"Burst tone" isn't an ABR1. Its a puzzle piece and a known factor, at least in MY world it is. It certainly is a VERY important puzzle piece. But the entire hardware package on vintage Les Pauls stands together as a UNIT, and you can't isolate one thing and say THAT'S IT. You have to look at the brass thumbwheels, the brass bridge posts, the aluminum tailpiece, its LONG bolts and LONG anchors, and that they are STEEL. The hardware is a vibrational CIRCUIT. Every part in it plays a huge part in vintage LP tone. But you can't stop there. The harnesses are just as important, and modern Gibson harnesses completely fail to do that right. Their hardware is mostly wrong too. So, go to my Channel and watch all 3 videos on "The Les Paul That Isn't." I cover the ABR1 and the harness. But I put my money where my mouth is and show the conversion of a 2014 '60 VOS, by changing the harness and hardware from the junk Gibson puts on and in it, to closest equivalent modern parts, with an eye on materials and true geometric design specifications instead of hype claims by companies that don't seem to know much about real vintage parts. The change is dramatic and will make any Gibson LP or any clone or similar guitar open up and become a real weaponized machine gun that sounds very close to the old Les Pauls of my youth. Here's a link, there are currently Three parts in the series with a Part 4 coming in about a month. These videos are for those who love the vintage Les Paul and want their Gibsons to get a lot closer to those sounds. th-cam.com/video/85IWlkPdO8A/w-d-xo.html I salute John as a fellow player who takes a hard look at things have seldom have had anyone actually THINK about what we are paying our hard earned dollars for. For instance, Gibson uses an aluminum tailpiece you can buy from them for TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS. But, I found out its the same tailpiece made by Kluson, and you can buy it on Ebay for $25. Honestly, I've owned Gibsons for the last 42 years, and the best Les Paul I have ever played in my life was made by a historical replica builder, who took time to learn what glues were used in what parts, how to get REAL nitro, using real Brazilian and old mahogany stock, to make something Gibson is currently incapable of making right now. If you own a Gibson, please watch my video series to see how you can FIX IT. Even your CC LP, all your "reissues" that aren't reissues, you CAN IMPROVE THEM DRAMATICALLY, and NONE of parts or work are expensive. I SALUTE THE LES PAUL PURISTS, LIKE ME AND JOHN, we are a small but dedicated brotherhood of TONE.
@@SDPickups Yes you are absolutely spot on in everything you mention. I recently converted a 1978 Les Paul a friend had and that I acquired.....that never really gave it up. My friend chased it at the time and I had an old Les Paul Custom black beauty fretless wonder with all the old parts. But this was in the 1980's, and he couldn't figure out why his LP didn't sound like mine. Hence it had the 300K pots and obviously different wood and different era pickups. SO when I acquired it, I had to change the pots to the standard 500K's and recently did the harness and then went to the tone caps as I had a real pair of bumble bees. But I ended up trimming the cap values via putting in a series connected supplemental cap. BUT the most significant change was with the bridge as it had a nashville bridge of the era. I found a replacement bridge with brass saddles of the right mass as compared to saddle kits with brass saddles. I was just going to swap the new bridge in but chose to retrofit the saddles instead to the original nashville bridge. The existing bushings and the adjusting posts were brass, BUT to enhance the coupling, I pulled the bushings and sank brass screws in to the body and got a solid connection by custom fitting those screws by cutting the heads off and adjusting the remaining portions to make contact with the nashville adjusting posts in the bushings....so they were hiding under the nashville post. I had the bridge fully adjusted for the action before I started so I had a reference point to return to.....by using brass washers as an extra coupling of the wheels on the posts to the body bushings for a more solid coupling....so they are hidden just under the wheels and only seen from the side. I also use a brass tubing insert as a bushing in the nashville bridge holes for the posts as to make the coupling to the post pins in rides on more absolutely solid.......I have to gently tap the bridge into place on the posts now. SO the end result is a very solid coupling and it truly rings out acoustically.......which carries over when plugged in to an amp. My next change will be to the tail piece and its posts...going for the steel posts and light weight tail. Presently I am using modified burstbucker pickups though that will be changing, as my friend had swapped out the original pickups for dimarzio blade type heavy metal pickups back in the 1980's since it was the metal era. But as is presently with the tuned tone capacitors, it has changed the guitar to sounding very similar to "THE BEAST" the Marsden Les Paul. I want to get a set of alnico 4 magnets to swap in to the pickup set and make some other adjustments to the pickups.....as I acquired a few burstbuckers....#1 thru #3....with 2 #2's in the collection. Presently I have a #2 in the neck with a #3 in the bridge but I swapped the magnets with alnico 2's from a set of duncan pearly gates.....among other tricks. I did find that I liked the BB #1 in the neck when I first tried it, as it was the lower wind I favored. SO I suppose I'll be chasing another BB #1 for the bridge. I like the even tonality of the alnico 4's and can't wait to get some for the final.......>>>>>>>>>for me....it is the combination of the materials for the resonant quality in the guitar as the acoustic perspective and the decay of the strings and how they ring out. BUT its also the end value of the tone capacitor when it comes to manipulating the tone controls and their full sweep in how the affect the guitars tonality. Listening to the good Les Paul sunbursts of the 58/59/60 years, they sounded very woody and they sounded even which was the alnico 4 magnets.
I should note that the brass saddles were not a direct swap as i had to massage them with a dremel tool to lower them in to the nashville bridge base........and I cut my string grooves deep. I like the strings to sit in to the saddles as opposed to riding on the tops of the saddles........as this gives more contact area with the string vibrations.......I sink in till the string is flush with tops of the saddles but with precision slots to the gauge of strings I use.......in theory there are 3 sides of contact where there is only one side of contact when the string rides on the top of the saddles.......so the deeper slot gives more surface contact and thus energy transfer when vibrating. So when I say I massage them in.....its the 2 side tabs that need adjusted to seat the saddle in for the adjustment screws to pass thru properly......they are just slightly off. But the mass and shape of these brass saddles are as close to the 50's saddles as can be
There's an interesting ring to the 1950s and I wish I was in that room to hear such glorious overtones! Thank you for being meticulous like this and doing what you do!!!!!!👍👍
Through my Grado headphones, I felt the difference was quite dramatic. The clarity of the 50's bridge and saddles made it the clear winner. THANKS BEARDLESS JOHAN!!
