Replacing The Wilkinson Bridge On A Tyler Guitar

Back in July 2009 I mentioned getting a Wilkinson WVS 50 II K bridge to replace the original Wilkinson VS100 bridge on my James Tyler Psychedelic Vomit.

And guess what? I'd just got around to swapping out the bridge a couple of weeks ago in time for my Monday night gig, slightly more than six years to the date I bought it.

How's that for procrastination!

The Tyler Psychedelic Vomit had been one of my main gig guitars for a good eight years since 2001 until the corrosion on the original Wilkinson bridge got a little out of hand. Or more precisely, all over my hand. Rather than risk blood poisoning -- the side of my right hand would turn rust brown from playing the guitar for any length of time -- I put the guitar away, telling myself I would install the new bridge soon. Since then, the guitar has been sitting in a corner of my music room on a guitar stand in semi-retirement mode while I flirted with various Fenders, Suhrs, Firebirds and Les Pauls.

The original Wilkinson bent bridge saddles that came with the Tyler are similar to the current Wilkinson/Gotoh VSVG vintage tremelo but with the VS100 two-pivot point baseplate. The original Tyler Psychedelic Vomits came with the VS100 tremelo, with saddles that were solid blocks like the ones on the WVS 50 II K. But around 1999, when I bought this particular guitar, Jim Tyler decided to switch out the saddles with the then-newly available Wilkinson bent saddles while keeping the original VS100 bridge baseplate. Interestingly, this particular bent saddle/VS100 baseplate combination was never made available commercially -- the bent saddles always came with the traditional 6-screw plates.

VS100 bridge with original block saddles on this earlier Tyler Psychedelic Vomit

Theoretically, replacing the original block saddles with the lighter, low-mass bent saddles would give a brighter, vintage, more resonant tone. In practice, I don't think anybody can really hear the difference. To me, it's the baseplate and tremelo block that make any kind of audible difference as far as Strat-style bridges are concerned. And even then, the differences are subtle at best.

Swapping Out The Bridges

Initially I thought of keeping the original Wilkinson VS100 baseplate and simply replacing the bent saddles with the block saddles from the WVS 50. But just from looking at it, I could see that the black screws holding the block saddles to the baseplate were a different size and length.  Anyway, the original baseplate screws securing the bent saddles to the baseplate were seriously corroded as well.

How the heck did this thing get so rusty?

Rust in peace, old friend..

Instead of mucking about any further with baseplates and Imperial versus metric size screws, I decided to just swap out the entire bridge.

I loosened and cut off the old strings before removing the three tremelo springs from the spring claw in the trem cavity. With a little maneuvering around the bridge posts, the old bridge came off, releasing a generous sprinkling of powdered rust everywhere, like a final farewell.

Note to self:  Never, ever, remove rusty guitar hardware in bed. Ever.

Out of curiosity, I unscrewed one of the bridge posts to see if there were metal bushings anchoring the bridge posts to the body and I was happy to see the glimmer of a shiny, like-new brass insert. I could never understand how some bridge manufacturers would choose to use simple wood screws without metal bushings to hold bridge posts that would have to cope with string tension and constant friction during use. That's a lot of stress put on them.

The earlier versions of the original Floyd Rose trem, for example, had wood screws anchored directly to the body. No wonder the more vigorous exponents of the Floyd found themselves having to have their tremelo knife edges professionally filed and resharpened every few months just to stay in tune -- small movements in the wood screws probably caused the knife edges to get chewed out sooner. Like in the case of Steve Vai, who claimed to go through a new Floyd Rose trem every week on his Green Meanie guitar! Ain't nothin' worse than a Floyd that won't return to zero after a dive bomb or stratospheric harmonic up pull.

With one of the original bridge posts out, I tried to see if the bridge posts supplied with the Korean-made WVS 50 II K would fit. I found the WVS 50's posts much larger and if I wanted to use them, I would have to remove the original bushings and drill larger holes in the guitar's body to accomodate the larger bushings.  A major modification, and unnecessary. Not that I would have the skill, tools, or the daring to carry out such a mod on a Tyler guitar!

