https://youtu.be/Pde3yJ65oGoШокирующая правда о АБР переизданиях, ни один из современных не звучит как оригинальный)
I know this is an old thread but one that deserves some updating. Replica hardware is another realm where you run into mostly hype. No one that I know of has actually done any good science on the ABR1 and tried to make a truly accurate sounding replica. I suspect that alot of replica ABR1's that are being made in the USA now, are all coming from one factory. Stewmac now sells one, Kluson sells one, both US made. But lets look a little deeper here, just because something looks right doesn't mean anything. Bottom line is if you want something thats sounds like an original, you're going to have to throw some bucks down and buy an original vintage Gibson hardware part, because no one makes anything that nails any of those parts sonically. Why? Easy. The body of an ABR1 was made of "Zamak" a zinc alloy which is a mix of magnesium, aluminum, and copper. But there isn't ONE Zamak alloy, there's about 5 or 6 of them, all different. I emailed one of the replica companies that claim they make their own hardware but don't actually show any evidence of doing their own manufacturing, and asked them which Zamak alloy were they using in their ABR1's, the reply was "NEVER heard of it." I didn't buy their product. If they don't know what a '59 ABR1 is made how can they claim they are making true replicas? HYPE.
Now it gets more complicated, HOW were the bodies cast? Was it a gravity pour, centrifugal spincasting, what? Why would this make any difference? MASS. How much the part weighs. Centrifugal casting is forced injection at high g's, the part will be more dense. The proof of that is I have a '62 ABR1, the last year or so they used brass saddles, the whole unit weighs 49 grams. The Gibson Historic bridge weighs 54 Grams! Quite a difference. The Historic compared to the vintage ABR1 sounded dull, thin, overly bright.
Next you got the brass saddles. Which alloy did Gibson's vendor use? There are many brass alloys. One very recent company making ABR1 replicas claim they use "lead free" brass. Which is probably a huge mistake, as the thumbwheels and posts I analyzed in a lab were leaded brass, but unlike modern leaded brass had a high iron impurity. The adjustment screws appear to also be brass, but am unsure, all I know is they are not magnetic. So, assuming they are brass, you need to be using the right brass alloy if you claim you're making a replica bridge.
So, what does this all matter? It matters to me, that people are asking for your money who are telling you they make a true accurate vintage hardware product, but none of them are providing you with any proof, they aren't doing videos to show you a vintage hardware part compared to their product to show that they are telling the truth about what they sell, I doubt even if any of them know what actual materials are in theirs because they aren't personally making them, they are buying from a wholesale factory, that uses the most convenient materials of their own choosing, not based on historical reverse-engineered facts. So, here is a graphic in-your-face demo video showing several ABR1's compared to a real vintage '62 ABR1. The vintage bridge just smoked all of the others, it had a nice tight bass, smooth high treble with even some chirpy bell tones that came straight from the bridge and nowhere else. The demo was done on a 1968 conversion, the last of the truly great Les Pauls made by the original craftsmen who built the ones that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars now. One sweet Les Paul, probably the closest I'll ever get to playing a 59 'burst, ever. Also in the demo was the original '68 Patent ABR1, which also sounded really damn nice, but by then Gibson was using zinc saddles.
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