Tele topload vs string-thru

RVA

RVA

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I am thinking of a project - tele with nice wood. I would like to keep drilling to a minimum. I would be interested to hear about experiences with top loading tele bridges

Thanks
 
This one is a top loader. It sounds and sustains just fine. There are many who say it makes no difference, and some who say it does. Just like everything else on an electric guitar, the truth may lie somewhere in between. Even if there is a difference, it is neither good nor bad, just different.

Truthfully, I never notice any difference from my other Teles. This guitar sounds and plays like a Tele.

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String-throughs do look nice to my eye. I tend to agree with the above comments on sound; if you're beyond the bridge then though there may be some limited acoustic sound transfer (?/or not), there shouldn't be any microphonic transfer - all (the vast vast majority of registered sound) is/should be picked up in the scale length. :io:

I wonder if anybody who has loads of tele experience has noticed any sonic differences between the two?

RVA said:
I would like to keep drilling to a minimum.
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& soldering to a minimum. & woodwork to a minimum. :)
 
The Tele I have is a top load and never had any issues in sustain or anything, but i do hate the bridge design on this one vs others. The one i have used a foreign import top load 6 saddle with 3 screw holes at the base and that design just sucks as far as the saddles go 100_65e48c53-9731-4044-a587-6342d0664d24_1024x1024.jpeg

Most used a 3 saddle top load on this same exact model with 4 screw holes, so i dont get why this particular year went with this design. There is however, a newer design that is slightly smaller in overall width that you can use, that is either top load or thru-the-body and clearly looks more stabile and is 3 screw holes as well, but you have to drill two additional holes at the top of the bridge plate. Might change over to this in time
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Thanks everyone. Besides what was memtioned above, I had heard that bending was easier with top load, just as they say about top wraping a stop tail. I had my doubts about that also, but it seems since nobody mentioned it, so it is either not there or not noticeable
 
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RVA said:
Thanks everyone. Besides what was memtioned above, I had heard that bending was easier with top load, just as they say about top wraping a stop tail. I had my doubts about that also, but it seems since nobody mentioned it, so it is either not there or not noticeable
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I couldn´t feel any differnce bending on a Top Loader or a Regular Telecaster.

But that´s me.............
 
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RVA said:
Thanks everyone. Besides what was memtioned above, I had heard that bending was easier with top load, just as they say about top wraping a stop tail. I had my doubts about that also, but it seems since nobody mentioned it, so it is either not there or not noticeable
Click to expand...
IME it makes no difference. With the design of the Tele bridge there is only about one inch of string behind the saddle on a top loaded bridge. I doubt that is enough to make any difference in feel, and as I said, I don't notice any difference.

I have two string through Teles, and one top loader. I find absolutely 0% difference in string tension or feel. As far as sound, they are all slightly different, because they are different guitars, and have different pickups, but they all sound like Teles.

I've already posted this elsewhere, but it seems appropriate for this discussion. This is my top loading Esquire. You tell me if you think it is lacking in tone or sustain. ;)

 
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