I like the brightness of the all 50's combo. It's amazing how much a difference it makes that little piece of metal. I had the same experience with a Jazzmaster. Changed the bridge and was shocked, more tone difference that changing pickups .... anyway, you're super cool. Nice interesting and well made videos.
Wow! thanks for taking the time to make this video,i (and im sure others) were wondering :) first 2 clips starting at 1:12 the tone difference is massive,2nd clip is way darker .. after that i hear no real discernible difference in any ... ill have to down 80 coffees and come back later :D Edit:- listening again,it seems swapping saddles kinda cancels them out,making both similar .. seems saddles DO make a big difference :) loving it Johan :)
Great stuff Johan! The 50's stuff together sounded more bright and percussive. Even when you switched to the 50's saddles in the 08's bridge it still sounded more muted. Never gave that much thought before, but now I've got 4 LP's to hunt down 50's bridges and saddles for! Have a great weekend.
Bingo! It's 90% the bridge... even the vintage bridge with the new saddles sound great. New bridge with vintage saddles, not much of an improvement at all. You can pick up pat # early sixties bridges for a fair price, and minus the retention wire, it's made the same as the ABR-1, and in the same factory.
🤓The "Saddles" is the most noticeable (50's Bridge & Saddle) is a BEAUTIFUL CHIMEY NATURAL WONDER👍 (50's saddle & 2008 bridge) works great...thanx JOHAN, cheers 😁
Your videos keep more interesting haha ! I always knew an electric guitar sound was the result of a system of ingredients working together, but I never thought the bridge and saddles could influence the tone THAT much !! want to try an ABR1 on my Epiphone 56' RI now :)
The all 1950s is the clear winner (its clear and like a fat tele), 2) 1950s saddles, 3) 1950s bridge, and last 4) the all 2008 which is like a 1950s with a bad tone capacitor turned down to approx 6-7.
I haven't listened to this one yet, but I will tell you that the Zamak casting on the 50's ABR1 is SOFTER alloy, the 2008 and all the modern ones use a noticeably harder Zamak alloy. I think they do this because they are afraid of the "collapsing bridge" problem, that I've never actually ever seen a collapsed one myself. So, its not just the saddles, not just the casting, and its also the adjuster screws as well. I wish someone with some good money would contact me about reproducing the old bridges, it CAN be done, but its a significant investment probably up around the $20,000 range to get the molds made, for both body and the saddles, because the saddles were cast them machined, and also get perfect replica adjuster screws made. So, making those, you wouldn't be making any money for about a year, but you WOULD end up OWNING the entire ABR1 world, because there is nothing to compete with. I'll listen tonite after work with headphones on. Thanks again for the good work you do. Have you ever done vintage Greenbacks vs. Modern Greenbacks? And vintage RECONED Greenbacks? As for collapsed bridges, you SHOULD be able to simply block them into a vise with hardwood grippers and easily flatten it back out. That alloy has a certain ability to bend or they wouldn't collapse in the first place. I have yet to see anyone try that and they throw them away.
So I watched and listened thru AKG 701 headphones. Well, no surprise, the vintage ABR1 just easily is the BEST, and the parts are not interchangeably working with the modern ABR1 and its parts. Now, we need to take into account that ALL of its parts are making this happen. The adjuster screws are not just some screws and not worth looking at. To reverse engineer and reproduce these old bridges, the casting needs to be analyzed for crystal structure, if there is one, chemical content and more than than that. And all and every part the same work needs to be done. Notice that the saddles are CAST brass, THEN cut on a milling saw into specific widths. They are cast because you can see there are no sharp machined edges, everything is very rounded. I firmly believe that we CAN reproduce these ABR1's. But there is NO one INTERESTED IN DOING THIS. Virtually all the ABR1's being sold come from one company that manufactures them, and then are sold under names that claim they have "vintage tone" and are "replicas." Well, no they're not. None of them sound like the vintage ones, the worst ones are the Gibson ones like the "Historic" bridge, which is harsh, sterile and weak audio output. They all use saddles that are high peaks, pointy tops and they just aren't very musical at all. The only one I found that is fairly close is the Faber ABRH, but they are too bassy on the low strings. If someone wants to put up the money, I'd gladly contribute parts for analyses, and act as chief engineer to lead and find the several manufacturers it would take to make this happen. But, I would want something in return for the amount of time and grief it would take, and believe me, working with industrial people is not much fun, for the resistance you run up against. Am so tired of the hype that is used in the music industry to sell things that are not what they say they are.
You must be psychic!! Just this morning I was thinking of whether to replace bridge and saddles (and nut) on my recently purchased p90 equipped Hofner colorama reissue.
the '50s Bridge + saddles will probably set you back more than the guitar! there is no one pro-ing these parts. if you try for a "wired set, you will spend less, but not a lot less. good luck!
Since you are the master of trying out old amps I wonder if you have tested a Marshall Mercury? I hadn't heard of them until today when I stumbled upon some site in the wilderness of the Internet. :)
Great experiment, once again. The saddles seem to have the most influence, while the bridge housing is more subtle. It seems to me the 50s bridge and saddles results in more liveliness, a bit more overall presence to the sound and the feel of the notes. Some of that followed the 50s saddles in the '08 housing. The '08 saddles are duller, less lively sounding. Question: How did the "feel" change for you? For me, that's a more subtle, but also more important aspect of any change I make to a guitar. When I switched to brass saddles from steel on one of my Teles, there was a definite tonal difference, but the way the notes felt was far more significant - enough so that I made the same change on another of my Teles, and am going to do the third.
