Fabre locking tone studs on Gibson tailpiece?

[mrjones2004x]

Are these worth the money?

I top wrap my Les Paul and always noticed the tail tilts forward as it’s pretty loose in the studs. I just restrung my guitar twice, firstly the normal way and honestly acoustically it sounded horrible. Lost loads of resonance and sounded tinny so I pulled out the strings and restrung wrapped over the tail.
Apart from these studs locking the tail secure so it won’t fall off every time I change strings will it increase sustain more and resonance?
Anyone have experience with something similar?
In my opinion wrapping over makes a big difference acoustically. Not so much plugged in as I play with fair amount of gain but when I’m sofa noodling I love how this sounds.
Cheers.

Pics to show the product and the tip in the tail piece

 

[V-man]

I did tonepros and top wrap the LP. I am skeptical of the resonance bit… I go for the ease of lower action and lower string tension. It definitely works in that regard

 

[mrjones2004x]

I did tonepros and top wrap the LP. I am skeptical of the resonance bit… I go for the ease of lower action and lower string tension. It definitely works in that regard

My action and tension is nice already.
By resonance I guess I mean the guitar is much more acoustically loud and I can really feel it through my body. I’d say sustain is better due to the fact it’s louder but I’m not gonna measure times etc.
technically if I use them kinda studs it’ll couple the tail to the stud inserts meaning more vibration transfer. Doesn’t mean it’ll work that way tho I guess.

 

[yladrd61]

Their locking tailpiece works best when you also use their upgraded nickel plated brass bridge, saddles, studs and thumbwheels.

 

[jeffb]

I've spent hundreds of dollars on Faber gear and used it in various combinations in 4 different guitars (3 x Les Pauls, 1x 335). It is all very well made and a good value.

TLDR- It's a complete crapshoot if anything will be an improvement and what exactly in the parts will make a positive difference, if anything on a given guitar. I've spent way too much time, effort, and money, messing with this stuff.

I don't like the lok tone bridge-adds some midrange focus but sheds highs and lows. Less resonance in every case than the bridges they replaced. I used them with the Nashville to ABR conversion posts, as well as the Faber one piece steel posts that replace the nashville bushings in the top. I hate the steel posts and see Faber is now making them out of brass, because the tone gets thin and "steely" for lack of a better word. I prefer the Faber conversion bushings, and I still use them as the Gibson ABR1s fit tighter on these than stock bushings Gibson has been using the past several years. Sustain improved in all cases with the Tonelo setup, although it's minor. I did not care for the tonal changes- The fundamental tone improved at the loss of overtones. Every guitar became more plinky on pick attack, lost bite and bottom. All the guitars went back to stock bridge setup except for the conversion studs.

The Faber Alum TP by itself is no better or worse than any other brand Gotoh/Tonepros, Gibson, etc. Alum TP-aAll of which I've had/have.

The Faber vintage length tailpiece studs can make a difference- Gibson uses brass, and on older guitars they are also shorter. The farther the stud goes into the body, the better the energy transfer, so that is usually a positive, but they are steel, and you'll hear it- if you have a darker/warmer/muddy sounding piece of wood, it will likely be an improvement. If you have a bright clear guitar, you'll probably prefer brass. If you are using an older zamac TP however, the steel studs are a great match. A bit of clarity without losing the midrange like with an Alum TP.

The TP height spacers they use make for a nice aesthetic and they do lock up so your TP does not come off when you change strings and there is full contact. Tonally no perceptible difference between the Faber TP/shortest spacer decked and top wrapped or the Gibson TP decked and top wrapped. Their might be if you string normally and have your TP up off the deck for string tension issues. I don't ever do that, so never bothered testing it/using it that way.

So IME I would recommend the Faber nashville to ABR1 screw in conversion posts if you have an ABR1*, and the vintage length TP studs, if your guitar has the shorter ones.

*Note that the dimensions of the Faber bridge and the Gibson ABR1 is slightly different- thus why the Gibson bridge fits tighter on the Faber conversion posts-it takes some finessing to get the bridge on/off when you need to- its almost like a locking setup, but with direct bridge to post contact (unlike the Faber tone lock bridge where the screw in insert is getting the direct contact)

 

[DirtySteve]

I just let mine tilt, doesn't bother me.

 

[fitz]

I just let mine tilt, doesn't bother me.

My thoughts exactly.
Seems to me like bottoming out the studs with a top wrap torques the TP into solid contact.
I'm no tone guru, and I don't record my ineptitude.
I just crank it and proceed with destroying famous musician's life work.

