Gotohs SW-3 saddles are completely adjustable to allow you to set your intonation absolutely perfectly on your Telecaster® without having to forfeit those all important brass saddles!
Suitable for a Telecaster® or Similar with 3 saddles
Advanced plated have made these bridge base plates specially for us, and they're everything you'd expect frankly. Without a doubt, the best quality plating i've seen on mild steel plate, and the actual part itself, is immaculate, with no sharp edges or press marks, which are common on "more affordable" examples.
Be aware, this is JUST the bridge plate. No saddles or mounting screws are supplied.
Fender® and Telecaster® are registered trademarks of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation Axesrus® has no affiliation with FMIC
I appreciate that I'm at the thin end of the wedge when it comes to guitar parts, and for most, when we speak about colours, its usually "Chrome, Black or Gold" - but, as you've probably spotted, there are quite a few more options then that, so, heres some photos of the various "common" colours.
Chrome, or, more accurately “Chromium plated” is, at least from an electroplating point of view, the best of the best when it comes to finish. Its hard wearing, abrasive and corrosion resistant, will take a polish, can achieve a mirror finish and is, relatively, cheap to produce. Officially “replacing” Nickel plating in the 1930s, guitars were relatively late adopters to Chrome plating (although Fender® used it in the 1950s) and it wouldn’t become common until the 1970s, and, even then? It wasn’ exactly rare to see Chrome and Nickel plated parts mounted side by side on the same guitar. Often confused with Nickel, a quick rule of thumb? Chrome is Silver with a blue sheen.
Nickel plating was old hat by the time electric guitars we’re invented, and had, by and large, been replaced with Chrome plating, however, most manufacturers kept producing Nickel plated parts. Slightly softer then Chrome, so quicker to wear, but less reactive (so less likely to rust with sweat, although, honestly? I’d challenge that – I’ve seen more sweat corroded Nickel then Chrome personally!) – Its considered to have a “more pleasing” hue, silver with a hint of yellow.
Gold electroplating has had a hard time over recent years – often maligned as “not real gold”, it actually is! However, that doesn’t change the fact that is a soft, expensive metal electroplated onto a much harder base material. It will, relatively quickly, wear through, and has absolutely horrendous abrasion resistance. Furthermore, in an effort to keep costs down, the karat of gold plated guitar parts means that it has lost some of its “unreactive” qualities. It is also, heavily dependent on the price of gold too – as gold prices increase, electroplating costs don’t, but the “shade” of the gold will, invariably, change (usually lightening) But, it is the ultimate in decorative finishes! Small parts and screws aren’t badly affected by the problems, but with larger parts, I’d strongly suggest going in with a “it’ll look great from the front row” mentality, because you will drive yourself mad trying for perfection from 4 inches.
Cosmo is one of my favourite plating colours. It is, officially, known as “Ruthenium”, and occasionally called “Black Nickel” –is a vaguely “dark grey metal”, which is fairly scratch and abrasion resistant, and is relatively unreactive. Most commonly appearing on Ibanez® guitars, with the Edge Tremolo systems and Gotoh machine heads being available in Cosmo for as long as I can remember, its not exactly common, but it’s a very nice colour if your looking for something different. Almost a “gun metal grey” Interestingly, whilst Ruthenium is hard wearing (certainly more than Nickel and Gold), there are instances where it wears very quickly. Seemingly theres something in our sweat that it dislikes.
Black plating is… funny. I’ve asked countless factories for “more information” and every one of them has given me a different answer. Its “Black Chrome”, its “Black zinc”, Its “zinc oxide”, its “nickel Oxide” – frankly, I don’t know any more, so I’ll fall on the sword of ignorance. Its Black – its soft, it scratches very easily, it wont take a polish. Its horrible to work with, its horrible to live with day to day, and I’d strongly advise against picking any “big parts” in black – they’ll look amazing now, but in a year, you’ll be cursing them. Its also grease magnet. Finger prints will haunt you. It is, however, absolutely fine for screw, bolts and small parts. I just wouldn’t suggest humbucker covers of tremolos.
A little unfair, because you dont really see many unplated screws, and whilst there are a few different parts that are offered unplated, its difficult to uniformily say "all unplated metals look the same".
Normally, we only ever see the following materials unplated.
Mild steel, which is a dark bluey grey colour, and is prone to corrosion and oxidisation.
Stainless steel, which is a very flat grey. More common, because it doesn't rust, but most people want it polished to a mirror finish, which is labour intensive and increases the cost. (and acheives the same results as Nickel or Chrome plating)
German Silver, is a slightly yellowy grey, most found on metal pickupc overs.
And brass, which is a "mucky yellow" colour.