Dear Johan my main man..seriously THEY BOTH Sound awesome..in the future would you be so kind to do a video on the comparisons of a solid body axe such as a explorer epiphone prefered and or flying v..and compared the Attack as compared to a lespaul chambered???Your videos on the epiphone explorer and flying v were OUTRAGES..THAT 50S SOUND..RAD man..really rad.then compare a archtop les paul..for tonaliaty..soon could you a p-90 also dogeared or screw in type..to see variations of tone!!!.As always you sound awesome. From your florida axeman. Rockin robbie..Cheers
At last a way to tell the Segeborn triplets apart! Well one of them anyway ha ha I think it's a question of mass less pronounced difference when the parts are mixed but add the heavier bridge and heavier cast saddles together and they have significantly more mass than the modern bridge hence the noticeable difference in sound That's easier to pick up on After all the main resonance points are the saddles through the bridge to the body and the nut or fretted string to the neck Same principle as changing a pot metal strat block to a steel/brass one. Keep up the good work Johan
Always surprises me how much of an impact the hardware changes make and the effect on the musical harmonics of the Guitar so for me the better sound is the 50's Saddle and Bridge
I can tell from my experience with a fully cryo tuned Faber bridge with brass saddles vs. a stock 2016 R8 bridge, with „Vintage soft brass” saddles from Crazyparts. The Cryo Faber was my best combo over many years, but with the soft brass saddles, the Gibson bridge provided this hollow, wooden tone. Just amazing. (Faber bridges are unfortunately not compatible with Gibson style saddles)
Hi, Johan! Most I like is 2008 bridge, and 1950 sadles. I like both of them, but "my" set determined by my feeling. Such so "industrial" and anti-utopia background makes me feel like Arnie in "Terminator"! :-) Happy weekend, c.u. Zigfrid
Zigfrid Washburn Willett's Pot Still Reserve !!!! Smoking some pork butts too with some home grown hickory and grape Vines. The best part will be the friends ...go buy your airline ticket!!!
it's a nice to have a place to prove my point. I tell friends this kind of stuff all the time they say I'm full of crap so I send them here. you could totally hear the difference some cases it was pretty dramatic. also I learned that the different materials on a bridge makes a difference. on my telecasters one has brass Saddles and one has Steel saddles definitely a different tone
I still prefer the older bridge, but switching the components does muddy the picture somewhat. I didn't prefer either of the 'mixed' bridges to the all-50s bridge. I wonder if you could confirm a suspicion from looking at the pictures of the saddles: are the 50s saddles cast and the 08 saddles machined? The 08 saddles seem to show clear cut marks on their profiles.
have you a comparison of the various fine tuning stop tailpieces? I have a schaller,an ibanez gibralter and an ABM stop/fine tuner tailpiece on different Led Paul scaled guitars. love them in the studio
for distorted tones,50's bridge and saddles ,for clean chime,2008 bridge and 50's saddles. the 2008 saddles sound muffled and dull. Thanks for the test!
Thanks as always, and awesome video. I gather from your comment replies that you think the housing has more of an impact on the tone than the saddles, but I was wondering if you think they do different things? It sounds to me like the housing has more impact on the lows and mids, but that the saddles have more impact on the highs. Does that seem right to you, or do you think the housing has more impact across all frequencies?
Thanks! I was expecting the modern sharp edged saddles to be brighter, but they seemed equally bright, the 1950s saddles were more balanced and focused though. To me, at least this test indicates that the housing has more impact on all frequencies. Cheers
Very interesting I have been following Dave Stephens of SDPickups and he is an LP passionate 50s sound guru. He suggests Fabre ABRH-NA bridge with nickel coating this has brass saddles and Klusion lightweight aluminium stop tailpiece. He also suggests that thumb screws and poles should be brass as should the tailpiece screws. Kluson bridge is the same as the Historic Gibson part and sounds wrong if you want authentic. Gotoh is also very high pitched. The other thing about these parts is they have no magnetic spec. Gibson now use inferior parts and mainly sub standard steel compared to the 50s this keeps the prices down for volume manufacture, but loses the tone of the original LPS
Great video .. Problem with some vintage bridge/saddles is they sometimes collapse (bend downward) and the saddle screws can bend also. Screws, if facing backward, can hit the strings causing buzz.
Bridge makes the most difference to me. I found the combined ones sounded a bit odd, like they had competing tones going on, but the 50's bridge with 08 saddles seemed to fit a bit better than the other way round. Hard to say what I liked best, the 50s is so clear and punchy but the 08 has a ton of low end too. Cool video.
Johan, are the 50's saddles/bridge brass? Im thinking of upgrading to a more era correct bridge. I heard the late 50's LP's were brass. And then a guy who's reverse engineering a 59' on youtube said the bridges were steel/zinc alloy.
Very good experiment! It’s subtle, but still there is actually a lot more difference between these two than I would’ve ever thought. Personally I loved the sound of 1950s together. Definitely sounds more vintage to my ears, but of course it’s all a personal taste. Which one you liked the best?
remarkable how much of a difference the bridge housing makes, very slight if any difference with just the saddle swap at least to me. was there a difference in string feel from one set of saddles as opposed to the other?
Johan, great video! why do you think the 50's sound better? it's like the 2008 has a blanket over it. what is it about the 50's that makes it sound so much more alive. metal doesn't age like wood does, does it?
hey Johan why don’t you make a video with Les Paul using the 50’s bridge and comparing the posts that support the bridge? should vintage correct, brass nickel plated posts help in getting a better tone compared to modern ones? Cheers
So the question is, where can you get something comparable to the '50's? Faber? I swear I haven't heard much of a difference in the Faber comparison videos on other channels.
Noticeable difference in tone, not by much though, says my ears. Thanks again JS, for yet another informative video on all things guitar! You are indeed an international rock roll treasure to the youtube community!
Yesterday I noticed, to my big surprise, that the shape of the saddles in my Epiphone LP Special II had almost identically shaped saddles to the original.
Slight but detectable differences with each combination, at least to my ears. Another cool experiment, but makes me think one of your favorite hobbies must be changing strings !?
Johan Segeborn Yeah, U sure have !! Frankly, I wouldn't go to all that trouble just out of curiosity, but I always enjoy the fruits of your labor. Thanks & Cheers Johan !!!
How close to the Gibson 50s saddles are the faber abr 59 saddles, I'm talking materials, dimensions, are they as flat on the top, are they more of a sharper angle like the modern Gibson saddles etc etc.
Looking to the photos of the sadles, seems the 50's are casted (rounded edges and teh surface does not show lines) and the 2000's are machined(sharps edges and surface with lines of the tools)...
Great to really dissect the difference of the two but once you start rocking with heavy distortion/overdrive and other heavy fuzz effects, will you be able to hear or know the difference? You are splitting hairs between the vintage original and the modern take here. I'll take what I can get and afford here mate! Great cover.
I know this is an old video but there's a guy here on TH-cam who actually makes the exact same replicas there a little expensive I can't afford to spend nearly $500 you really got to be into the vintage tone to justify that price. But be prepared to wait he can only make so many a month. If interested message me I can send you to his TH-cam channel.
