


Fender and Gibson later adopted a six saddle bridge – one saddle for each string – allowing players to adjust intonation on a string-by-string basis. The very first Telecaster featured a three-saddle bridge, which set the trend for guitar design into the modern day. From there, they loop over the saddle, across the fretboard and up to the tuners. Keeping the ball ends in place in this system are small holes only wide enough for the string to pass through – located either at the bridge tailpiece itself or from the back side of the guitar body. This simplistic bridge design is considered a standard appointment on electric guitars outside of the Fender Stratocaster.īall ends come as a standard on guitar strings, so naturally, the classic fixed bridge will accommodate their functionality. Fixed BridgeĪlso known as hardtails, fixed bridges are screwed into the body of the guitar and keep the strings resting in place on saddles – see below for example. There’s also a lot of subsections within bridge types and we’ll touch on these too, as various manufacturers have their own unique takes on bridge design. There is no one guitar bridge to rule them all this choice solely comes down to your individual preference and needs. Not only do they look strikingly distinct and change the overall aesthetic of the instrument, but they determine the access you have to particular sounds, as well as affect the tuning stability and maintenance. The differences between a fixed bridge and a floating bridge play a major factor in your choice of electric guitar.
