Thank you. I was contacted by the 3 guys in Belgium, who asked me if I would like to be a part of making a true ABR1 replica. I have been complaining for YEARS that nobody ever actually tried to do this. They knew about me and my reverse-engineering work for 22 years to reproduce the vintage PAF humbuckers. That project was based in real SCIENCE, metallurgy, vintage magnet wire manufacturing and so much more than that. I told them HELL YEAH! I didn't ask to be paid, either. I destroyed one of my vintage ABR1's to get the true metallurgical knowledge that nobody bothered looking at. So many companies claim they make "vintage tone" parts, when none of them actually do. It took us two years, many prototypes and contacting a man over 80 years old who spent his life mixing zinc alloys for manufacturing. The project was not easy and after two years of pure hell, finding out they are not simple as they seem and are actually pretty complex. We all got pretty burned out, but we never stopped making sure we were going to make the first TRUE vintage replica bridge ever. We SUCCEEDED!. They sound like my vintage originals and do amazing things in any guitar that has a real ABR1 sitting on correct BRASS thumbwheels and BRASS posts direct into WOOD. The guys kept calling me "Uncle" because of my age, and we all called ourselves the Four Uncles. They sent one to the most famous Les Paul guy out there and he said we DID IT. The bridge is becoming more and more popular as players find out about them, and several 'Bursts' with bridges in bad shape now have our 4U bridge on them, because they do what the vintage ones do. These are NOT mass produced. They are hand cast, hand plated and aged if you want them aged, and they take over 6 hours or more to make just ONE. So, availability is low and not available all the times. You can buy one or more for yourself and guitar here on Facebook. Just click on the "Message" link. Thanks for doing the video. I did a video for the release at this link, and there are earlier videos while we were working on them and comparing prototypes with vintage originals, if you dig around my site: ruclips.net/video/TwEgudEEs_8/видео.htmlsi=53dDqmqSRB3FT-eI
I have one of these bridges and I absolutely love every aspect of it. However, my one issue, and the only reason I don't have the bridge on my Historic Makeovers R9 anymore is the rattling of the saddles. I've tried a bunch of different things minus straight up glueing the saddles in and whatever I do the strings buzz (most prominently the G and B strings) and I've also noticed that these saddles would shorten the sustain on bended notes. Any suggestions on how to remedy this? I've had the bridge at 3 separate luthiers in my region and none have been able to change this. Keep it up your content and craftsmanship is fantastic!
I am lucky enough to have the four uncles bridge on a very expensive 59 replica that I am also very lucky to have. It’s fantastic in every way but still does not outweigh the natural characteristics of a guitar. For example, I own a low end Greco model that is not chambered and has a Faber abr-1 that is the loudest, most vibrating guitar I own, acoustically and electrically. The four uncles did not bring my 59 replica up to par with my Greco. Better said, a bridge alone just can’t keep up with the natural characteristics and EQ that an entire guitar possesses.
Funny thing is that Tom Murphy learnt how to do the stuff correctly via your channel , I guess he watched all of your video. and still I prefer your finishes in comparison to murphy lab. Wonderful, How I wish You could refinish my les paul.
@@8BombCustom wish Gibson was innovative and fair, give you the chance to have your own lab, then after few batches of release people would decide which one is better. I have huge respect for you as you are an artist doing old art preservation as you showed, You are very talented and you deserve the best, and I hope you get what you want in life. To be honest, I think some of us are victim of Geographia , being born into a place on earth without our wish.....
Hello there my man. Have you compared the royal mount thumbwheels and post against the four uncles thumbwheels and post? If so which one sounds better of course with the four uncles bridge on it.
Hello @8BombCustom ! I have noticed that you installed the Four Uncles bridge with no notches on the saddles, right? With the strings directly leaning on the saddles. Is this a common practice? Thank you!
First I think, as always amazing informative video on replacement vintage parts for the perfect replicas as you always make of the burst Les Paul. Definitely your product looks superior to the Gibson custom shop always in my opinion.
Респект за самодельные запчасти, не каждый в наших краях таким похвастаться может, мастера все китай ставят, чтоб удешивить или Gotoh/Willinson, щас Guyker(вроде Корея, но надежностью там так себе пахнет), прочие известные "массмаркет" бренды От такого внимания к мелочам голова кружится, конечно🤯
The only way that you can be sure that an ABR-1 bridge is sonically similar to another ABR-1, such as a real 59, is to measure its resonant frequencies - the frequencies at which it subtracts vibrations from the strings (so not seen by the pickups). Just having a bridge of similar dimensions that looks aged and may have been made with similar metals doesn't guarantee matching sonic characteristics. You can listen to them in an actual guitar, but that will never be as precise. Because your ears can't pinpoint those particular bridge frequencies.
