Tonepros Wilkinson alternative?

[hannaugh]

Has anyone used this?  I want the locking studs, but I think the Tonepros are outrageously priced since it's an $80 difference between them and a regular gotoh setup and it's basically just an extra nut on the studs (at least, that's what it looks like to me judging from the pictures.  I haven't seen it is person.)  I found this Wilkinson one, and it seems like it is claiming to be a cheap version of the Tonepros idea: 

http://yhst-50206111187217.stores.yahoo.net/wibrrobrlost.html

 

[Nando Vallart]

The Tonepros is build by Gotoh, so probably the only difference is the locking studs... never played on one, but all reviews I saw are about: no change in tone, but it's cool to change strings, the bridge won't fall if you lift the guitar...

 

[hannaugh]

Yeah, really I doubt it changes the tone that much, I just want the non-pain-in-the-butt-to-work-with factor.

 

[tfarny]

I would not buy any wilkinson products from guitarfetish - I like the pickups that I've tried, especially the alinico II pro strat set (that's a fantastic deal), but other stuff I've bought has been basically cheap junk. Ya get what you pay for most of the time....
BTW, I taught a class at CSU Fullerton last year, spent lots of time there (Mostly driving, from Santa Monica area...). Go Titans!! Hope you weren't affected by the latest round of fires...

 

[Nick Ellingworth]

Yeah I definitely wouldn't touch that with a barge pole, whilst most stuff designed by Trevor Wilkinson is very good in theory, the cheaper stuff tends to be crappy Chinese copies of the original design so should be avoided, if you want quality you do have to pay for it.

 

[mayfly]

If I were building a 'paul these days, I'd buy a non-locking TOM bridge from a quality manufacturer, then drill and tap them in appropriate places to make my own locking version.  All you need is a drill press, a set of taps, and some hex screws.

Or you could get Dangerous to do it for you  :toothy10:

 

[GoDrex]

In my experience it's not the bridge that falls off as much as the stop piece. Unless you turn the guitar over the bridge stays put, but the stop piece isn't held on by anything other than string tension. I just remove the stop piece until I'm putting strings back on - and I don't flip the guitar around while changing the strings. Seems like a non-problem to me.

 

[hannaugh]

I would not buy any wilkinson products from guitarfetish - I like the pickups that I've tried, especially the alinico II pro strat set (that's a fantastic deal), but other stuff I've bought has been basically cheap junk. Ya get what you pay for most of the time....
BTW, I taught a class at CSU Fullerton last year, spent lots of time there (Mostly driving, from Santa Monica area...). Go Titans!! Hope you weren't affected by the latest round of fires...

I went to CSU Fullerton for theater tech!  And oh man, the fires SUCKED.  I wasn't in an area that got burned, but Fullerton had the worst air quality of any city in the area for like a week.  It rained ash for 3 days.  I drove past the Diamond Bar fire as it was just starting, and that was pretty scary. 


Thanks for the input on the TOM stuff, guys.  This will be my first guitar with that type of bridge, so I have no idea what I'm doing.  I just want it to be non-frustrating.  I do think the TonePros are overpriced though.  I normally don't mind paying a bit extra for quality, it's just that particular part that seems like they are sticking it to me because they know they can. 

 

[Mor Paul]

I bought a wilkinson tele bridge a while ago, and the screw holes aren't lining up with my Fralin pickup. I was about to ask about this, but it looks like I made a bad choice to buy the Wilkingson bridge from Guitarfetish.

 

[jackthehack]

A lot of the crap sold on Guitarfetish.com  and in a wide variety of eBay stores at low-ball pricing may be labeled "Wilkinson", but it's just cheap-assed Chinese knock-off crap that may not fit into pre-drilled bridge routings/stud holes/factory installed studs from Warmoth. Cavaet Emptor!