I cleaned up the slight bit of gunk buildup off the original bridge posts with a toothpick and cotton bud and lubed up the groove where the bridge would contact with the posts with Graphit-All.  As expected, the new Korean Wilkinson bridge worked fine on the US-bridge posts, pivoting nicely once the tremelo springs were reattached.

I tried to see if the original VS100's tremelo arm would fit the slot on the new bridge, and it did. The only thing was that the VS100's trem arm sits unusually high on the WVS 50 bridge -- the tremelo arm slot on the VS100 is about an inch deeper. The tremelo arm that came with the WVS50 is made from a hollowed piece of metal but works just fine.

Imperial Versus Metric - Why, Why, Why?

And this was where I came upon a major problem.

The bridge posts must have moved when I was cleaning them because the guitar's action had become unplayably low for some reason when I put a pack of fresh strings on. I needed to raise the two bridge posts and the metric-sized wrenches I had on hand were either slightly too large or slightly too small. And my old set of 16ths of an inch, US-sized hex wrenches were nowhere to be found.

Since it was a Monday, and I really wanted to play my Tyler that evening, it dawned on me that if I was to loosen the strings, remove the bridge and adjust the bridge posts by hand, I could very possibly raise the action up to where I needed it to be!

So that's exactly what I did.

Fortunately the Tyler came with locking Sperzel tuners so the strings remained firmly attached at the tuner end when the bridge was removed. I managed to turn the bridge posts, bringing them up by just a hair before they refused to turn anymore without a proper tool.

Reattaching the bridge and trem springs, the action was still too low but playable, without fretting out too much on string bends. I deemed the setup gig-worthy but decided to ask my good buddy Keane to see if he happened to have a non-metric set of hex wrenches. He said that he might and would come by my gig that night with a few different sized wrenches.

Wilkinson WVS50IIK installed

I was a little uncomfortable playing the first set with such a low action on the Tyler, having to watch my bends on certain notes that were most likely to fret out. But thankfully Keane showed up the during the middle of the set and I was able to do a quick adjustment, raising the action up to where the Tyler could wail uninhibitedly once again.

Thanks Keane! Both you and Liverpool rock!

The Verdict

As expected, the WVS 50 II K performed very well, from subtle wiggles to divebombs. Frankly, I could not tell the difference in tone or sustain between this Korean-made bridge and the old US-made VS100. But I did notice that the WVS 50 feels a little more solid when I rest my hand on it and the block saddles feel smoother unlike the bent saddles.

Or maybe it was all that rust on the old VS100.

Vintage Jim Tyler Guitar | Random Guitar of the Day

I remember seeing a picture of Dann Huff in an article in Guitar World magazine in the late 80's.  It was a writeup about his band Giant, and in the accompanying pic he was brandishing an early Strat-headstocked JamesTyler guitar, with the then-obligatory Floyd Rose tremelo, and an assortment of mini-switches on the pickguard. 

I remember thinking, "What on earth is that thing?"

Reading further, Huff talked about how he gave his instruments to a certain Jim Tyler to be hot-rodded.  I came away thinking that Tyler was the guitar world's equivalent of some muscle car hotrod guru.  After all, these LA session cats wouldn't give their prized bread-and-butter instruments to just anyone to fool with right?

And check out that crazy headstock logo! 

Fast forward 20-something years later and one of these babies pops up. 

And there are a couple of distinguishing markings on the neck and body that are visible when this instrument is disassembled -- which might make it even more of collector's item. 

'Buzz 85' is pencilled in on the butt end of the neck just below the nut for truss rod adjustment, which leads to speculation that it may have been a custom instrument built for Buzz Feiten.  Before he made a name for himself as the creator of the Buzz Feiten Tuning System (BFTS), Buzzy was an LA session guitarist and a frequent visitor to Jim Tyler's workshop.