As with most things guitar, the less distortion, the more subtleties matter. To my ear, the 2008 saddle sounded a little muted regardless of which bridge it was in. The 50's saddles sounded a little brighter regardless of bridge. I'd go with brighter as you can always quash the higher frequencies with a tone knob. No getting back what ain't there though.
It seems the bridge to me makes more of a difference than the saddles based on the sound, I thought the saddles would've made more of a difference though because there is a different amount of contact with the string and saddles themselves. I guess the bridge being the majority of the mass and the metal probably being of different quality is the reason though.
I'm surprised but it seems to me the saddles are less important. I assumed that because they contact the strings directly that they would be more important. The 50s bridge just sounds sweeter to me.
It may sound weird, but you look younger and healthier with your beard. Not that big of a difference. Did you already try one where you switch only the tail piece?
No hair! They both made a difference, but the difference the bridge made was definitely more. Best, all 50's, then 50's bridge w/08 saddles, all 08, 08 bridge w/50's saddles last. They didn't like each other. The last riff, there was this constant ringing of 1 pitch, where the phasing of that note would cancel it self out, at different speeds, for the different chords.
Personally, how you strum n play makes more difference. I'd like to hear say 4 different 59 bridges compared to each other. Everybody compares old to new but there are lots of variables within all the years. I think all the comparing has run it's course. Wonder if Duane spent his time changing saddles and pots and, and, and, or if he focused on what he was playing. Not meaning to be sarcastic but I wonder how much energy he spent "tone chasing". Think it was more hey I like that Paul better than that one, or I like Marshall better than the Fender.
wow, noticeable difference. Notch shape/depth and material being the 2 basic factors. I know LPs didn't have them in the 60s, but let's get full-blown geek and compare nylon vs brass (both nickle plated and bare).
The 50's bridge seems to be the biggest influencer of the overall tone ... and Johan get that beard back man, it's just not you without that defining fuzz 😆
Two solutions. 1- Buy a 50's bridge off of Reverb for $800, or buy an MXR EQ for $80 and place it between your guitar and amp. Third option, do nothing because 99.9% of the population would not know the difference if it hit them in the face.
Love the extra bit of presence from the 50's bridge! makes me think that's a key part of the "burst" tone beyond what the early PAFs do.
Yeah that bridge combined with a good PAF reaches a long way in any guitar.
"Burst tone" isn't an ABR1. Its a puzzle piece and a known factor, at least in MY world it is. It certainly is a VERY important puzzle piece. But the entire hardware package on vintage Les Pauls stands together as a UNIT, and you can't isolate one thing and say THAT'S IT. You have to look at the brass thumbwheels, the brass bridge posts, the aluminum tailpiece, its LONG bolts and LONG anchors, and that they are STEEL. The hardware is a vibrational CIRCUIT. Every part in it plays a huge part in vintage LP tone. But you can't stop there. The harnesses are just as important, and modern Gibson harnesses completely fail to do that right. Their hardware is mostly wrong too. So, go to my Channel and watch all 3 videos on "The Les Paul That Isn't." I cover the ABR1 and the harness. But I put my money where my mouth is and show the conversion of a 2014 '60 VOS, by changing the harness and hardware from the junk Gibson puts on and in it, to closest equivalent modern parts, with an eye on materials and true geometric design specifications instead of hype claims by companies that don't seem to know much about real vintage parts. The change is dramatic and will make any Gibson LP or any clone or similar guitar open up and become a real weaponized machine gun that sounds very close to the old Les Pauls of my youth. Here's a link, there are currently Three parts in the series with a Part 4 coming in about a month. These videos are for those who love the vintage Les Paul and want their Gibsons to get a lot closer to those sounds. th-cam.com/video/85IWlkPdO8A/w-d-xo.html
I salute John as a fellow player who takes a hard look at things have seldom have had anyone actually THINK about what we are paying our hard earned dollars for. For instance, Gibson uses an aluminum tailpiece you can buy from them for TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS. But, I found out its the same tailpiece made by Kluson, and you can buy it on Ebay for $25. Honestly, I've owned Gibsons for the last 42 years, and the best Les Paul I have ever played in my life was made by a historical replica builder, who took time to learn what glues were used in what parts, how to get REAL nitro, using real Brazilian and old mahogany stock, to make something Gibson is currently incapable of making right now. If you own a Gibson, please watch my video series to see how you can FIX IT. Even your CC LP, all your "reissues" that aren't reissues, you CAN IMPROVE THEM DRAMATICALLY, and NONE of parts or work are expensive. I SALUTE THE LES PAUL PURISTS, LIKE ME AND JOHN, we are a small but dedicated brotherhood of TONE.
@@SDPickups Yes you are absolutely spot on in everything you mention. I recently converted a 1978 Les Paul a friend had and that I acquired.....that never really gave it up. My friend chased it at the time and I had an old Les Paul Custom black beauty fretless wonder with all the old parts. But this was in the 1980's, and he couldn't figure out why his LP didn't sound like mine. Hence it had the 300K pots and obviously different wood and different era pickups. SO when I acquired it, I had to change the pots to the standard 500K's and recently did the harness and then went to the tone caps as I had a real pair of bumble bees. But I ended up trimming the cap values via putting in a series connected supplemental cap. BUT the most significant change was with the bridge as it had a nashville bridge of the era. I found a replacement bridge with brass saddles of the right mass as compared to saddle kits with brass saddles. I was just going to swap the new bridge in but chose to retrofit the saddles instead to the original nashville bridge. The existing bushings and the adjusting posts were brass, BUT to enhance the coupling, I pulled the bushings and sank brass screws in to the body and got a solid connection by custom fitting those screws by cutting the heads off and adjusting the remaining portions to make contact with the nashville adjusting posts in the bushings....so they were hiding under the nashville post. I had the bridge fully adjusted for the action before I started so I had a reference point to return to.....by using brass washers as an extra coupling of the wheels on the posts to the body bushings for a more solid coupling....so they are hidden just under the wheels and only seen from the side. I also use a brass tubing insert as a bushing in the nashville bridge holes for the posts as to make the coupling to the post pins in rides on more absolutely solid.......I have to gently tap the bridge into place on the posts now. SO the end result is a very solid coupling and it truly rings out acoustically.......which carries over when plugged in to an amp. My next change will be to the tail piece and its posts...going for the steel posts and light weight tail. Presently I am using modified burstbucker pickups though that will be changing, as my friend had swapped out the original pickups for dimarzio blade type heavy metal pickups back in the 1980's since it was the metal era. But as is presently with the tuned tone capacitors, it has changed the guitar to sounding very similar to "THE BEAST" the Marsden Les Paul. I want to get a set of alnico 4 magnets to swap in to the pickup set and make some other adjustments to the pickups.....as I acquired a few burstbuckers....#1 thru #3....with 2 #2's in the collection. Presently I have a #2 in the neck with a #3 in the bridge but I swapped the magnets with alnico 2's from a set of duncan pearly gates.....among other tricks. I did find that I liked the BB #1 in the neck when I first tried it, as it was the lower wind I favored. SO I suppose I'll be chasing another BB #1 for the bridge. I like the even tonality of the alnico 4's and can't wait to get some for the final.......>>>>>>>>>for me....it is the combination of the materials for the resonant quality in the guitar as the acoustic perspective and the decay of the strings and how they ring out. BUT its also the end value of the tone capacitor when it comes to manipulating the tone controls and their full sweep in how the affect the guitars tonality. Listening to the good Les Paul sunbursts of the 58/59/60 years, they sounded very woody and they sounded even which was the alnico 4 magnets.
