NB(bridge)Day: Halon JM-AOM

[bipedal2]

Was looking for an alternative to the Wilkinson roller bridge that I've had on my Squier JMJM for years. Decided to splurge and give the Halon a try as they offer a version that fits 74mm post spacing.

I'm impressed with the Halon so far. The Wilkinson bridge I'd been using functioned well enough and seemed to add a subtle jangle to the acoustic tone, but the string spacing was a bit narrower than the pickup polepieces, and even after lots of fiddling with saddle shims cut from aluminum cans I could never get the roller bridge's saddle radius dialed in the way I'd wanted. Both issues are solved with the Halon.

To my ears, the Halon preserves more high end "zinginess" compared to the Wilkinson (note: I kept same strings on when I swapped the bridges), which I'm happy with, as I seem to be getting a bit more bite and clarity out of the mid-heavy p-90-style stock pickups. No problems with setting intonation, and the Halon has a flatter/lower overall profile compared to the Wilkinson, so I have more room to adjust string height.

Shipping from Greece to Massachusetts took about 5 weeks.

(I suppose a proper review would also compare to the guitar's stock AOM bridge, but that hunk of metal was relegated a long time ago to a parts bin far, far way.)

[JVG]

Thanks for the review. Which metal/alloy did you choose?

I’ve been contemplating a Halon for quite a while. They are expensive but look to be very well made.

[mekhem]

I can confirm that they are a very solid piece and that Halon is great to work with.

Mine had brass saddles and it brightened up the sound rather nicely, but there are a lot of options to tweak what you want.

[bipedal2]

Thanks for the review. Which metal/alloy did you choose?

I’ve been contemplating a Halon for quite a while. They are expensive but look to be very well made.

I went with the base options of steel/chrome for both the plate & saddles.