Not all real 59 abr's sound the same. Don't forget they are cast metal. You can only test if a modern abr sounds similar to a SPECIFIC original but that does not guarantee that the specific original you have is an average or typical example of what old abrs sounded like. The only thing you can realistically do is replicate the chemical properties and production techniques and hope for the best.
@@8BombCustomI can second this. I put a Faber on my 1972 because the original wire version has collapsed a little. The Faber sounds amazing, but is not vintage looking. I wanted four uncles, but none were available at the right time.
Faber sounds muth brither than Gibson abr1 but Fou Uncles has that vintage sticki middle frequency. I prefer 4 uncles for special projects. But for common projects it can be Faber.
![56 Les Paul model Goldtop Relic [NITORLACK nitro]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/g-fOWwozjN8/mqdefault.jpg)
Thank you. I was contacted by the 3 guys in Belgium, who asked me if I would like to be a part of making a true ABR1 replica. I have been complaining for YEARS that nobody ever actually tried to do this. They knew about me and my reverse-engineering work for 22 years to reproduce the vintage PAF humbuckers. That project was based in real SCIENCE, metallurgy, vintage magnet wire manufacturing and so much more than that. I told them HELL YEAH! I didn't ask to be paid, either. I destroyed one of my vintage ABR1's to get the true metallurgical knowledge that nobody bothered looking at. So many companies claim they make "vintage tone" parts, when none of them actually do. It took us two years, many prototypes and contacting a man over 80 years old who spent his life mixing zinc alloys for manufacturing. The project was not easy and after two years of pure hell, finding out they are not simple as they seem and are actually pretty complex. We all got pretty burned out, but we never stopped making sure we were going to make the first TRUE vintage replica bridge ever. We SUCCEEDED!. They sound like my vintage originals and do amazing things in any guitar that has a real ABR1 sitting on correct BRASS thumbwheels and BRASS posts direct into WOOD. The guys kept calling me "Uncle" because of my age, and we all called ourselves the Four Uncles. They sent one to the most famous Les Paul guy out there and he said we DID IT. The bridge is becoming more and more popular as players find out about them, and several 'Bursts' with bridges in bad shape now have our 4U bridge on them, because they do what the vintage ones do. These are NOT mass produced. They are hand cast, hand plated and aged if you want them aged, and they take over 6 hours or more to make just ONE. So, availability is low and not available all the times. You can buy one or more for yourself and guitar here on Facebook. Just click on the "Message" link. Thanks for doing the video. I did a video for the release at this link, and there are earlier videos while we were working on them and comparing prototypes with vintage originals, if you dig around my site:
ruclips.net/video/TwEgudEEs_8/видео.htmlsi=53dDqmqSRB3FT-eI
Thank you Dave
I saw this project guitar with my own eyes. It's gorgeous!!! With 8bomb Custom pickups I do believe it will sound killer in any way!
🙏😁
A comparison between this, the Faber and the ABM (all brass and alu?) would be cool!
Great video as always.
Do you have a video demo of the four uncle's bridge?
Always good to hear from you my Friend".. Dallas Tx
Thank you
I have one of these bridges and I absolutely love every aspect of it. However, my one issue, and the only reason I don't have the bridge on my Historic Makeovers R9 anymore is the rattling of the saddles. I've tried a bunch of different things minus straight up glueing the saddles in and whatever I do the strings buzz (most prominently the G and B strings) and I've also noticed that these saddles would shorten the sustain on bended notes. Any suggestions on how to remedy this? I've had the bridge at 3 separate luthiers in my region and none have been able to change this. Keep it up your content and craftsmanship is fantastic!
I am lucky enough to have the four uncles bridge on a very expensive 59 replica that I am also very lucky to have. It’s fantastic in every way but still does not outweigh the natural characteristics of a guitar.
For example, I own a low end Greco model that is not chambered and has a Faber abr-1 that is the loudest, most vibrating guitar I own, acoustically and electrically. The four uncles did not bring my 59 replica up to par with my Greco. Better said, a bridge alone just can’t keep up with the natural characteristics and EQ that an entire guitar possesses.
