Wilkinson Compensated Telecaster Bridge Review

A review of the Wilkinson Compensated Telecaster Bridge-

Vintage style bridge with 3 brass saddles

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Wilkinson
• Compensated
• Telecaster
• Bridge
• Review

[youngfrusciante]

i've got one of these bridges on my saint blues bluesmaster 2.. due to it only having 3 intonation screws, do i just have to set the intonation on two strings at a time? seems like a pretty shit design.. does anyone have any tips for actually getting my guitar intonated? thanks

[Ven9512]

@youngfrusciante No you intonated the 2 strings at once. The saddles are compensated to make up for the lack of ability to adjust each string individually. It's a modern version of the old 3 brass saddle tele bridge. While no intonation on these bridges are perfect I was able to get it pretty darn close. It's a trade off for tone but one I fell was well worth it.

[eggymoo]

Jeez, instead of yakkety-yakking, why don't you just play the guitar so we can hear for ourselves the tone and intonation? Personally I found the offset on the Wilky saddles way too extreme, and went back to my six saddle bridge. What gauge strings do you use?

[Ven9512]

@eggymoo You can hear the guitar on another vid where I demo the 4 way tele switch. With any 3 saddle bridge you sacrifice perfect intotion but if you know what you're doing you can get it pretty darn close to perfect. I've not had a single problem with it. I typically use 10 to 46 string size but have been known to throw a set of 10 to 52 for some more bottom end. I switch brands depending on the guitar but mainly use GHS Boomers on all my Fender Guitars.

[TroyShaffer]

is that the Squier Affinity Series Telecaster Special you got?

[Ven9512]

Yeah, that's what it is. I have a review on that guitar as well. I'm about to post a new one soon because I'm in the middle of a bunch of mods on that one as well.

[Lovemylovething]

FYI, if you have a Mexican Standard with thru the body stringing, it should fit.(the early ones had top loading, and different screw holes.) The '96 and newer mexi's come with a longer "Modern" bridge plate, but the screw holes were restored to the vintage positions. I bought a Fender Vintage bridge for my 2000 MIM, and I love it. The Wilky should have the same dimensions.

[neonpike]

i bought one of these for my squier telecaster , not realizing the plate size was different . the six bridge pieces originally on the guitar were clearly for a thru body and didnt work well . i only used the brass saddles in the end , drilling three new holes in the upturned end of the plate to take the three bolts . i found then that the bolts werent long enough to get the saddles in the right place so ended up re- threading them to take longer bolts . sounds nice

[eggymoo]

@Ven9512 I generally use hybrids, 9-46. With the wilky saddles I think it's purely a matter of mathematics. The distance between the offset edges on each saddle is much greater than the distance you would find, say on a six saddle bridge, so it's physically impossible to get it spot on. Heavier strings may help, but I think the design is flawed. Standard saddles on a 3-saddle tele bridge can usually be turned a fraction to get some angle - cheaper than buying a whole new bridge or saddle set!

[sthugh]

"They probably have to break the top of the screw then use a wrench to pry it out...."

Just buy a screw extractor.

[eldario09]

hey man cool video, could you show how to do intonation on 3 saddles.

[bell3156]

i got the compensated saddles in a ge smith bridge plate. the saddles are a larger diameter and lift the strings 1/16 higher of the neck.... I have a MIM esquire (not a squire)