I should note that the brass saddles were not a direct swap as i had to massage them with a dremel tool to lower them in to the nashville bridge base........and I cut my string grooves deep. I like the strings to sit in to the saddles as opposed to riding on the tops of the saddles........as this gives more contact area with the string vibrations.......I sink in till the string is flush with tops of the saddles but with precision slots to the gauge of strings I use.......in theory there are 3 sides of contact where there is only one side of contact when the string rides on the top of the saddles.......so the deeper slot gives more surface contact and thus energy transfer when vibrating. So when I say I massage them in.....its the 2 side tabs that need adjusted to seat the saddle in for the adjustment screws to pass thru properly......they are just slightly off. But the mass and shape of these brass saddles are as close to the 50's saddles as can be
There's an interesting ring to the 1950s and I wish I was in that room to hear such glorious overtones! Thank you for being meticulous like this and doing what you do!!!!!!👍👍
Thanks, glad to hear it!
1:14 I could listen to this all day, sitting on my balcony watching the mountain :) 50's sadles and bridge is my preference !
Thanks man, cool which mountain is that?
I'm in Alpe d'huez ;)
50's saddles and bridge is my favorite. To my ears, saddles make more difference. A lot of difference for me. Great video!
Thanks Gustavo!
I'm surprised the difference it made! Great video as always, Johan!
Loving the new look, by the way :)
Thanks my friend, you’re too kind ;-)
Once again super insightful video. It’s shocking difference every little part makes.
Thanks Warren, I’m glad to hear that!
Through my Grado headphones, I felt the difference was quite dramatic. The clarity of the 50's bridge and saddles made it the clear winner. THANKS BEARDLESS JOHAN!!
In the next video you should compare what the guitar sounds like when playing it with and without a beard.
Hahaha, the beard adds 3dB gain ;-)
That's no joke that's for real LOL
Hum, do they make merkins for guitars?
I like the brightness of the all 50's combo. It's amazing how much a difference it makes that little piece of metal. I had the same experience with a Jazzmaster. Changed the bridge and was shocked, more tone difference that changing pickups .... anyway, you're super cool. Nice interesting and well made videos.
Thanks Marco! Cheers Johan
Wow! thanks for taking the time to make this video,i (and im sure others) were wondering :)
first 2 clips starting at 1:12 the tone difference is massive,2nd clip is way darker .. after that i hear no real discernible difference in any ... ill have to down 80 coffees and come back later :D
Edit:- listening again,it seems swapping saddles kinda cancels them out,making both similar .. seems saddles DO make a big difference :)
loving it Johan :)
Thanks, I’m glad the videos are put to some good use!
GREAT VIDEO!!!..THANKS FOR TAKING ALL THE TIME AND WORK TO SHOW US THE MINUTE DIFFERENCES...I JUST SAVED A SHIT LOAD OF MONEY TODAY..
again a killer video!! i love your comparisons man ! :)
Thanks my friend, I'm glad to hear that!
Great stuff Johan! The 50's stuff together sounded more bright and percussive. Even when you switched to the 50's saddles in the 08's bridge it still sounded more muted. Never gave that much thought before, but now I've got 4 LP's to hunt down 50's bridges and saddles for! Have a great weekend.
You too! Cheers
The bridge makes more diff than the saddle. Both saddles sound pretty good. The 50's bridge is KING!
Thanks, yeah it’s beautifully balanced
Bingo! It's 90% the bridge... even the vintage bridge with the new saddles sound great. New bridge with vintage saddles, not much of an improvement at all. You can pick up pat # early sixties bridges for a fair price, and minus the retention wire, it's made the same as the ABR-1, and in the same factory.
love these videos
Thanks! :-)
🤓The "Saddles" is the most noticeable (50's Bridge & Saddle) is a BEAUTIFUL CHIMEY NATURAL WONDER👍 (50's saddle & 2008 bridge) works great...thanx JOHAN, cheers 😁
Thanks man!
Hey Johan, the look new look is great. This video, like all of your videos, is thoughtful and very well done. Do you have an engineering background?
Thanks I’m glad to hear that! Yeah I’m an automotive engineer at Volvo Cars.
Brilliant video dude
Thanks man!
Man o man, 50’s-50’s is so open with a shimmering top end. Makes me want to find one to try out on my 2015 traditional.
Thanks, yeah a lot of Tone gets trapped there otherwise. Cheers
Your videos keep more interesting haha ! I always knew an electric guitar sound was the result of a system of ingredients working together, but I never thought the bridge and saddles could influence the tone THAT much !! want to try an ABR1 on my Epiphone 56' RI now :)
The all 1950s is the clear winner (its clear and like a fat tele), 2) 1950s saddles, 3) 1950s bridge, and last 4) the all 2008 which is like a 1950s with a bad tone capacitor turned down to approx 6-7.
Thanks Rune!
