I Tried The Orangewood Rubber Bridge Guitar Deep Dive Series 

Thanks for the donation to Guitars for Vets, Phil and Orangewood.

I think it sounded killer with overdrive. Fun little guitar for sure.

I think the best use of these is with time based effects like delay and reverb where you don’t want a lot of dry sound. I modded up a beater I had in the project pile to do this and I found I liked it tuned all the way down to C with 13 gauge flats. Tremolo and a loooong reverb were pretty cool sounds. Leads sound like synths with drive.

Dude, you played totally differently than I have ever heard you play because of that weird thing. Awesome!

Like it with the overdrive. Thanks for donating 👍

I love the, "It's not one of those guitars I've been missing in my life kind of thing"

Has a nice rubbery tone.

Rubber Bridge style mutes have been used forever in sessions but this particular style was led by Reuben Cox of Old Style Music in Los Angeles. It's since become a very well used session tool and moreso in the indie-pop and folk scene for a number of years. Taylor Swift is even using them... Hence the many different builders coming out with their own version of the mod and apparently now a retail ready RB guitar. Old Style's formula is somewhat different and I feel allows for better note clarity while still providing that muted sound. I also find them to be pretty subdued acoustically and in standard tuning. Baritone and using the pickup... it's a recording and songwriting gem!

Actually, this was not the guitar used on "Rubber Soul". I meant of course the Song "Rubbery Fields Forever".

Phil, just an awesome video. I love it. Orangewood has been making a difference.

Great video. Been looking for a good rubber bridge demo. Bet it sounds great for recording. A new, different texture to play with. I have a friend that recently bought an Orangewood guitar. Price was ridiculous and it really felt solid and the quality overall was great. Sounds beautiful, too.

You completely had me Phil! 😅

Absolute weirdest thing ever. For late nights after the kids are asleep? Rocking rubber baby buggy bumpers....

I appreciate you not ruining this guitar. I think that’s ridiculous quite frankly.

I recently purchased a Gretsch Jim Dandy, $150 to my door. Clean inside and out and sounds great. Alot louder than you would think. A great kickaround guitar, and I believe they make rubber bridges for them.

I think the old Divarty motorpool gang would've gone with the saw. Or should I say, made the operator do it 😀. Thanks for working with Guitars 4 Vets!

Thank you Phil for having the courage to cut a guitar in half with a saw. 😮😮

What do you want for nothing? RUBBER BISCUIT

While checking for dead notes, you really brought out the banjo in that guitar. Amazing playing, right there.

Nice, it has some unexpected grunt in the lows. I like it :)

I really like the sound going through the amp. It's got kind of a chuga chuga down home country boy blues sound. It probably has a great slide sound as well. Thanks for the vid KYG.

I have this guitar. It’s a really fun instrument to explore. It sounds amazing with the slightest touch of reverb and distortion. It’s very unique and probably not for everyone.

It has a really unique sound. I've never played an Orangewood before, might buy this one.

Honestly I always thought it was needlessly wasteful to see other channels' (ahem, Driftwood) reviews that saw the guitar in half. Using the scope and then donating is awesome. Good on ya, Phil. This guitar is super weird. Not sure if it's for me but I'm sure someone would enjoy it. :)

I ran across a few mentions of rubber bridge guitars on social media in the past few days, and the way they talked about it made it seem like some forgotten type of guitar that was making a comeback rather than something that's been around for a decade, or so.

I may be naive , but I just don't understand the desire for a guitar that sounds "dead". I want my guitars to ring out with as much sustain and clarity as possible. In fact I feel a guitar with excellent sustain to be a sign of a quality guitar with a quality set-up. If I want the notes to be muffled I simply mute them with my palm or fretting hand. I just don't get the need for this. Kudo's though for the "Guitars for Vet's' donation ***

I love my Guitarchaeology rubber bridge baritone with Chromes on it.

Just imagine how much better it would sound with a rigid saddle.

I first saw videos with Rubber Saddle Bridges about a year ago when I heard of Ella Feingold and "Inverted Tuning." Interesting and creative approach to guitar playing, and tone. Amazingly clean gluing inside the Orange Guitar. How is the intonation at the 12th fret with the Rubber Saddle?

I tried to find reasons to appreciate this sound, but in the end it's just not for me. The low strings can be fun like this, but the high thin strings just sound bad to me. But that was an informative video and I appreciate it, thank you. :)

I'm so glad you didn't cut it apart. Thanks for all you do

Very similar to my Gretsch Jim Dandy except for the bridge.... which I love ! Thanks for the demo Phil .Love the overdrive sounds !!

