My name is Paul and I did the engineering on the Perfect Tune Bridge. I read through these postings and think I can help shed some more light on the system. I think you guys have been perceptive enough to hit all of the interesting points. Here are my comments on them:
o Cost etc.
This product is the first ever bridge that keeps a stringed instrument in tune. It has more parts and higher precision than a typical bridge, and it is being produced in limited numbers. It isn't meant to be the perfect bridge for every player, but we think it will be appealing to live performers, studio musicians, and other players who really want to stay in tune. Interestingly, one of the things that separates a $300 guitar from a $1000 guitar is the quality of the hardware which affects how well it stays in tune. Putting the Perfect Tune on an inexpensive guitar makes it suddenly stay in tune far better than even the best conventional guitar.
o Vs. Other Bridges
There are a lot of technologies which try to either make it easier to tune a guitar, or make the system more stable so it won't go out of tune as quickly, but every system is susceptible to string stretch and temperature change. The special thing about this one is that it doesn't go out of tune regardless of the source of string movement.
o Vs. Other Trems
This bridge doesn't have a trem arm and isn't really comparable to other trem bridges. Some nice things about the Perfect Tune is that bending (or breaking) one string doesn't affect the others, and nothing is locked down so changing strings is just as easy as a stop tailpiece setup.
o Bending
The string can move about 1-1/2 turns of the tuning machine without changing pitch. To bend, you just tighten the tuning machine until you hear it go sharp, then back off about 1/8 turn and you can bend quite nicely. The last segment of this YouTube video demonstrates this.
o Feel
- Fretting: As far as fretting goes, pretty much everybody has reacted very positively to the feel. They like the springy forgiving feel. In fact, we found that for many people who tried it the feel was the thing they liked the best.
- Bends: For bends, unless the system is set up way away from the bend stop people don't seem to notice anything different with the bends. At NAMM we tried just handing the guitar to people to play without knowing anything about the bridge and nobody had a problem bending. I think that is because people bend by feel and pitch, not by finger position. However, if you back the string off the effect is very dramatic- you can push the string halfway across the fretboard and have no change in pitch. This is an interesting option if you want to avoid pitch changes on a particular string.
- Vibrato: I am not sure what people have to say about that. I didn't get any specific feedback (or complaints) from NAMM on that.
o Compatibility
- It only fits stop tailpiece T-O-M setups.
o Tremolo Function
- The point of this product was to stay in tune, and the trem function was just a bonus. I agree that it would be great to have a trem arm. It just wasn't very easy to implement in this design.
o Palm Muting
- The front ends of the trem arms are very close to the pivot axis of the arms, so it takes a bit of force to move them (like for a divebomb). Therefore you can lightly rest your hand there. However, the bridge is high in that area and you are correct that to palm mute you have to move up a bit. It is something that each individual will have to evaluate based on personal preferences.
o Intonation
- The guitar is very easy to intonate, and interestingly we have found that it seems to intonate in a straight line. We think this is because as you fret the string, that small deflection has no effect on pitch, while on a regular guitar it makes a string go a little sharp and the amount of sharpening depends on the string diameter.
o Tone
- I think you have to decide for yourself if you like the tone, or listen to the opinions of people you respect who have played it.
-Paul