I haven't listened to this one yet, but I will tell you that the Zamak casting on the 50's ABR1 is SOFTER alloy, the 2008 and all the modern ones use a noticeably harder Zamak alloy. I think they do this because they are afraid of the "collapsing bridge" problem, that I've never actually ever seen a collapsed one myself. So, its not just the saddles, not just the casting, and its also the adjuster screws as well. I wish someone with some good money would contact me about reproducing the old bridges, it CAN be done, but its a significant investment probably up around the $20,000 range to get the molds made, for both body and the saddles, because the saddles were cast them machined, and also get perfect replica adjuster screws made. So, making those, you wouldn't be making any money for about a year, but you WOULD end up OWNING the entire ABR1 world, because there is nothing to compete with. I'll listen tonite after work with headphones on. Thanks again for the good work you do. Have you ever done vintage Greenbacks vs. Modern Greenbacks? And vintage RECONED Greenbacks? As for collapsed bridges, you SHOULD be able to simply block them into a vise with hardwood grippers and easily flatten it back out. That alloy has a certain ability to bend or they wouldn't collapse in the first place. I have yet to see anyone try that and they throw them away.
So I watched and listened thru AKG 701 headphones. Well, no surprise, the vintage ABR1 just easily is the BEST, and the parts are not interchangeably working with the modern ABR1 and its parts. Now, we need to take into account that ALL of its parts are making this happen. The adjuster screws are not just some screws and not worth looking at. To reverse engineer and reproduce these old bridges, the casting needs to be analyzed for crystal structure, if there is one, chemical content and more than than that. And all and every part the same work needs to be done. Notice that the saddles are CAST brass, THEN cut on a milling saw into specific widths. They are cast because you can see there are no sharp machined edges, everything is very rounded. I firmly believe that we CAN reproduce these ABR1's. But there is NO one INTERESTED IN DOING THIS. Virtually all the ABR1's being sold come from one company that manufactures them, and then are sold under names that claim they have "vintage tone" and are "replicas." Well, no they're not. None of them sound like the vintage ones, the worst ones are the Gibson ones like the "Historic" bridge, which is harsh, sterile and weak audio output. They all use saddles that are high peaks, pointy tops and they just aren't very musical at all. The only one I found that is fairly close is the Faber ABRH, but they are too bassy on the low strings. If someone wants to put up the money, I'd gladly contribute parts for analyses, and act as chief engineer to lead and find the several manufacturers it would take to make this happen. But, I would want something in return for the amount of time and grief it would take, and believe me, working with industrial people is not much fun, for the resistance you run up against. Am so tired of the hype that is used in the music industry to sell things that are not what they say they are.
Good look Segeborn!
Thanks my friend, that’s kind of you :-)
You must be psychic!! Just this morning I was thinking of whether to replace bridge and saddles (and nut) on my recently purchased p90 equipped Hofner colorama reissue.
Great timing! :-)
the '50s Bridge + saddles will probably set you back more than the guitar! there is no one pro-ing these parts. if you try for a "wired set, you will spend less, but not a lot less. good luck!
Since you are the master of trying out old amps I wonder if you have tested a Marshall Mercury?
I hadn't heard of them until today when I stumbled upon some site in the wilderness of the Internet. :)
Hi, no I haven’t, but I’m very curious about them. Cheers
Great experiment, once again. The saddles seem to have the most influence, while the bridge housing is more subtle. It seems to me the 50s bridge and saddles results in more liveliness, a bit more overall presence to the sound and the feel of the notes. Some of that followed the 50s saddles in the '08 housing. The '08 saddles are duller, less lively sounding.
Question: How did the "feel" change for you? For me, that's a more subtle, but also more important aspect of any change I make to a guitar. When I switched to brass saddles from steel on one of my Teles, there was a definite tonal difference, but the way the notes felt was far more significant - enough so that I made the same change on another of my Teles, and am going to do the third.
Thanks, the 50s saddles played much better, but that may in part be because of the fuller sound. Cheers
Dear Johan my main man..seriously THEY BOTH Sound awesome..in the future would you be so kind to do a video on the comparisons of a solid body axe such as a explorer epiphone prefered and or flying v..and compared the Attack as compared to a lespaul chambered???Your videos on the epiphone explorer and flying v were OUTRAGES..THAT 50S SOUND..RAD man..really rad.then compare a archtop les paul..for tonaliaty..soon could you a p-90 also dogeared or screw in type..to see variations of tone!!!.As always you sound awesome. From your florida axeman. Rockin robbie..Cheers
Thanks Robbie, yeah those korina explorers and Vs were great. I’ll keep it in mind. Cheers from Gothenburg!
At last a way to tell the Segeborn triplets apart! Well one of them anyway ha ha
I think it's a question of mass less pronounced difference when the parts are mixed but add the heavier bridge and heavier cast saddles together and they have significantly more mass than the modern bridge hence the noticeable difference in sound
That's easier to pick up on
After all the main resonance points are the saddles through the bridge to the body and the nut or fretted string to the neck
Same principle as changing a pot metal strat block to a steel/brass one.
Keep up the good work Johan
Thanks Gary, the 50s bridge housing was only a little heavier than the 08 though. Cheers Johan
+Johan Segeborn in that case why don't you mill out an extra heavy bridge and put it on just for a demo, like when you put strings on that steel bar?
I wish for a house next to this guy so we can have a relaxing drink in the afternoon and share nerdy guitar hardware experiences
Next test should be whether playing with a beard or without a beard influences tone.
Hahaha, it does! Now I have to make sure my double chin doesn’t show when I play ;-)
Wow. Great video. Subscribed!
An excellent question investigated by an excellent explorer. Johan you should be given a Scientific certificate of some sorts. We appreciate you.
I hear that something is "missing" from the 2008 set sound
As always... great info! Cheers!
Thanks Stavros! Cheers
Always surprises me how much of an impact the hardware changes make and the effect on the musical harmonics of the Guitar so for me the better sound is the 50's Saddle and Bridge
Thanks, I agree
I can tell from my experience with a fully cryo tuned Faber bridge with brass saddles vs. a stock 2016 R8 bridge, with „Vintage soft brass” saddles from Crazyparts.
The Cryo Faber was my best combo over many years, but with the soft brass saddles, the Gibson bridge provided this hollow, wooden tone. Just amazing.
(Faber bridges are unfortunately not compatible with Gibson style saddles)
Hi, Johan! Most I like is 2008 bridge, and 1950 sadles. I like both of them, but "my" set determined by my feeling. Such so "industrial" and anti-utopia background makes me feel like Arnie in "Terminator"! :-) Happy weekend, c.u.
Zigfrid
Have a great weekend my friend!
Zigfrid Washburn Zig-man!!!! What's up brother? We have a big day planned here...that involves guitars and Bourbon!
Sam Fosdick Wow! MANI want to come!!:-)) Bourbon "4 Roses" or something BETTER??
