Parts: 1950s Gretsch-style Synchro-Sonic Melita Bridge

I found this bridge in the strangest place -- on a 1980s mini-Explorer guitar that had been turned into a lap steel. There's a pic of it "found fresh" amongst the others.

This is a genuine, late-'50s (or at the latest, early '60s) Melita bridge of the style found on old Gretsch guitars from the time. I think it's the last version, too, having a full one-piece plastic base rather than a mix of materials and "low profile" thumb screws.

For reference, check out Scotty Moore's site with all the details on the Melita bridges -- he's exhaustive on it and it's a great resource.

What you see is what you get -- it cleaned-up decently but has some tarnish where the thumbscrews have corroded onto the plating beneath them. Everything functions well and I've lubed it and set compensation roughly for a generic 3-wound, 3-plain electric setup.

These bridges are actually pretty neat in that they self-correct for an archtop's top curvature using flexible feet and a T-bar-shaped post that can rock to adjust. Why a mass-market, wood-bodied version of the same idea is not commonplace for acoustic archtops is beyond me. It would save a lot of hobbyists a lot of trouble when trying to fit archtop bridges to Grandpa's old Harmony and the like...