And another thing.  The body and neck for this particular guitar were made by luthier Phil Kubicki and not by Tyler himself.  Hmmm.  The plot thickens.  Maybe he was outsourcing in the early days. 

Pickups appear to be a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails in the neck, a Seymour Duncan Hot Stack in the middle and a Tyler full humbucker in the bridge position.  The Tyler humbucker shares a lot in common with the Tom Anderson and Schecter humbucker design, something which I talked about in this earlier post. 

In addition to the standard volume pot and 5-way switch, this guitar features 3 mini push/push button switches to split the coils of each pickup as well as a single mini-toggle switch, sometimes called a Blaster switch, which bypasses all 'pre-sets' and activates the bridge humbucker alone, in series.

Real effective for going from a chimey strat tone to an all-out, balls-to-wall crunch for that lead solo!  It's also interesting to note that this pickup switching system is one of several configurations which Tyler still features on some of his current models.  A 9-volt battery is needed to power the onboard Demeter preamp.

According to Tyler Guitars, they only switched to their current headstock design in 1987, which would make the '85 date marking on the neck period correct.  Unfortunately they weren't able to provide any information as to who this guitar was originally sold to.

The seller, acmeguitarworks has a 1009 star, 100% positive rating on eBay.  Check 'em out.

Tyler Studio Elite HD Spalted Maple Top on eBay!

According to the seller this was the first Tyler guitar built in 2010 and bears serial number 10001. 

This gorgeous Tyler Studio Elite HD weighs in at 7.3lb, features a Honeyburst finish on a bent spalted maple top on a mahogany body, multi-layer white/black binding, white pearloid pickguard and a maple neck with an Indian rosewood fingerboard.  Check out the peghead pic for a close look at Tyler's 'rolled' fingerboard edge at the first fret next to the low E! 

Pickups are a pair of JT S2 Hot Laura single-coil pickups and a Tyler Studebaker humbucker in the bridge. 

Electronics are classic Tyler -- single volume and tone controls, 5-way switch and a Demeter mid boost preamp with on/off button switch which is great for kicking in on leads.  The Demeter mid-boost also manages to fatten out single-coil pickups to the point that they almost sound like full humbuckers.  

Hardware on this Tyler Studio Elite HD includes locking HipShot tuners and a G2RV bridge with Raw Vintage saddles which replicate the heavier high-mass steel Fender saddles of old.



eBay Item #: 230445643794

Jackson Custom Shop Steve Vai 'Crossroads' Replica Guitar On eBay!

If, like me, your first visual introduction to Steve Vai was in his role as the Devil's guitarist in the movie Crossroads from way back in 1986, then this Jackson guitar will surely bring back fond memories.  (eBay Item#: 290399667260)

A replica of the axe that Vai shredded, teased and strangled in the movie in a 'guitar duel' with the hapless Ralph Macchio, this Jackson guitar is apparently a one-off made in the US Jackson Custom Shop.

According to the seller, this particular axe features an oil-finished early-80s style Charvel neck (read: wide and flat but not too skinny at the back) with a compound radius fingerboard with rolled edges, ash body, Seymour Duncan JB and '59 humbuckers and a Floyd Rose trem.  All topped off with a stunning Candy Apple Sparkle finish. 

Is it time to air out those leather pants or what!

Now I've sworn off Floyd Rose bridges for the last 15 years but this Crossroads-inspired Jackson Custom Shop has piqued my interest in a locking-bridge axe again.

Mike Landau's Session Work On YouTube

Here are a couple of clips of session maestro Mike Landau in the studio. That tone, that vibrato, those Tylers!



In the first clip he plays a beautiful wah-inflected solo. I love the way he just nails those changes starting at 0:16!



In the second clip we see Landau using some of his 'mystery' voicings -- he seems to favor rootless chords, sus4's, add9's and the occasional superimposed triad -- processed through a rackmounted Dyno-My-Piano Tri-Stereo Chorus. Or a cheap Arion SCH-1 Chorus pedal, depending on the era in question. Based on Mike's hair my bet is on the Tri-Stereo here. Check out the spicy volume swells.



