New hardware day

[bobmeyrick]

Faber hardware has received good reviews here, so I thought I'd give it a try. I ordered the Nashville/ABR bridge and iNsert kit, plus their aluminium tailpiece and studs from DV247 - like Thomann they have a UK branch, but the order was shipped from Germany. The guitar I chose to upgrade was the H150 VSB, on which I had previously replaced the Schaller hardware with a Tonepros set.

Installation was straightforward, though there are a couple of points worth noting. When I had removed the bushes into which the bridge posts are located, I found that one of the holes was not deep enough and required careful drilling to extend it. The other point is that the Faber tailpiece studs were slightly longer and so I removed a couple of mm from them. The new posts are a snug fit, and the bridge feels very solid. The Faber tailpiece weighs 28g, compared to 75g for the Tonepros.

Playing the guitar, it feels a little brighter (though that may be due in part to the new strings!) and more resonant, and is a worthwhile upgrade. This video nicely illustrates the difference between the Nashville and Faber hardware.

 

[pressure]

Faber sounds brighter to me but both sound good.

[ElChoad]

I just recently found out that TonePros makes a locking aluminum tailpiece. I may have to investigate a little and add a locking tailpiece to my Custom Core.

[rockabilly69]

B-string was out of tune/intonation on the Nashville demos, and that was driving me crazy, and like Pressure, I felt the Faber was brighter and needed to be adjusted at the amp, although I liked the string definition. 

[Spectrum13]

On 4/27/2022 at 7:21 PM, ElChoad said:

I just recently found out that TonePros makes a locking aluminum tailpiece. I may have to investigate a little and add a locking tailpiece to my Custom Core.

There are different methods of locking down the bridge and tailpiece. Suggest you investigate. Does the tailpiece lock into the studs or does the system lock into the body.

[kbp810]

I have tone pros locking bridge and tail on my traditional; it’s a set screw that locks it to the stud. 

 

[bobmeyrick]

Forgot to mention that because the Faber ABR is narrower than the Nashville, the tailpiece can be lowered right down without the strings touching the bridge.

[Kuz]

4 hours ago, bobmeyrick said:

Forgot to mention that because the Faber ABR is narrower than the Nashville, the tailpiece can be lowered right down without the strings touching the bridge.

Amen!!!

Faber is the way to go, forget the Tone Pro stuff.  With Faber hardware no more losing or stripping those tiny allen screws like Tone Pros uses. 

On 4/27/2022 at 7:21 PM, ElChoad said:

I just recently found out that TonePros makes a locking aluminum tailpiece. I may have to investigate a little and add a locking tailpiece to my Custom Core.

Get the Faber locking Tailpiece posts and use the Aluminium Stoptail that came with your Custom Core.  That's what I did.

[Kuz]

Like I said, I used Faber Hardware on my Artisian Custom Core, both the locking ABR-1 Bridge and the locking Stoptail posts.

The first picture is the original Core hardware (where I couldn't lower the tailpiece that WAY above the body because the strings were hitting the Nashville bridge).

The second & third pictures are with the Faber Hardware (HUGE improvement in my opinion).

[ElChoad]

I have TonePros on 3 of my guitars already. I will look into the Faber posts for my CC. I'm always up for trying something new.  I always top-wrap, so string clearance is never an issue for me.