you for stopping by to learn more about my Twangcaster™ Proprietary Bridge design.

For years, tremolo-style guitar players claimed that their guitars had different tonal qualities than guitars with fixed-style bridges. Some claimed it was because of the tremolo block, the tremolo springs, or a combination of both.

The truth is, everything mounted onto a guitar will have an impact on tone. Some things will have a negative effect while others will be positive. The Twangcaster™ bridge most definitely has a positive impact. It does so by reducing the rate of decay of the tones generated by the vibrating strings, while at the same time increasing the amplitude of the strings' audible signal.

The Twangcaster™ bridge goes beyond simply adding a "tone block" to the underside of a fixed bridge. Care had to be given to ensure that the resonate frequency (RF) of the overall bridge was not in conflict with the RF of the vibrating strings. By choosing the proper material(s) from which the bridge is milled, and choosing the ideal profile of the part of the bridge that extends into the guitar body, the Twangcaster™ bridge is far superior to any bridge on the market and will make your T-style guitar more alive than it has ever been.

The Twangcaster™ bridge starts from a solid billet of material. Shown here is a piece of naval brass. It weighs right at five pounds (5 lbs) and when completed will weigh a little less than 200 grams.

A cheaper way of making the Twangcaster™ bridge would be to simply screw a tone block to the underside of a fixed bridge. This would result in something "different" but not necessarily something "good."

By milling the Twangcaster™ bridge from one common (contiguous) piece of material, string vibration travels without interruption throughout the bridge and into the guitar.

In this photo you can see the large chunks (identified with the black hashmarks) that will be removed.

Making the Twangcaster™ bridge is a slow and precise process. We will spend more than one hour per bridge in just the milling operation. From there it goes to deburring, cleanup, polishing, and then on to plating. This photo shows the milling process of the bridge underside.

A perfectly flat bridge mated to a perfectly flat guitar top results in the optimum method of transferring vibration from the strings to the body. Although stamping out a bridge from cold-rolled steel is acceptable, it is not superior. To ensure a perfect mating, the bridge base plate must be milled.

At this point you're probably thinking, "If this is so good, why didn't Leo Fender do this?" The fact is, traditional bridges were not designed to be "tone improvement" devices. They were designed as a method of anchoring strings and/or to provide a method to pivot the strings as with a tremolo. Don't agree? Then take some time to research bridge patents and see how many you can find that make the claim to affect or improve tone.

Here are two completed bridges. The one on the left is for the guitar that does not install a pickup in the bridge. It is ideal for a guitar with a humbucker in the bridge position. The bridge on the right is for our traditional Twangcaster™ guitar and will fit most Tele ®-style guitars.

Tele® is a registered trademark of FMIC

Underside view of the Twangcaster™ bridge with a Lindy Fralin "Blues Special for Tele" pickup.

The Twangcaster™ guitar uses machine screws and brass inserts to mount the bridge to the guitar surface. This is far superior to wood screws found on all other guitars. Notice that the bridge will be screwed down using four screws at the back and two screws at the front.

If the front screws were not added, the bridge would rock back, thereby lifting the front of the bridge off the guitar surface. The front screws are added to ensure a snug mating of the bridge to the guitar body which optimizes the transfer of vibration to the guitar body.

Try this: Next time you have your T-style guitar out, see if you can slide a piece of paper under the front edge of your bridge. If the front of the bridge is not snug against the guitar body, you are losing tone.

The completed install.

Again, thank you for taking the time to learn more about my Twangcaster™ guitar and innovative bridge design. If you have any questions or comments, please don't hesitate to drop me an e-mail or give me a call.

~ Lloyd Prins