In the third clip Mike places an Ibanez TS808 Tubescreamer at the front of his signal chain for a touch of extra gain, but decides to turn it off before he starts tracking. His sound through the Bogner amp (?) is positively huge, with a tad of harmonizer to fatten up the sound. He fluffs the descending line at 2:47 -- twice -- but what the hey, they'll fix it in ProTools.

James Taylor's live-in-the-studio Squibnocket DVD features Mike's playing extensively.


Check Out Mike Landau CDs Here!

Jim Tyler's New Blog at Tyler Guitars Website

I just looked in on the Tyler Guitars website and was pleasantly surprised to see that Jim Tyler has started a blog.

And there are some major changes happening at the house of Tyler.

First off, he's announced that the Tyler Classic is being discontinued and that he is also thinking "long and hard about the Studio Elites."

The legion of Tyler fans out there will be staring at their computer screens in disbelief, with mouths hanging open, once they read this.

Of course it is all speculation at this point. But Jim's indication that he wants to get away from building super-strats just about gives us a good hint at the new direction he wants to take in the near future.

And here are a couple of glimpses at the Tyler set-neck prototypes.

Now if we could just get a sneak peek at the new headstock under that blue masking tape..

http://www.tylerguitars.com/

James Tyler Guitars And How They Make A New Guitar Feel Like It's Been Played For 25 Years

If you've ever picked up a well-played Strat from the '60s (or if you're lucky, the '50s) you would probably have noticed that some areas on the edge of the fingerboard have become naturally rounded due to wear from years of playing -- adding to the overall mojo and vibe of the instrument.




In an effort to duplicate some of these worn, played-for-years characterictics, Tyler Guitars 'rolls' the fingerboard edges on every guitar they make. In fact, this feature has become something of a company hallmark -- and they have certainly taken it to the nth degree. (see pic above of my Tyler Studio Elite Jimburst)

When viewed at a certain angle, the fingerboard edges, meticulously shaped by hand, appear to be almost scalloped, with a slight concave between each fret.

What this translates to is a very smooth playing neck, since all sharp angles have been painstakingly sanded out of the equation.

Mike Landau Owned Tyler Studio Elite

Here's a cool eBay find (220480641051) -- a Jim Tyler Studio Elite in BBQ Black, which according to the seller is a one-of-a-kind prototype matte finish and apparently, originally built for Mike Landau.

This guitar features a maple fingerboard on a maple neck , three Seymour Duncan mini-humbuckers, Wilkinson VS100 bridge and a Mamywo body.







Tyler generally eschews the Fender-style 'skunk stripe' method of installing trussrods into a maple neck. Instead, he glues his maple fingerboards onto his maple necks, just as he would a rosewood 'board.

'Mamywo' is a Tyler concoction meaning 'Malaysian Mystery Wood' aka jelutong which is a very light and resonant hardwood, commonly used for building houses in Asia (back in the day).

A VTT push/pull control on one of the tone pots enables the player to bring in the neck pickup into the mix, no matter if the selector switch is on the 3rd, 4th or 5th positions -- very similar to the mod I described here -- which is always great for wringing out a couple more tones out of any three-pickup guitar.

Also included is a certificate of authenticity signed by Jim.

Wilkinson WVS 50 II K Bridge

I got hold of a Wilkinson WVS50IIK bridge today.

I was originally looking for the Wilkinson/Gotoh VS100 but the store didn't have it in stock so I settled for the WVS50IIK.

And it was about half the price of the VS100.

The packaging was less than basic -- no instructions, no box, no labels. The entire assembly -- including bridge, trem bar, spring claw, springs and allen wrenches -- was supplied in a clear plastic bag.

A little research on the model number revealed that this is a licensed Korean version, made by the Sung-Il Co., with a zinc base plate and stainless steel saddles.

