Modern Bridge for Tele Chrome

Installed on '19 MIM Player. Excellent fit & finish. Plate is about 3mm longer than stock steel but allows for better intonation spring clearance. Better sustain, tone has more depth. Used stock saddle height screws to maintain action, as the enclosed are good screws but slightly longer. OK to file them down but the shorter screws work great. Solid recommendation for any Tele platform.

Great upgrade if you really care about intonation. High quality product in every way

Having designed, assembled, finished, wired, and set up a dozen or more Telecaster copies, my usual go-to choice is the Gotoh bridge. Assuming you have pre-drilled 2 1/8" spacing string holes, installation is a cinch. Intonation is never a problem and you can even enhance the bridge with String Saver saddles. (There's really nothing wrong with the supplied Gotoh saddles, I'm just adding value to the final product.) I tried a few lower-cost bridges, but eventually go back to the Gotoh. It's well built, consistent and well worth the extra cost.

Gotoh makes two versions of this bridge. One with brass saddles (sold here and described above as of 9.23.2021), and one with steel saddles. (GTC201 and GTC202, respectively). I actually bought this and the steel version on ebay at the same time, thinking I might use brass saddles for some strings and steel for others, which is common. The two bridges I got are identical. The one that came from Amazon has a barcode/sticker over the original barcode/product number sticker on the Allparts packaging, but you can see through it a bit. It has the same number as the steel version's packaging (also Allparts) from ebay (TB-0030-010). Plus magnets stick hard to the saddles equally on both bridges, and not to the brass plates on either. So unless only my order was messed up, you probably all have the steel-saddle version (brighter tone). The bridge has a good reputation and seems solidly built. I haven't installed it but I'm giving 5 stars for now because it's not the bridge's fault!

Mysterious b-string buzz turned out to be the saddle. A luthier near me took a file and cut the groove a little deeper in just a few seconds. He didn't charge me anything and now it works great. However beware, some tweaking apparently may be required.

I thought my high priced brand name three brass saddle bridge I upgraded to last year was as good as it gets... wrong! After happening across several Tele website threads discussing how great the Gotoh Modern bridge was decided to give it a try. I originally upgraded from a MIM modern six saddle bridge to the brass three saddle and loved the Tele spank it brought that the MIM lacked. The Gotoh was instantly noticeable acoustically as I was installing the strings. Much louder, resonant and clear acoustically and I had just installed new strings before changing the bridge so it was not due to new strings. When I plugged into my amp and hit a couple well rehearsed licks I could tell immediately the spank was still there but the sustain was much longer and there was a new warmth that just made me want to play all night. Best money spent on my Tele. I truly would not have believed it if I had not done it my self. Oh, and I almost forgot an important feature that I did not realize was a problem with the old Ashtray bridge because I had it long enough to deal just with it... The Ashtray was in the way of where I naturally lay my hand for picking. As soon as I went to pick I had this feeling of freedom and not blocked by the Ashtray sides sticking up. Aaahh. Intonation was easy and quick. Oh, I did have to drill out the bridge pickup screw holes just a tad to get the slightly larger SD bridge pickup screws to slide in the holes. Easy. The new bridge looks great on my Tele. I was not sure if it would take away but it actually adds to the Black and Chrome look.

First the bad- Do not use the 4 plate mounting screws or the tiny saddle height screws. They seem to have a nickel plate finish and look weak and cheap. Reuse those 2 types of Fender screws which have a nice chrome and are proven to work perfectly. The look, fit and thicker yet still bright tone are excellent. I'm super happy with the upgraded tone and weight change. I should have done it earlier. If you want to do something nice for your mim player this is a great upgrade.

Absolutely the best