No more Tom bridges

[Willyjacksonjs22-7]

I know I’m probably getting annoying with posting again lol So I finally decided, I’m not keeping the schecter and the Les Paul 100. Good thing I tried another guitar with a Tom bridge and better pickups at the store before upgrading the schecter. The experience was the same as my lp, I mean it sounds great, the problem are the palm mutes! not as chunky, no meat, the resonance lol. I don’t know if I’m explaning it right. Anyway not a problem with hardtail or the tremolo bridge on my Strat copy. I tried to adjust my technique several times and nothing. Sorry I know I posted asking if bridges affect tone, just wanted to share. Now, I need two new guitars.

 

[budda]

Weird, none of mine have that issue

 

[Willyjacksonjs22-7]

Weird, none of mine have that issue

It’s just me with toms lol

 

[Willyjacksonjs22-7]

I think I liked just a little bit the toms with string through body guitars that I tried (palm muting).

 

[wheresthefbomb]

The less hand meat you have on the strings, the more they will ring out; the more hand meat hanging over the bridge, the more thin and choked it will sound. The "sweet spot" is different with different bridges. I have found TOM bridges to take a little more finesse to get it just right, which is to say the only issues I've ever had have been with my technique, not the bridge itself.

 

[CanserDYI]

I fucking love ToM's so no clue what you're talking about.

 

[odibrom]

I have no ToM bridges in my guitars, they just don't feel right under the picking hand... it's probably a "getting used to" kind of thing, but why should I complicate? To me it's either a floyd or a hard tail... and I can mod the hardtails with piezos easy-peazy... nothing to do with possible tone, only picking hand feel.

 

[kamello]

I fucking love ToM's so no clue what you're talking about.

foh real, I hate the fact that I don't like how they look, but the most resonant guitars I've played always have been TOM equiped

 

[MetalDestroyer]

TOMs are objectively the best bridges for palm muting. You're doing something wrong technique-wise

 

[Shask]

After not playing TOMs for years, I am starting to wonder if I like them better than flat hardtail bridges. I recently got some and it reminded me how much chunkier palm mutes sound on them. I think I dig in a little harder also because the strings are higher, which also sounds more aggressive.

 

[Chris Bowsman]

TOMs are objectively the best bridges for palm muting. You're doing something wrong technique-wise

How are they objectively better than any other bridge for palm muting?

Two of my favorite guitars have ToM bridges, but I don't think they're any easier/better for palm muting than a Strat, Tele, a Floyd, whatever.

 

[cindarkness]

And I'm here wondering if I should get rid of all the guitars that don't have a TOM

There are two things I absolutely love about the classic TOM bridge. The extra distance between the strings and the body allows me to really dig into the strings and the small part between the bridge and the stop bar where I usually rest my palm. Also, I do have to agree that I get the best chug/palm mute on a TOM.

I'm yet to try a proper FR bridge but I really can't see myself playing anything else that I've lied my hands on so far.

 

[odibrom]

Except on 7 stringers, ToM bridges generally have a narrower string spacing than Fender style hartails or floyds (although I think there are different string spacing in floyds). That is also a "getting used to" kind of thing, even if a milimetric one.

The one thing I do not like on ToM bridges is what others like, that extra distance that raise the strings from the body, specially on Set Neck (angled back) construction guitars. There are obviously the recessed ToMs on some flat top guitars, but I feel them less comfortable as well.

... I guess that's what happens when one grows up playing a floyd (Ibanez LoPro Edge) loaded guitar (since ´95 on an S540)... yeah, ToMs are not for me. For non floyd guitars, give me a Fender style hardtail one and I'm happy!

 

[CanserDYI]

Very good point @odibrom it really does matter what you grew up playing, I grew up on a Les Paul, so ToM's are very familiar to me.

 

[bostjan]

I saw the thread title and read it weirdly, thinking, "Do I know Tom Bridges? Was he in a band I liked? The name sounds familiar, but I can't picture a face... Poor guy, I wonder what happened." Well, I'm glad Tom Bridges is fine, whoever he is, and that the thread is about Tune-o-matics.

For me, a ToM is just not my ideal bridge. I just like the feel and tone of a flatmount better, or especially a nice trem. I don't really have too much trouble with palm mutes, but I know what you are saying - right hand technique just feels different with a tuneomatic or similar style bridge. I don't prefer the way they adjust, or pretty much anything about them aside from maybe the replacement cost. It's never a deal-breaker for me, but, if I have an option between a tuneomatic and option B, I'll probably choose option B, unless option B is something ridiculous.

I've even owned two les pauls, one of which I played an awful lot for a while, but my first electric was a strat-style bridge, so maybe I was already accustomed to that before I ever spent enough time with a tuneomatic.

 

[Willyjacksonjs22-7]

I

Very good point @odibrom it really does matter what you grew up playing, I grew up on a Les Paul, so ToM's are very familiar to me.

I started with toms and when I played my first non Tom guitar, it felt like home.

 

[MetalDestroyer]

How are they objectively better than any other bridge for palm muting?

Two of my favorite guitars have ToM bridges, but I don't think they're any easier/better for palm muting than a Strat, Tele, a Floyd, whatever.

Due to how much coupling the bridge has with the body and how much control you have over the string's damping. With a floyd/fender/hipshot/tele etc. the string disappears into the saddle and you can't get enough meat on it. Floating bridges also have a slight effect on response but tbh that doesn't make as much of a difference for me as having access to the entire string break.

I can get the sounds I want out of any bridge, but a TOM definitely has that little extra something IME.

 

[RevDrucifer]

They require me to rest my hand at a different angle than any other bridge, but definitely no issues palm muting with them once I’m in that spot. If I’m not in that spot, it’s really easy to choke the strings off too much, but I also anchor my hand quite a bit because 90% of my muting of the other strings happens there.

 

[wheresthefbomb]

I saw the thread title and read it weirdly, thinking, "Do I know Tom Bridges? Was he in a band I liked? The name sounds familiar, but I can't picture a face... Poor guy, I wonder what happened." Well, I'm glad Tom Bridges is fine, whoever he is, and that the thread is about Tune-o-matics.

For me, a ToM is just not my ideal bridge. I just like the feel and tone of a flatmount better, or especially a nice trem. I don't really have too much trouble with palm mutes, but I know what you are saying - right hand technique just feels different with a tuneomatic or similar style bridge. I don't prefer the way they adjust, or pretty much anything about them aside from maybe the replacement cost. It's never a deal-breaker for me, but, if I have an option between a tuneomatic and option B, I'll probably choose option B, unless option B is something ridiculous.

I've even owned two les pauls, one of which I played an awful lot for a while, but my first electric was a strat-style bridge, so maybe I was already accustomed to that before I ever spent enough time with a tuneomatic.

 

[odibrom]

Very good point @odibrom it really does matter what you grew up playing, I grew up on a Les Paul, so ToM's are very familiar to me.

I started with toms and when I played my first non Tom guitar, it felt like home.

I guess it matters as much as one wants it to matter. I can objectively point out why I prefer either LoPro/Edge Pro floyds (low profile ones) or hardtail ones, but truth be told, I've never spent enough time with a ToM bridge to make a thoughtful evaluation of them... but also when I play a guitar with one I feel kind of meh...

I think this is one of those things like "Fender versus Gibson string spacing", "passive versus active pickups", "bolt on versus set neck versus neck through"... Personally, there's yet to show up a ToM bridge loaded guitar that will take my money...