Zigfrid Washburn Willett's Pot Still Reserve !!!! Smoking some pork butts too with some home grown hickory and grape Vines. The best part will be the friends ...go buy your airline ticket!!!
Sam Fosdick :-))) Haha! I'll send you my astral clone! Yammy!:-)))
it's a nice to have a place to prove my point. I tell friends this kind of stuff all the time they say I'm full of crap so I send them here. you could totally hear the difference some cases it was pretty dramatic. also I learned that the different materials on a bridge makes a difference. on my telecasters one has brass Saddles and one has Steel saddles definitely a different tone
Thanks, Yeah it pays off to replace most modern Gibson hardware
I still prefer the older bridge, but switching the components does muddy the picture somewhat. I didn't prefer either of the 'mixed' bridges to the all-50s bridge.
I wonder if you could confirm a suspicion from looking at the pictures of the saddles: are the 50s saddles cast and the 08 saddles machined? The 08 saddles seem to show clear cut marks on their profiles.
Yeah, looks like they’ve been cut into shape
have you a comparison of the various fine tuning stop tailpieces? I have a schaller,an ibanez gibralter and an ABM stop/fine tuner tailpiece on different Led Paul scaled guitars. love them in the studio
Not yet I’m afraid.
You should shoot out the 70s harmonica bridge vs the 50s bridge.
That’s a really good idea
mr clean sure know a lot about guitars
Hahaha , I thought if I lost the white T shirt I was in the clear ;-)
I don't shave my beard cuz I have to look in the mirror too long
for distorted tones,50's bridge and saddles ,for clean chime,2008 bridge and 50's saddles. the 2008 saddles sound muffled and dull. Thanks for the test!
Thanks Daniel!
Fan va gött asså!
Har du något klipp med Fender Prosonic?
Tackar! Inte ännu tyvärr
Thanks as always, and awesome video. I gather from your comment replies that you think the housing has more of an impact on the tone than the saddles, but I was wondering if you think they do different things? It sounds to me like the housing has more impact on the lows and mids, but that the saddles have more impact on the highs. Does that seem right to you, or do you think the housing has more impact across all frequencies?
Thanks! I was expecting the modern sharp edged saddles to be brighter, but they seemed equally bright, the 1950s saddles were more balanced and focused though. To me, at least this test indicates that the housing has more impact on all frequencies. Cheers
thanks for the thoughts!
Now Im even beginning to think if different thicknesses or materials in frets would matter in tone?
I think it does. A bit more difficult to test though :-)
Johan, did you weight the bridge bodies to determine their mass......relative to the Zamac alloy ?
Very interesting I have been following Dave Stephens of SDPickups and he is an LP passionate 50s sound guru. He suggests Fabre ABRH-NA bridge with nickel coating this has brass saddles and Klusion lightweight aluminium stop tailpiece. He also suggests that thumb screws and poles should be brass as should the tailpiece screws. Kluson bridge is the same as the Historic Gibson part and sounds wrong if you want authentic. Gotoh is also very high pitched. The other thing about these parts is they have no magnetic spec. Gibson now use inferior parts and mainly sub standard steel compared to the 50s this keeps the prices down for volume manufacture, but loses the tone of the original LPS
Great video .. Problem with some vintage bridge/saddles is they sometimes collapse (bend downward) and the saddle screws can bend also. Screws, if facing backward, can hit the strings causing buzz.
Thanks! Yeah, I have seen a couple of those.
Don’t think it’s that common though
the vintage saddles were cast and the new ones are milled/ground?
Bridge makes the most difference to me. I found the combined ones sounded a bit odd, like they had competing tones going on, but the 50's bridge with 08 saddles seemed to fit a bit better than the other way round. Hard to say what I liked best, the 50s is so clear and punchy but the 08 has a ton of low end too. Cool video.
Thanks!
Johan, are the 50's saddles/bridge brass? Im thinking of upgrading to a more era correct bridge. I heard the late 50's LP's were brass. And then a guy who's reverse engineering a 59' on youtube said the bridges were steel/zinc alloy.
Now I'm really confused and can not say any more which combination I like best or just more than another.
Why on earth do they make the newer saddles with such a sharp angle to them?
Very good experiment! It’s subtle, but still there is actually a lot more difference between these two than I would’ve ever thought. Personally I loved the sound of 1950s together. Definitely sounds more vintage to my ears, but of course it’s all a personal taste. Which one you liked the best?
Thanks, I liked the all 50s one best too. A fuller, yet tighter and brighter tone. Cheers
remarkable how much of a difference the bridge housing makes, very slight if any difference with just the saddle swap at least to me. was there a difference in string feel from one set of saddles as opposed to the other?
Yeah, the 50s bridge felt more comfortable to play
Johan Segeborn + thought that may be the case due to the shape of the vintage saddles
Johan, great video! why do you think the 50's sound better? it's like the 2008 has a blanket over it. what is it about the 50's that makes it sound so much more alive. metal doesn't age like wood does, does it?
Thanks! I think the alloy they used back then produced a more balanced tone. Cheers
hey Johan why don’t you make a video with Les Paul using the 50’s bridge and comparing the posts that support the bridge? should vintage correct, brass nickel plated posts help in getting a better tone compared to modern ones?
Cheers
Hi, Yeah lets do that too! Cheers
So the question is, where can you get something comparable to the '50's? Faber? I swear I haven't heard much of a difference in the Faber comparison videos on other channels.
U should compare nashville vs abr-1
Yeah, I’ll look at that too, but I’m not sure they differ in material
I was just thinking Van Halen's Frankenstein guitar is a result from all these kinds of experiments
Hahaha, dangerous stuff ;-)
How about throwing roller saddles into the mix?
Yeah, that and nylon saddles would be interesting
Johan, what happened to the face fuzz?! in my experience saddles make more difference at least on S types. Keep up the good work J
;-) Thanks!
Noticeable difference in tone, not by much though, says my ears. Thanks again JS, for yet another informative video on all things guitar! You are indeed an international rock roll treasure to the youtube community!
Thanks David!
looks like saddles have bigger impact but my fav is all 50's
The more noticeable differences come when you change the type of metal or material the saddles are made of and the mass of the bridge.
I’m gonna compare it to a titanium bridge soon. Cheers
The saddles on my 83 Burny LP are kind of half way between the new ones and the old ones. Not 45 deg sharp, but not as rounded as the 50s ones.
