Lewguitar
Old Know It All
I have three Bernie Marsdens.
Two were stock but the third had already been upgraded with 57/08 pickups and a MannMade Intonatable aluminum bridge with brass saddles.
Whether unplugged or plugged in, I felt that one was the best sounding guitar of the three. It had the deepest, most solid tone and the treble strings sounded smoother, thicker and less rattley.
So I ordered new bridges for the other two Bernie Marsdens. One more of the Intonatable bridges from John Mann. And one Paul bridge with brass inserts from PRS.
I wanted to hear the difference between the PRS Paul bridge and the MannMade one.
I also changed the pickups. Two of my Bernies now have 57/08 pickups and the third has Duncan Antiquitys.
Still having some trouble with the newest set of 57/08's...the bridge pickup is usable but weaker than my other two 57/8 bridge pickups and the neck pickup is louder. That set is going back to PRS. I think the bridge pickup is defctive.
But at least now all three have upgraded bridges with brass saddles.
I believe that well machined brass saddles can improve a guitar's tone.
I tried both the Mannmade bridge and the PRS Paul bridge on the Bernie with the Antiquitys. With the stock bridge I felt there was some low end missing compared to the Bernie with 57/08's and the MannMade bridge.
Didn't know if it was the pickups, bridge or both!
The new MannMade bridge really did beef up the low end of the Bernie Marsden w/Antiquitys and smooth and thicken the treble.
So did the PRS Paul bridge, but to a lesser extent. Sure feels nice though. Classy!
But the bottom line is that some of the thinner tone I was attributing to the Antiquity pickups was actually being caused by the stock bridge.
Only snag i ran insto installing the MannMade bridge is that the metric ht. adjustment screw studs John provided were almost 1/8" too long. When setting the action they bottomed out and started to push the threaded inserts out of the guitar top.
I have a bench grinder so I removed them and ground 1/8" off of the end of each one and that fixed it.
The action is nice and comfortable now.
The third Bernie has new 57/08's I just put in and the PRS made bridge PRS uses on the Paul guitar. The strings cross on saddles inserted into the aluminum bridge.
I really like the clean look and the way this bridge feels against my hand. It looks and feels sleek and classy, and I do hear an improvement, especially with the treble strings. They sound smoother and less plinky than with the stock bridge.
I actually prefer the feel of the Paul bridge, but I heard a more dramatic improvement in tone from the MannMade bridges on my other two Bernies.
The guitars with the MannMade bridge sound a little thicker and more solid than the one with the Paul bridge, although I prefer the look and feel of the Paul bridge.
The Paul bridge is an elegant upgrade and I'm going to keep it even though the MannMade bridge seems to make the guitar sound a little more robust.
Two were stock but the third had already been upgraded with 57/08 pickups and a MannMade Intonatable aluminum bridge with brass saddles.
Whether unplugged or plugged in, I felt that one was the best sounding guitar of the three. It had the deepest, most solid tone and the treble strings sounded smoother, thicker and less rattley.
So I ordered new bridges for the other two Bernie Marsdens. One more of the Intonatable bridges from John Mann. And one Paul bridge with brass inserts from PRS.
I wanted to hear the difference between the PRS Paul bridge and the MannMade one.
I also changed the pickups. Two of my Bernies now have 57/08 pickups and the third has Duncan Antiquitys.
Still having some trouble with the newest set of 57/08's...the bridge pickup is usable but weaker than my other two 57/8 bridge pickups and the neck pickup is louder. That set is going back to PRS. I think the bridge pickup is defctive.
But at least now all three have upgraded bridges with brass saddles.
I believe that well machined brass saddles can improve a guitar's tone.
I tried both the Mannmade bridge and the PRS Paul bridge on the Bernie with the Antiquitys. With the stock bridge I felt there was some low end missing compared to the Bernie with 57/08's and the MannMade bridge.
Didn't know if it was the pickups, bridge or both!
The new MannMade bridge really did beef up the low end of the Bernie Marsden w/Antiquitys and smooth and thicken the treble.
So did the PRS Paul bridge, but to a lesser extent. Sure feels nice though. Classy!
But the bottom line is that some of the thinner tone I was attributing to the Antiquity pickups was actually being caused by the stock bridge.
Only snag i ran insto installing the MannMade bridge is that the metric ht. adjustment screw studs John provided were almost 1/8" too long. When setting the action they bottomed out and started to push the threaded inserts out of the guitar top.
I have a bench grinder so I removed them and ground 1/8" off of the end of each one and that fixed it.
The action is nice and comfortable now.
The third Bernie has new 57/08's I just put in and the PRS made bridge PRS uses on the Paul guitar. The strings cross on saddles inserted into the aluminum bridge.
I really like the clean look and the way this bridge feels against my hand. It looks and feels sleek and classy, and I do hear an improvement, especially with the treble strings. They sound smoother and less plinky than with the stock bridge.
I actually prefer the feel of the Paul bridge, but I heard a more dramatic improvement in tone from the MannMade bridges on my other two Bernies.
The guitars with the MannMade bridge sound a little thicker and more solid than the one with the Paul bridge, although I prefer the look and feel of the Paul bridge.
The Paul bridge is an elegant upgrade and I'm going to keep it even though the MannMade bridge seems to make the guitar sound a little more robust.
Last edited: