You can then tidy it up with coarse glass paper – I’m using aluminium oxide, which is easily available from any hardware store (pic 4). While cutting the block isn’t difficult as such, the cloying non-slip nature of the material does require some elbow grease and patience, even with a standard small backed tenon saw that rips though wood easily (pic 3). While cutting the block isn’t difficult as such, the cloying non-slip nature of the material does require some elbow grease and patience At this stage, I’m not thinking about 100 per cent accurate intonation I just want to see if the basic concept is worth pursuing (pic 2). The G string sits around 18mm from the flat top, so this might work with the dimensions of my rubber block. A cheapo Silvertone 1423 suits the old-style aesthetic and since it’s fitted with a tune-o-matic and trapeze tailpiece I can at least get the party started.

With no experience of the rubber bridge concept, it’s not clear where to start, but I really don’t want to muck up a perfectly good guitar in the pursuit of research. The actual grooves can be lightly cut into the top with a needle file – it’s like starting an oversized top nut. If you’re thinking of this route, Waterslide Guitars actually offers a neat-looking bridge with rubber saddles for your Jazzmaster/Jaguar for around £70.Īlso, a Danelectro with that adjustable rosewood might be good, just replace the wood with a slice of rubber, and a guitar with a trapeze tailpiece is definitely on the cards as it might also suit the ‘older’ style sound we’re expecting. Standard Strats or Teles probably aren’t our best stop then, although a Les Paul – or any guitar with a tune-o-matic and stud tailpiece – might work as you can raise the height of the stud tailpiece to reduce the pressure over what would be your rubber-no-matic replacement.Ī guitar with a Jazzmaster-style vibrato would work, too (probably not the vibrato bit), but the often lower string angle would suit our vague plan. Geometry plays an important part in how any guitar sounds and, with counter-intuitive thinking in mind, we’re probably looking for less back angle behind the bridge to whatever the anchor point is. I order a block that’s 100mm square and 20mm deep from Amazon (pic 1).Īfter laying out the string spacing, the string grooves can be marked with a pencil.

This is used to absorb the shock when striking metals and also minimises noise and vibration, so it is presumably a harder type of rubber.

There’s probably a good marketing angle here: get a car-obsessed rockstar to endorse a range of rubber bridges hewn from the tyres of a ’68 Chevy, for example…īack down to earth, one seemingly popular choice is a jeweller’s bench mat. Well, you can buy rubber erasers in numerous different sizes and, although the composition might vary, it’s potentially quite well suited while it’s firm with little compression, it’s easy to shape with a sharp Stanley knife. So would an everyday rubber eraser work for an electric guitar bridge? The material itself has quite a backstory, but it’s important to note that we’re talking synthetic rubber here, not the natural latex that comes from the rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis), found mainly in South America, that has been used for centuries. (Image credit: Future / Dave Burrluck) Rubber Choice Once cut, the rubber is easy to smooth with some coarse abrasive paper.

Double bass jazz pizzicato