As to the OP, there's really not $80 difference between the TonePros and Gotoh Tune O Matic bridge other than the locking nut. If you replace your strings one at a time rather than pulling the whole set off, it's not ever going to make a difference as the bridge won't "fall out". You don't really need a roller bridge unless you are installing a Bigsby or other similar tremolo system

 

[blue313]

For me it's when I clean and polish that can be an issue.  I try to clean up every other time I change strings.  However, by putting a piece of masking tape over the posts and wheels they tend not to move either unless whacked.

 

[Sinistar]

Any opinions on this?

http://www.wdmusic.com/wilkinson_contemporary_6_hole_tremolo_chrome.html

I was thinking of getting that to put on an old Ibanez Blazer that I'm redoing (with a Roadstar neck and some new hardware).  The original bridge is a brass vintage strat style and is pretty roached.  Plus, the guitar has humbuckers on it, and the polepieces on the bridge pickup are more narrow than the string spacing there.  It looks like it would let me use the screw holes that are already in the body while narrowing up the string spacing to fit the pickups better.  There's also a traditional style version of the same thing, but I think that this one goes with the early 80's style a little better.

Here's a scan of the catalog with the guitar.  It's the BL-470 in sky blue.  All the new hardware is going to be chrome.

http://s93105080.onlinehome.us/Ibanez-Catalogs/file.php_n=1982-2&p=&y=1982.html

 

[GoDrex]

Any opinions on this?

http://www.wdmusic.com/wilkinson_contemporary_6_hole_tremolo_chrome.html

I have something very similar to that - this one: http://www.wdmusic.com/wilkinson_contemporary_5_1_hole_tremolo_chrome.html

It's OK, but I don't like it a lot because the push in bar causes the two piece body of the thing to click when you push down or pull up the first time. I made it a little bit better by tightening the hell out of the set screw for the bar, but it's still not great. It's usable, but the feel of it is annoying at times. The one in your link looks like the same design, with different mounting holes.

 

[Sinistar]

I didn't realize that had a two piece body.  I've only been able to see the one picture of it.  Can you describe where it comes apart into two pieces, or do you have any pictures or diagrams?

I was kind of torn between that one and this one:

http://www.wdmusic.com/wilkinson_6_hole_tremolo_steel_block_chrome.html

Guitar Parts Resource looks to have the same one for about $40 on this page.

http://www.guitarpartsresource.com/gbridge_aftermarketstrat.htm

but maybe that falls into the cheap crap category?

I don't want to spend more than I need to, but I also don't want to buy junk when I could take that money and put it towards something better.

 

[GoDrex]

I didn't realize that had a two piece body.  I've only been able to see the one picture of it.  Can you describe where it comes apart into two pieces, or do you have any pictures or diagrams?

OK you see on the vintage style one (on the right) how there's a little lip that sticks up in the back - where the screws go through to adjust the saddles for intonation. The contemporary one doesn't have that. It has that raised piece that goes all around the top. That raised piece is held on by 4 screws under the flat plate of the bridge. The vintage has the same flat plate, it just doesn have anything hooked on to it (other than the block underneath). I find the contemporary one more comfortable. But on mine the push in bar clicks inside the hole.

 

[Sinistar]

Thanks for the info.  I had assumed that the plate and top were all one piece.  I was kind of wondering how they made it that way.

 

[RexTheDog]

Check this tunomatic out...

http://www.graphtech.com/products.html?SubCategoryID=29

Comes loaded with graphtech saddles at a reasonable price. Cant comment on the alloy its made out of seeing as i dont own one. Probably more of a marketing tool then fact, but everything made by graphtech is quality.  I plan to buy the version of this with the ghost system installed in it for my upcoming warmoth build.  Cant wait to hit up some acoustic and synth sounds on my guitar!

 

[GoDrex]

You could just swap out the saddles for $35 and the total would still be much less that $90. Seems kind of expensive to me.

 

[RexTheDog]

You could just swap out the saddles for $35 and the total would still be much less that $90. Seems kind of expensive to me.

Or that.  I dont own a tunomatic guitar yet but i plan to build a guitar with a tunomatic-string through design, thatll save me a bit on the stoptail piece.  I do own the graphtech saddles though and think they kick ass.  Awesome sustain with a warm even sound.