Guitar Bridge – How It Works
Together with the tuning pegs guitar bridge provides tension to the guitar strings. The higher the tension the higher the string’s pitch will be. In addition to supporting the strings, guitar bridge also works as a transmitting medium. It transmits the strings vibration to the guitar top so the sound can be amplified in the guitar body cavity. Without the guitar body we can hardly hear the sound because as the strings vibrate they only displace place a small volume of air. In order to be heard the sound has to be transmitted to a larger surface area, in this case is the guitar top.
Acoustic guitar bridge is equipped with saddle which is normally harder than the bridge. The main function of saddle is to hold the strings above the bridge. It must be calibrated by the guitar manufacturer because wrong setting will cause poor intonation or difficult to tune the guitar properly. Setting the saddle too low may create buzzes while setting it too high will affect the guitar playability because of the high string action.
Bridge Setting
Guitar bridge is designed to hold the strings at a certain height above the fretboard. There are two types of guitar bridge: fixed and alterable. Ideally bridge height should create enough angularity in the strings giving sufficient down force to the guitar top and at the same time placing the strings close enough to the fretboard to make fretting notes easy.
Together with guitar nut, bridge also determine the strings spacing.
Electric guitar bridges can be grouped into 2 main groups: tremolo and hardtail, a.k.a. non tremolo. Tremolo bridges are equipped with an arm called whammy bar which allow the guitarists to push or pull the bridge to alter the strings pitch.
Non-tremolo or hardtail bridges give no active control over the strings pitch.
Choosing which type is better is difficult because it is totally up to the users to find which one suits their style, however in general there is a thought that a fixed / non-tremolo bridge provides better tuning stability and better contact between the strings and the guitar body.
To Your Guitar Success,
-TJ-
Beginner Guitar Lessons Admin
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