| "Fender High Mass Vintage Bridge"
Now THAT's an oxymoron. Fender vintage bridges are thin soft stamped plate steel. They have just as much or more sustain than a "high mass" bridge. That is a hold-over from the late '70's when without a proper understanding of how wood grain and density worked with regard to sustain companies used thick brass, thick steel, etc., to try to improve sustain. It didn't work. All it did was make instruments unduly heavy. Then someone brought out their swamp-ash lightweight Telecaster and showed how great it was. Then everybody went to ultra-light weight woods in the late '80's and '90's thinking that was the secret to tone. It didn't work, either.
Finally, everything has come full circle. Those who want great tone know it is an accident of growth of the tree that produces the wood, and old-fashioned "tone tapping" to see which planks have great tone and which don't has finally come back. You pay for it, but it's there. Then, good tone wood is matched to moderate hardware that doesn't get in the way of good tonewood, like real vintage style hardware that facilitates the tone, and doesn't bury it.
Sorry for the rant. Good luck with your bridge. |