Perfect timing on this video - I happen to be researching toploaders for a thinline build. I had no idea the difference was that big on the tone. I looooove the slightly beefier and strat-like tone. I own several teles but no toploaders yet, and now I am even more excited for this one! Thanks. :)

Excellent vid dude.. you totaly answered my question and very happy as I have the top load type. Thanks so much you do a top notch job - keep up the good work!!

loved the playing at the beginning. I just started playing and I am working hard on sounding better. I bought a cheap tele with a toploader. I considered drilling the body to convert it... but now after hearing this I won't. Instead I'll just use the time saved to practice a bit more :)

Cool video Jay, as usual, and very informative. I have a Japanese squier tele from the eatly 90's which is a top load bridge model also. And I love it! And now, I know more why I love it. Thanks.

Both sound good. Its more of a "feel and preference" thing.

I also break a LOT of strings due to the same issue as you Jay, I gig a LOT down here in SWFL, so this info is VERY informative, thanks!!! I've never been much of a Tele guy until I bought a cheap Squier bullet, & I just fell in love with the feel & tone, especially using the pickup switch in the middle, love that funky tone!!! I just subbed to your channel, you ROCK BROTHER!!! Be safe, Rock On & God Bless!!!

Great video; really clear. String through sounds classic tele. Top load has a hint of strat, as you say.

Nice playing as always Jay! I really liked the demo at the end, it was cool to hear the differences. I think I preferred the sound of the string through body but it's really subtle. I'm sure you could make much larger differences by changing amp or pedal settings so it makes sense to just string it how you prefer for feel. It's nice that this guitar offers both options.

Nice video and very well explained! It made me want to try top-loading my Tele! However, I actually preferred the string-through-body sounds in the little comparison at the end. I think the extra punch and transient attack gave it a bit more clarity and balls.

Great information. I just ordered the pro 2 and am looking forward to trying the top load method. Thanks.

Thanks for a great and valuable demonstration and explanation. I don't make it through most explanatory tubes because they tend to waste a lot of time. But this was on point from beginning to end. I feel like I really learned important relevant new information. So that is a good sign. I think.

Thanks!! Looking to make a Tele my next purchase and am very intrigued by this. Can totally hear the “compression” of top loader Great playing👍👍

This video has come at a good time for me! I've set my Tele up both string-through and top-load in the past. I currently have it set string-though at the moment, but have snapped strings on 2 occasions recently, which I haven't done for some time. I'm contemplating going back to top-load on the next string change.

I just did an A/B comparison yesterday, and picked the strings through bridge. I liked the sound better, and didn't know why. Now I do, thanks to your video.

Thanks alot for your help in this area. I've been back and forth with this and this cleared up some things for me. Great Video!!!

Always preferred top loaders ever since I had an old old 80s Japanese squire. It was just so naturally resonate

Great videos, I just seen these last 2 because I have a Pro 2 Tele and it's through body right now and I'm glad I found your videos as well because your playing is very refreshing

Fascinating video. I agree about the sound differences. Personally, I prefer the string-through sound. Great to have the option on models like the American Pro II.

All the "advantages" you mentioned are reasons I love string-thru Teles - except for breaking strings and tuning instability, which I cannot confirm myself. As I basically watched this video to see if I'd get happy with a top-loader, this was very informative. Thanks.

I bought a Squier Mustang HH about 1.5 years ago w/a top loading bridge, and I agree - the sound is softer & the strings slinkier - especially since the Mustang is 24” scale. I swapped out the pups to Alnico II lower output HB’ers. Real fun guitar now.

Totally agree on this ......I have both top-load and string-through body tele and I prefer the top load. It stays in tune much better and like you said the string to string sounds more unison.

Great video Jay! Just subscribed today, much respect from PEI to Vancouver. Cheers

G&L ASAT with top loading bridge. I love it.

Glad you made this video - I was wondering about this - not much on the web on this. I have an American Pro II Tele - I am trying the top load now.

Very informative and your playing KILLS! I’m a fan, dude.

I like string through. There is enough difference in volume and tone for me. But I think since we all play different, having the option is a fantastic idea!

You have a great point there JLJ...I owned a top load and people commented on the great tones it got. I had never had a string through so I didn't know the difference then until you pointed this out.