The quality seems identical to the original Wilkinson USA bridge on my Tyler Psychedelic Vomit. The original nickel plated bent steel saddles are extremely corroded due to being played and sweated on for the last 8 years or so.

It's definitely time to get them replaced. That, or get a tetanus shot.

I'm tempted to try transferring only the saddles from the new bridge to the old bridge but I'm guessing that the screw sizes will be different -- the age-old Imperial US Standard vs metric dilemma. Experience has taught me that screw threads can be easily stripped when trying to force such a mismatch.

I'll install the new bridge soon, take it out to gig and see how it fares.

 

Buy Wilkinson Bridges Here!

Dinner with James Tyler of Tyler Guitars

I met Jim Tyler in 2000 when I and a friend attended the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) convention in Los Angeles. We were interested in becoming the Tyler guitar distributor for the region and so we arranged to pay him a visit at his small guitar facility on Sepulveda in Van Nuys.

Over the phone he had given us directions to look out for a certain burger joint and to make a turn down that road. It took us a while to find his shop.

Further up the road we were greeted with a small single-storey building with corrugated zinc walls and a small rather inconspicuous shop sign.

Jim graciously showed us around his facility. One of his workers was busy hand-sanding a newly routed body to the soundtrack of a Beastie Boys CD playing on the boombox, which was met with some consternation from Jim.

Much of the work at that time was being done by hand. Notably lacking was any kind of CNC machine or computerized router -- it was very much a jig and bandsaw operation. Jim spoke about the cost of investing in such a machine and how he would have to massively step up production from the current 20-odd guitars they were building every month, just to pay for the machine. (Although I gather the company has since made some investments in CNC armory.)

The wall over Jim's workbench was covered with pictures and autographed memorobilia. Including an old picture of himself in another incarnation as a long-haired Strat-wielding guitarist in a rock band. Meanwhile on the bench, a guitar on which he was dressing newly-installed frets, patiently awaited his return. Jim did a lot of the fretwork on the guitars himself.

I also had the opportunity to plug in and play a bit on the Tyler Psychedelic Vomit #1. The strings were really dead as it had been up on the shopwall for goodness-knows how long, but all the chimey, resonant characteristics were still there.

At 630pm we made the drive to a restaurant on Sunset in Jim's old Mercedes.

Over dinner Jim revealed much about the insider goings-on of the of the guitar manufacturing world. He spoke fondly of his days at Schecter in the 70s and early 80s where he and Tom Anderson both got their start before venturing out on their own.

I asked him about the Tyler Studio Elite that I owned, mentioning how the pickups seemed to be very similar to Anderson's design both in look and tone. He attributed that to the design commonalities he shared with Anderson, based on their time at Schecter. I also asked him about the unusually girthy neck on my guitar to which he humorously replied that it was probably a reaction from his chewing out one of his workers for carving several necks too thin.

He talked about his display booth at the NAMM show and how he had been chided(!) by one of his Japanese distributors over a new line he was planning on releasing -- a more modestly priced TG range with a new headstock logo he was intending to manufacture overseas. Although since then a Japanese-made Tyler line has appeared.

He became slightly animated on the topic of guitar endorsements, and mentioned how he adamantly never gave any guitars away for free. He mentioned artist endorsement fees and how some signature models were often not truly representative of the guitars the endorser actually played.

He also raised a sore point about how he had been approached several times by a well-known US guitar magazine who had asked him for a free guitar in exchange for a favourable review. It was also apparently the reason why his guitars, up to that point, had never been featured in a US guitar magazine. Or why, in his company's history, he had placed literally less than a handful of advertisements in these guitar publications. And, he reasoned, he wouldn't have been able to keep up with the orders anyway.

It was clearly not just about the numbers or the bottomline.

I walked away from that meeting feeling a little buzzed. It might have been the wine, or the fact that he had given us the dealership for his amazing guitars.
Most of all, what I did walk away with was that if one had a clear, uncompromising vision and a truly great product, the world will beat a path to your door. Marketing and publicity be damned. More power to you, Mr Tyler.