Yesterday I noticed, to my big surprise, that the shape of the saddles in my Epiphone LP Special II had almost identically shaped saddles to the original.
Slight but detectable differences with each combination, at least to my ears. Another cool experiment, but makes me think one of your favorite hobbies must be changing strings !?
Hahaha! In this experiment it was sufficient to loosen them a bit. But I have indeed changed my fair share of strings this year ;-)
Johan Segeborn Yeah, U sure have !! Frankly, I wouldn't go to all that trouble just out of curiosity, but I always enjoy the fruits of your labor. Thanks & Cheers Johan !!!
+Byron Laird Byron, nobody cares what you would do. we're here to watch Johan do what he does, no compromising demos about details of tone.
How close to the Gibson 50s saddles are the faber abr 59 saddles, I'm talking materials, dimensions, are they as flat on the top, are they more of a sharper angle like the modern Gibson saddles etc etc.
Looking to the photos of the sadles, seems the 50's are casted (rounded edges and teh surface does not show lines) and the 2000's are machined(sharps edges and surface with lines of the tools)...
Great to really dissect the difference of the two but once you start rocking with heavy distortion/overdrive and other heavy fuzz effects, will you be able to hear or know the difference? You are splitting hairs between the vintage original and the modern take here. I'll take what I can get and afford here mate! Great cover.
I wonder how this compares to my Gibson Les Paul with titanium saddles.
Hi Ian, I haven’t tried any of those yet I’m afraid. I’ll keep em in mind.
I know this is an old video but there's a guy here on TH-cam who actually makes the exact same replicas there a little expensive I can't afford to spend nearly $500 you really got to be into the vintage tone to justify that price. But be prepared to wait he can only make so many a month. If interested message me I can send you to his TH-cam channel.
I didn't really overly love the mixed combinations I still preferred the all 50's one
Same here
As with most things guitar, the less distortion, the more subtleties matter. To my ear, the 2008 saddle sounded a little muted regardless of which bridge it was in. The 50's saddles sounded a little brighter regardless of bridge.
I'd go with brighter as you can always quash the higher frequencies with a tone knob. No getting back what ain't there though.
Yeah, and there are plenty of other places in the sound chain that eats high end. Cheers
i like the 50s brightness
I'm going to have to watch again. Got too involved with watching the building getting demolished.
Hahaha! ;-)
Has to be the saddles that matter more before I even see the video.
And the difference in tone between string gauges
Yeah, we should try that here
It seems the bridge to me makes more of a difference than the saddles based on the sound, I thought the saddles would've made more of a difference though because there is a different amount of contact with the string and saddles themselves. I guess the bridge being the majority of the mass and the metal probably being of different quality is the reason though.
Hi, I expected the saddles to be more influential too
Wow I hear the difference
I'm surprised but it seems to me the saddles are less important. I assumed that because they contact the strings directly that they would be more important. The 50s bridge just sounds sweeter to me.
Thanks, yeah the housing seems to be the most important part
It may sound weird, but you look younger and healthier with your beard.
Not that big of a difference. Did you already try one where you switch only the tail piece?
Unfortunately you’re right. I’m gonna have to eat my vegetables from now on ;-)
Yeah, this one
th-cam.com/video/cIVncQnOHMQ/w-d-xo.html
And this one
th-cam.com/video/A4rBlmifr-w/w-d-xo.html
Be happy that you at least got the right head shape to rock the baldness. I'll look like a prisoner of war with cancer.
Thanks man ;-)
No hair!
They both made a difference, but the difference the bridge made was definitely more. Best, all 50's, then 50's bridge w/08 saddles, all 08, 08 bridge w/50's saddles last. They didn't like each other. The last riff, there was this constant ringing of 1 pitch, where the phasing of that note would cancel it self out, at different speeds, for the different chords.
Thanks, thats basically the same ranking I would do
Does anyone manufacture a steel tunomatic similar to the old Gibsons? Seems like a no brainer rather than finding and paying for the vintage ones.
50's saddles have better clarity and more warmth!
Personally, how you strum n play makes more difference. I'd like to hear say 4 different 59 bridges compared to each other. Everybody compares old to new but there are lots of variables within all the years. I think all the comparing has run it's course. Wonder if Duane spent his time changing saddles and pots and, and, and, or if he focused on what he was playing. Not meaning to be sarcastic but I wonder how much energy he spent "tone chasing". Think it was more hey I like that Paul better than that one, or I like Marshall better than the Fender.
wow, noticeable difference. Notch shape/depth and material being the 2 basic factors.
I know LPs didn't have them in the 60s, but let's get full-blown geek and compare nylon vs brass (both nickle plated and bare).
We will :-)
Sounds same to me
50s saddles seem to make the difference..or am i hearing things?
To me the 50s housing held the most of the tone. Cheers
I dont hear anything anymore...
If the connection is slow the top end may be lost in the compression.
The 50's bridge seems to be the biggest influencer of the overall tone ... and Johan get that beard back man, it's just not you without that defining fuzz 😆
It’s growing back as we speak :-)
Johan - YOU SHAVED???!!! Oh no - grow it back! Or maybe just a Goatee.
;-) it’s growing back as we speak!
For me the 50 bridge with 50 saddles sounds best by far! ....and again...try cryo tuning!
Interesting, I read somewhere that it is related to grain orientation. Have to check that out!
Two solutions. 1- Buy a 50's bridge off of Reverb for $800, or buy an MXR EQ for $80 and place it between your guitar and amp. Third option, do nothing because 99.9% of the population would not know the difference if it hit them in the face.
You usually opt for solution number 3, right?
There looks like more flat material on the top of the 50s saddle and the 50s saddle is rounded off more in shape, more work, go figure.
I think you achieved better tone with your beard but that's just my opinion.
Hahaha, it’s growing back as we speak ;)
I must be going deafer..l can't hear a difference.
If you're not deaf you're not playing loud enough LOL
Hi! If the connection is limited then the high end may be lost in the compression. Cheers
Im gonna tell my wife that ... next time she says "are you deaf " lol
200TH LIKE...WHAT DO I WIN?
It would be impossibly hard to catch up or compete with you but some mash ups need to be made... Trogly...
I hate it when the high dollar vintage gear is better. This is how we go broke.
50s parts have more bite, clarity, presence and "character"....to my ears any way...new parts are clear and perfect, but not "better"...
mow tell me where to get the original 50s parts.... ;-)