Great video -- I whole heartedly agree with *almost* everything Jay says here. Lots of real info and no mythology or nonsense when it comes to the differences between top-loaders vs. string-though. The only point I disagree with is...I absolutely prefer everything about the string-throughs. I like the sound, I like the feel -- it's what I want a tele to be! But music is absolutely about finding your thing and making it work for you, so if a top-loaded tele (or a hard-tail strat, for that matter) is your thing, go for it!

Tuning, tone, bend feel, attack. You made all the right points.

I have a MIM Baja Telecaster that I absolutely love, & I've actually thought of carefully machine drilling holes into the front of that bridge plate, so that I have the option of loading the strings from either way. 😃

Thank you! I always prefered the feel of the top-load but never compared the tone directly. Interesting that there is a difference. But I think I prefer top-load tone too, because it feels that it will take less EQing for the mix, because top-load sounds a bit "less" and therefore clearer in a good way, more mix ready in my opinion.

My first Fender Telecaster is a 1992 MIM with a toploader bridge and I wasnt even aware of when I got one. And it is my favorite guitar still to this day. :)

Maaan you really nailed it! I hear defenetely a difference and it's true, the top load is more straty. I'm tele player and I'll defenetly try top load the next time I re-string it.

I just put a top loading bridge with 3 brass saddles on my Tele tonight. It originally had a modern 6 saddle. I must say it transformed the guitar, it definitely has a slinkier feel now, which appeals to me much better. I almost sold this guitar, but not now.

Thanks for the great explanation on the top-loader bridge. I have a Fender 75th Anniversary commemorative telecaster and recently noticed it has the top-loader option. Next string change i'll be trying it out. It does feel stiff with 10's, looking forward to the top load to loosen it up a bit.

Thank You! That's exactly what I was looking for from my tele!

Great tip my friend. I love the tele sounds!

Very interesting thanks for the video. You can definitely hear the clarity. The string through body has more beef to it but that isn't necessarily a good thing as those frequencies should be for your bassist.

YES!!! THANK YOU I was hoping you would make this video

My first and most cherished guitar IS (still have it) a 80's Japanese Squier by Fender toploader, absolutely love that guitar!! Only wrong thing is it's a six saddle bridge with no side walls, L- shaped plate: the saddles move with heavy strumming. Great video!!

I never dreamed there would be an advantage to the top load. Makes sense now that you explain it.

yep. nailed it. on every point. I have a '59 top loader and a '68 thin line (through body), and have played a lot of them; particularly, the '59 is easier to bend and the attack is sweeter. not a huge difference but noticeable if you know Tele's...

Fascinating video Jay! Thanks! I made my transition to the Tele, not from the steel-string acoustic, but from the nylon-string classical. That is why I prefer top loading Teles over through-body loading Teles. It's a no-brainer really. Both sound and feel of the toploader are closest to sound and feel of the classical. Later I started replacing my top-loading Tele bridges with top-loading one-part post-based bridges. They look a bit like Gibson LP Junior wraparounds, except you don''t 'wrap' your strings, but 'thread' them from the top, instead. I wanted a lot more 'Hint of Classical', and I got it that way! They are the 'Dorian' bridges. There's a few low picture quality lab demos of them I keep on my YT channel. You can have a look and a listen if you want. You mentioned string break angle at the witness point. You're right: the angle is fairly sharp when you load your strings Through Body, and is rather shallow, when you load your strings from the top. But that's not the only physical difference in play, since there's also the Tail Portion to consider: the length of the string between attachment point and witness point. The Tail Portion' is a lot shorter when you top-load, than when you through-body-load. The shorter Tail Portion shares the responsibility for the 'slinky-bouncy feel' equally with the more shallow break angle at the witness point. If you want to avoid the one string feeling a lot slinkier than the string next to it, try 'Equalised Tension' strings, or 'Balanced Tension' strings. In my set, each of the six strings pulls seven kilos. They sound equally bouncy, but feel less slinky. Not because the strings are less elastic, but because the Big E, the D, and the B no longer feel like a sudden drop in tension, coming from the strings adjacent to them.

I've played guitar for 50 years this Christmas (2022), I've won my share of guitar competitions, and I've built guitars for nearly as long as I've played. I only just recently got my first Tele, an astonishingly good copy, that has no string-through option. I was unsure about the top loading thing at first, but I've come to like it a lot. And from a purely theoretical/technical POV, you're spot on with all your observations. Too much angle is sometimes problematical, (intonation issues - to mention one you didn't) just as too little can cause a loss of sustain. But much of this is theoretical. It was good to actually hear the proof of the pudding. There is a difference. The top loader speaks more crisply and articulately. It's like the difference between a piano (string through) and a harpsicord (top loader). They both have their place. It's a matter of personal preference. Top loader works well for me.