 

[mrjones2004x]

I've spent hundreds of dollars on Faber gear and used it in various combinations in 4 different guitars (3 x Les Pauls, 1x 335). It is all very well made and a good value.

TLDR- It's a complete crapshoot if anything will be an improvement and what exactly in the parts will make a positive difference, if anything on a given guitar. I've spent way too much time, effort, and money, messing with this stuff.

I don't like the lok tone bridge-adds some midrange focus but sheds highs and lows. Less resonance in every case than the bridges they replaced. I used them with the Nashville to ABR conversion posts, as well as the Faber one piece steel posts that replace the nashville bushings in the top. I hate the steel posts and see Faber is now making them out of brass, because the tone gets thin and "steely" for lack of a better word. I prefer the Faber conversion bushings, and I still use them as the Gibson ABR1s fit tighter on these than stock bushings Gibson has been using the past several years. Sustain improved in all cases with the Tonelo setup, although it's minor. I did not care for the tonal changes- The fundamental tone improved at the loss of overtones. Every guitar became more plinky on pick attack, lost bite and bottom. All the guitars went back to stock bridge setup except for the conversion studs.

The Faber Alum TP by itself is no better or worse than any other brand Gotoh/Tonepros, Gibson, etc. Alum TP-aAll of which I've had/have.

The Faber vintage length tailpiece studs can make a difference- Gibson uses brass, and on older guitars they are also shorter. The farther the stud goes into the body, the better the energy transfer, so that is usually a positive, but they are steel, and you'll hear it- if you have a darker/warmer/muddy sounding piece of wood, it will likely be an improvement. If you have a bright clear guitar, you'll probably prefer brass. If you are using an older zamac TP however, the steel studs are a great match. A bit of clarity without losing the midrange like with an Alum TP.

The TP height spacers they use make for a nice aesthetic and they do lock up so your TP does not come off when you change strings and there is full contact. Tonally no perceptible difference between the Faber TP/shortest spacer decked and top wrapped or the Gibson TP decked and top wrapped. Their might be if you string normally and have your TP up off the deck for string tension issues. I don't ever do that, so never bothered testing it/using it that way.

So IME I would recommend the Faber nashville to ABR1 screw in conversion posts if you have an ABR1*, and the vintage length TP studs, if your guitar has the shorter ones.

*Note that the dimensions of the Faber bridge and the Gibson ABR1 is slightly different- thus why the Gibson bridge fits tighter on the Faber conversion posts-it takes some finessing to get the bridge on/off when you need to- its almost like a locking setup, but with direct bridge to post contact (unlike the Faber tone lock bridge where the screw in insert is getting the direct contact)

Clearly lots of testing done by yourself and thanks for the read.
Mine is just a 2020 LP tribute so whatever hardwear that came with. Studs are about an inch long for the threaded part and the tail is super light so assuming some type of aluminium. My guitar is brighter than other les Paul’s I tried. I always thought because of the chambered body

 

[Buc McMaster]

Another tip: wrap the stud threads with teflon tape, removing ALL the thread tolerance and ALL tailpiece tilt. Solid as a rock.

 

[mrjones2004x]

Another tip: wrap the stud threads with teflon tape, removing ALL the thread tolerance and ALL tailpiece tilt. Solid as a rock.

My studs are screwed into the bottom. Only tip is the actual tailpiece but it’s not causing any problems and was more out of interest if would improve the guitar by locking the tail secure.

Red is angle of tail. Green would be parallel and flat if locked

 

[purpleplexi]

I have the faber tp and bridge. I think they're great and not terribly expensive. I needed a bridge anyway because mine had warped like they do.
Incidentally if you do the bridge get the brass thumbwheels. They are a really nice tone upgrade.

 

[mrjones2004x]

I have the faber tp and bridge. I think they're great and not terribly expensive. I needed a bridge anyway because mine had warped like they do.
Incidentally if you do the bridge get the brass thumbwheels. They are a really nice tone upgrade.

Thanks I might look into it.
Only issue I might come across is I need as much saddle travel as possible as my D string saddle is maxed forward to get intonation. It’s odd as it’s the only one which is quite different to the rest 🤷🏻‍♂️

 

[mrjones2004x]

This is best hardwear I’ve used so the Faber stuff interests me. I know this is made in Germany and think it’s tone pros but not 100% sure. Have taken it off for ages. The bridge locks onto studs with little grub screws and the tail is a really perfect slide on from the back. It’ll never fall off when string changing. Needs a firm push to slide off. Feels so good quality. It’s on my Japanese EVH special