Funny thing is that Tom Murphy learnt how to do the stuff correctly via your channel , I guess he watched all of your video. and still I prefer your finishes in comparison to murphy lab. Wonderful, How I wish You could refinish my les paul.
Thank you. I know 100% that all Murphy Lab watch my videos 😁 And this is great. Especially for Gibson and his customers. In my opinion.
@@8BombCustom wish Gibson was innovative and fair, give you the chance to have your own lab, then after few batches of release people would decide which one is better. I have huge respect for you as you are an artist doing old art preservation as you showed, You are very talented and you deserve the best, and I hope you get what you want in life. To be honest, I think some of us are victim of Geographia , being born into a place on earth without our wish.....
Can I get work from you if I'm in the states?
Hello there my man. Have you compared the royal mount thumbwheels and post against the four uncles thumbwheels and post? If so which one sounds better of course with the four uncles bridge on it.
Hi, yes I use Royal Mount, both are top quality.
Hello @8BombCustom ! I have noticed that you installed the Four Uncles bridge with no notches on the saddles, right? With the strings directly leaning on the saddles. Is this a common practice? Thank you!
I always make notches under the strings, otherwise the strings roll off the saddle when playing.
What about the studs and bushings for the tailpiece?
First I think, as always amazing informative video on replacement vintage parts for the perfect replicas as you always make of the burst Les Paul. Definitely your product looks superior to the Gibson custom shop always in my opinion.
Thank you
Is that pickguard and pickup rings area59 also? Which color for the rings?
No, it is not area 59. Pickguards i made myself. Cream m69 butyrate rings you can find in Philadelphialuthiers.com
ja simple boy. new videos from 8bomb - like ne glyadya
I admit that's the best looking replica ABR1 I've seen. Tone is too subjective so I'm not going to say. I am pretty happy with the faber for now.
Hello there,
How much for a 59 les Paul replica? I’m very interested..
8bombcustom@gmail.com
Респект за самодельные запчасти, не каждый в наших краях таким похвастаться может, мастера все китай ставят, чтоб удешивить или Gotoh/Willinson, щас Guyker(вроде Корея, но надежностью там так себе пахнет), прочие известные "массмаркет" бренды
От такого внимания к мелочам голова кружится, конечно🤯
The only way that you can be sure that an ABR-1 bridge is sonically similar to another ABR-1, such as a real 59, is to measure its resonant frequencies - the frequencies at which it subtracts vibrations from the strings (so not seen by the pickups). Just having a bridge of similar dimensions that looks aged and may have been made with similar metals doesn't guarantee matching sonic characteristics.
You can listen to them in an actual guitar, but that will never be as precise. Because your ears can't pinpoint those particular bridge frequencies.
Not all real 59 abr's sound the same. Don't forget they are cast metal. You can only test if a modern abr sounds similar to a SPECIFIC original but that does not guarantee that the specific original you have is an average or typical example of what old abrs sounded like.
The only thing you can realistically do is replicate the chemical properties and production techniques and hope for the best.
It's a shame that Four Uncles doesn't have a website. I found one that sold on Reverb for almost $450.
It is a real price
Have you tried the 'Kiss My Strings' (KMS) bridge? Made in Germany. Very recommended. I'm interested to hear what you think.
KMS made awesome parts but not historical correct.
Is any1 using hardware from Mojoaxe? What are his vintage parts like?
Many thanks
You can use Gotoh 510 tremolo. That is the true best.
510 tremolo? Fot 59 Les Paul? Blasphemy. 🫣
When your friend says better than original, what exactly does he mean?
What about German Faber ABR-1?
Faber is good one. But not so historical correct.
@@8BombCustomI can second this. I put a Faber on my 1972 because the original wire version has collapsed a little. The Faber sounds amazing, but is not vintage looking.
I wanted four uncles, but none were available at the right time.
How much does it cost?
About 420 euro
I would say get a faber historic bridge. not crazy expensive either.
Faber sounds muth brither than Gibson abr1 but Fou Uncles has that vintage sticki middle frequency. I prefer 4 uncles for special projects. But for common projects it can be Faber.
Норм.
Faber is 10x better!!!!
Only in price 😁
@@8BombCustom it is not expensive, 40€ is not much in Germany
I'm saying that Faber is 10 times better in its price 😅
@@8BombCustom you know more than Derek Trucks I can see.
@@Redrum046And you just can’t seem to accept a difference in opinion.