Jay, you always rock to the maximum!

I could easily hear it with headphones! Really liked the sound but have never tried. Looking forward to trying one out!

Hello Jay, I think the top loader has more low end and gives you a thicker tone. The string thought the body has a brighter attack. They both sound good. I was going to buy a telecaster and trying to decide on which type to get. I like the sound of both so the deciding factor is going to be how it actually plays. The comfort of playing a certain body style, weight, the feel of the radius of the fretboard and neck profile all have to be considered.

I'm lucky to have a bridge that allows top loading (Trevor Wilkinson) and I'm definitely going to give it a try. Thanks for the video and keep up the good work!

string life on a top loader is just insane and the tone is great imo, i love both!

Love that funky groove on your last bit there. Love me some telle’s

I think top loaded works well if you do pedal steel type bends all over the place, saves the finger tips. But if you play very aggressive it may feel a little " rubber band " like to some. Both sound great though.

Great video sir, I'm looking to buy one of these and didn't know the difference between the two loading methods which you have eloquently explained. Thank you from the UK

Many Tele saddles are really gentle to the strings with big radius round contact surface. There are no knife edges. I think that you could wrap the strings few times around the saddles without string breakage problems.

Awesome video Jay, I just landed in the Philippines a couple of months ago and couldn’t handle not having a Tele to play for 3 months so I bought a locally made Tele top loader, it sounds and plays great , imho I reckon it plays just as good as the other thru body teles I have in Australia., thanks again.

Thanks. Very informative. Great demoing. Trying to upgrade an Affinity Squire Telecaster. More interested in a vintage look. I'm not good enough to be looking for tone. Love my tele though....

3:18 My hat! That’s about the same as the wraparound thing with tune-o-matic stop bars, mainly with Gibsons. People also say that having smaller break angle over the TOM when wrapped around gives a feeling of easier to bend strings.

I'm a bit late to the conversation but I just bought a g&l espada (the one with the split P-bass style pickups) and it's a top loaded guitar. It sustains forever, no string through needed. Those g&l bridges really do the magic ✨ best guitar I've ever had 😍

I am building my tele with a top load option. I was doing it for easiness. Glad to see a better reason.

Slightly prefer the string through body sound. It has plenty of twang but also more clarity and warmth, at least to my ear. I have a G&L tele with MFD p90s that is top load only but I feel the extra tonal brightness kinda evens out the darkness of p90 style pickups. They all sound great though, nice playing!

Great playing ! I dig it

I love the way my top loader plays,I do have a string thru Tele too,and the strings feel way too tight, slinky strings are not only easy to bends,but it's easier to grab chords too,what you give up is a little more sustain and a slight bit of punch,there was a noticeable difference, top load sounded a little brighter but subdued,kind of like screwing a pickup all the way down,I can live with the slight drop in tone,for that wonderful playability.

There must also be something in the fact that when top-loaded, the strings are mounted directly onto the metal plate that the saddles and the bridge pickup are screwed on to? As in all the vibrations from the strings get transferred through not just the saddles but also the mounting holes and it must all feed through the tray and into the pickup to give you a slightly different sound, even if just a tiny bit? Just a theory, I'm probably talking rubbish XD

About the saddleheigt: Increasingthe neck angle with some shims will allow you to raise the saddles, and the action will still be the same. A lot of people do this on jazzmasters.

Man your playing is addicting! Your reactions are same as mine for each note n tone lol

I put a hip shot titanium bridge on a cheap tele copy top load and it sounds great! Wicked playing jlj!!!!

Cool vid, man! Something I never gave a lot of thought to but you made some great points... I have to agree with you and your preference. Very subtle difference but then again, subtleties fall into the "less is more" way of playing so, by proxy, it's better. Hahahahaha! 🤘🤘

This is a really good video, thanks for making it. Now I'm sure I prefer thru-body.

In this video I prefer the version with strings through the body. For that is the way it is and always should be. But I will check a top-load to check if I prefer that playability. Thanks for this great video!

I have not yet played a Top-Load Telecasters, I will give it a try. I do agree some of the points in this video. To my ear, string through body => Sharp sound, powerful dynamic. string through bridge => warm/round, more gentle sounding coming out.

if you have to listen to the A/B to tell the difference, then just do the one you prefer. once you add some pedals on it, reverb, and an amp, there are plenty of things that will move your tone around more.

