over the place. On my Tulip, doing a deep-ish bend breaks the high-E, every time. Cuts it right at the ball. Looks like that string hole is about 1/8" lower than the others, probably stressing the string at the wrap by bending it into the body.

So I just ordered the repro trem from GFS - $21 (man, people have paid $50 just for the damn bar on eBay...) I'll try it on the Tesico (with a set of P-90's, man!!!) Thinking of sticking one of those GFS trems on a Daisy Rock or something. From the pics it looks like a dead-on copy of the basic surface-mount Teisco, I'll post a review when it's installed on something.

[cheepaxes]

I'll be very interested in what you find out about the GFS parts. I've bought stuff from them becfore -- pickups, pickguards, etc. and been pretty happy with them. But I haven't seen any of their bridge or tailpiece parts that didn't appear to have the wider string spacing that's pretty standard to US guitars -- too wide for Teiscos and other Japanese instruments.

[mcphoto]

Take a look at their site -

http://store.guitarfetish.com/vistsumowhba.html

Obviously this part was created with the Teisco in mind - the pic's a dead ringer for the typical solid body trem - I'll know if the spacing is good by wednesday, according to UPS.

(Of course with Teisco, there could be 30 different string spacings... in the same year...)

[johnnyb]

i put one of those gfs bars on a custom guitar i built and it works great. although it did break a high e string at first. i took a dremel and smoothed out the hole a little, in case there were burrs or something, and it hasent broke a string since. its on a modern neck and fits perfect. so i dont know how it would fit with a teisco.

[Spud1950]

[mcphoto]

Ha - so THAT"S why they've been out of stock for ages - eastwood's buying 'em up. (they are in stock this week, $21... I should get two.)

I like going to the eastwood web site, but all the drool is killing my keyboard.