MusicRadar Basics: types of guitar bridge

MusicRadar Basics: electric guitar part 5 - types of guitar bridge

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The bridge is a vital part of your guitar. It's where the precise height and length of your strings is set up. This in turn determines the fine-tuning or intonation- of your guitar. If the intonation is out, your guitar won't sound entirely right even when you tune it, so it's really important.

There are various different types of bridges that it's worth knowing about. First up is the stop-tail as you might see on an Epiphone Les Paul.

It's simple, stable, and does the job. The strings are threaded through from the back of this bridge - on other guitars, you'll have to thread the strings up through the back of the body

Many bridges are equipped with a bar like this one. They're called tremelo or vibrato systems and they allow you to vary the pitch of a note and produce a wobbly sound like this. There are various different types of vibrato, including Bigsbys as seen in the video about, which look and sound ace.

Finally there's the Floyd Rose system. This clamps the strings down and allows you to perform extreme dives with the whammy bar. These types of bridges are often popular with metal players, and can be a lot of fun.