Same reason i love my 1981 Ibanez Blazer. Top loaded brass bridge.

I have two and was wondering if it made a difference...now I know , thanks 🎸🤟🍻

Well, I have a Harley Benton TE-30 It has a solid Ash body and has no holes in the body for strings to go through. so I have no choice but top loading. I agree with Jay on everything and add it has a more jangly tone to it.

I’ve got two top loaders yet I’ve always gone string through the body. I will eventually try the other way. I am already happy with how they both sound so I haven’t felt the need to do so.

Hey jay, great video as always :D. What do you think about the modern 6 saddle tele bridges? The breakangle is kind of inbetween the topload and trough body method.

I have a Fender Modern Player plus Tele and it’s strung through body. I love the sound and versatility. I however, ordered a Jimmy Page Mirror Signature Telecaster that gives you the ability to do both. I will probably leave it top loaded. Jimmy Page seams to like it lol. I’m sure I will too.

String through sounded better to me in all the A/B comparisons, but there's no way I could tell without a direct A/B comparison. I love string through and sharp attack angle, but I also play way softer so it works out.

I have one of each. Just LOVE Teles in general!

I can heard the subtle differences. Like you stated, the top loading mellows out the attack. I like the top load option. My tele is through the body. I would love to make it a top loader but I can mess with the vibe that it gives me. That means that I must buy another tele! 😎

I have a top load 96 Mexican tele that really rocks for a Mexican tele! When I heard your comparison it’s clear that top load sounds much closer to the authentic old school tele sound.

I like the top loader. To me, its sounds more lively and doinky which i love. the string through sounds more dense and solid and not as lively...to me at least. But , i bet it depends on a number of factors on the particular guitar

Jim Campilongo says one advantage is the back of a top loader makes a great writing desk without the string through holes!😅

Couldn't be more right on all points. Add it's just takes out a little complexity when building a guitar also. The Korean Wilkinson ashtray toploader bridges with brass comp saddles at $25 are awesome!

Thank you!!! Wonderful!!

What would it be like to load the low E, A and high E, through the body, and the D, G, and B Top loaded? Tighter snappier feel on the low notes, and high E, with a looser, rounder, and easier to bend feel in the middle. Would be cool to experiment with this Tele since you can do both? In general, I prefer the string through. Get the roundness and compression from the amp.

I agree with everything you said which is why I'm drilling my body for string through🤣

My Squier Affinity Telecaster, also toploaded, thanks you. My only problem with this style of Tele is at string-change time: threading the string through the hole in the back of the bride and then up through the hole in the block saddle, all that times six, is a finicky and sometimes frustrating job.

Got have a top loader Squier Tele, Korean made, that I used for years on the live scene in th UK, fantastic sounding guitar, slightly thinner body than a standard, it's still with me now hanging on my wall tuned to open G. Think it was made in the late 80s or early 90s, but I love it a very unique sound. :-) Great video thanks.

I like the punch and attack of the through body, in the comparison sometimes the through body sounds better, sometimes the other way around. I think it's of course preference, but I always like the way a through body sounds

Great video. Thank you!

Agreed, I love mine because it’s got a cutaway in the back too. 💀🔥

Both variants have their own qualities. Beautiful playing dude.

as an acoustic player I only play pin-less bridges like on Lowden guitars (Ireland). The Martins and Gibsons have the issue of the 90 degree angle and the pins. On good acoustics you will definitely hear the big difference! If you still have doubts just think of the strings on violins or even in pianos … no harsh angles !

Top load for my Tele Deluxe. My favorite guitar tone. More of a rocker between the top load and the buckers. Sold my LP after doing so. Way lighter and more comfortable to play. And I don't have to handle it like a museum piece. And it stays in tune better. And............

Great video, awesome guitar you have there.break angle very important,on ant electric guitar

What l do is thread the string through its own ball end, making a loop that l hook directly onto the brass barrel. This is the shortest possible string length and makes bending up to four and a half tones a breeze.

Now I really need a tele. That would make me play as well as you do. 😃

I have a "T type" partscaster I put together went with a Wilkinson bridge that'll go either way on the string load option. I've decided not to drill those six holes through the body. If I had a drill press, maybe things would've been different. Turns out it sounds good to me and plays fine as well, so that's the way it'll stay.

The string-through has more *throat.* Top load *bites* more. I have both. Best of both worlds.

Never had problems keeping my HW1 Tele in tune, it’s rock solid & one of my more stable guitars.