I’m one of those who’s hooked on the slightly metallic overtones produced by Gibson’s adjustable bridge from the ‘60s, including the ones incorporating adjustable plastic bridges. Not to say that it’s the only guitar tone I enjoy, but it’s certainly one of them.
Even as virtually every luither out there will bash the heck out of these adjustable bridges, when it’s removed, the instrument’s tone will change either for better or worse - dependent on the perspective of what your ears want to hear.
Hey, I think I get where you’re coming from. I have a soft spot for the odd and offbeat too, and like you, I’ve never felt the need to apologize for it.
If you love that adjustable metallic saddle sound, you might check out some of what Framus was issuing in the ‘60s and ‘70s. Their adjustable saddles were some of most wretched sounding things I’ve ever come across — might be right up your alley!
I’ve owned at least 10 Framuses (Framii?) over the years, including my first and second 12-strings, and still have one six-string model (the same acoustic Keith Richard used on the early Stones albums) and three of their longneck banjos.
I have an all bamboo guitar (front, back, sides and neck) made by Yamaha that got panned by everyone — some of the online reviews are hilarious. Production was very short-lived. It doesn’t sound good, but it doesn’t sound like anything else either, and I like it for that reason.
The archtop Givson guitar (yes, Givson, made in India) I got at a yard sale in Rhode Island for 10 bucks a decade ago looks like it was carved with a dull pocket-knife.
It was all but unplayable when I got it, so I raised the nut and play it with a slide and quite like its crude, inelegant sound.
I’ve also got a Kay K-22 jumbo and a couple Harmonys that appeal to me.
And let’s not even get into the various and bizarre off-brand (way off-brand) electrics I owned back when I played electric guitar.
The “problem” with that Gibson was it sounded too good as it was (it wasn’t bad enough or weird enough to be anything other than a great sounding acoustic) and it definitely sounded better with a conventional saddle, even by its own standards.
Again, to my ear.