Very impressed with scope camera versus destruction of an instrument. Excellent evaluation/test drive video! Great to see it going to a deserving veteran. 👍

Wow - Phil must not have a lot of Indie Rock fans since this has been a thing for years. Phoebe Bridgers, Perfume Genius, and Madison Cunningham used them to craft unique sounding songs. This spread even to the pop world with Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo using them.

Next week, Rubber Frets!

Nice one, Phil. Rubber bridge has been flittering about the gossip chambers for being kinda cool. I really like how that guitar sounds.

This got popular because some guy modded a bunch of crappy Harmony guitars like this and Taylor Swift made an album with one.

don't have to mess with palm muting!

Man, I want one of those so bad .. Ever since it was on the JHS channel .. Thanks for not cutting it apart and donating it ..!!

Rubber? I hardly know her!

It sounds much like a palm muted classical guitar to me. I get the sound someone might go for. As someone who sings while playing I would use it when softer guitar is desirable. I have to admit that I love the tones with gain added.

The commenters might be referring to Driftwood Guitars, they slice the bodies open for their reviews.

actually after hearing it plugged in it does grow on me and I sorta like the deep bass .versatile

Tone Rubber. Nice. Seriously great review and nice playing in the video. I want to fabricate a rubber saddle for a 30" scale electric bass to get a thud sound with little sustain. I think this method would achieve the sound more than any of the mutes I have tried. Great video loaded with good info. Cheers.

They’re fun and inspiring. Can get folksy or grunge nasty with distortion. To me they are great for studio use. They’re trendy for now so modding any cheap parlor guitar will get same results.

Great review Phillip, but that guitar would be as useful to me as a macrame kite 😬

I would love something like this with a wooden bridge.

The Juniper's price tag is very reasonable, making it affordable and even worth considering as a first guitar for beginners. Its smaller size might help kids feel less frustrated, so they'll stay interested longer, while the quieter sound would make it more bearable for others during home practice sessions. One thing that concerns me: is there a way to obtain a new rubber bridge when it's time to replace the older one? Will Orangewood handle selling those or will they get a 3rd party to do that? Can the bridge be easily converted to using an ordinary acoustic guitar saddle?

As a G4V grad thank you for your support!

Sounded great, both with and without the distortion. Would've been fun to hear a regular amped acoustic run through the same setup, but still, great demo video.

I get that sound by jammng a piece of closed cell foam packing material under the strings at the bridge.

I don't understand why but when I see this guitar I'm reminded of Kowalski the Penguins of Madagascar.

And we finally get to see the elusive nylon sock lunchbox!

Sounds exactly like it's supposed to sound. Neither "bad" nor "good". Useful for certain situations and songs. Blake Mills knows which.

From further away I thought the rails on the pickup helped it blend in more with the fretboard. Didn’t even really notice it through the main camera. Could have been what they were going for.

That's the same knob on the SuperSonic amp

Hi nice video 📹 and workmanship sounds good nice guitar 🎸

I think the Emperor has some rubber clothes this time.

Have been looking for a keeper parlor / 0 guitar but honestly would not be able to get pass the whole zero sustain thing. Still sounded cool plugged into an amp with OverDrive.

Seriously Phil, you gotta come to Austin some Monday and see Bob Schneider at Saxon Pub. Grab a table stage-side and get ready for serious fun.

@Phil thanks for sharing 🎸🎶🎶

Every indie/folk hipster got a rubber bridge a few years ago. I think the ultimate is probably a Harmony Buck Owens with a rubber bridge conversion.

Nice video, Have you considered using the benny hill yakety sax song for the music when you play through all the frets? That would be amusing!

I think those Ernie Ball flat-wounds are for electric guitars. Thought it sounded pretty dead when you played acoustically. But rubber bridge with flats is supposed to be dead, which probably explains laminate side and back. I do wonder how acoustic strings would sound on this thing.

Better play some Soundgarden on that beast. Room 1000 Years Wide or Outshined

Tonerubber!

Would be cool to use in recordings. Something that sounds different from the 3 guitars that get used on 99% of recordings!

other than the rubber bridge it seems fine. there are easier ways to mute a reg acoustic. then you can do either

This makes no sense to me. I'm old. I play a HD28. This seems the total opposite of a good sounding guitar. I'm old. How long does the rubber last? How often do you need to replace it?

My asian friend said “it’s rubbery!”

It's "The Rubber Bridge Blues Band" for one night only! Get your tickets now boys because they are going FAST!!! YeeeHaaa!!!

Nice mellow tone...... I want to put on a long hair wig and sing tiptoe through the tulips without amplification.....instant ukelele jive!

Great review Phil!

I dig it! Kinda has a nylon sound unplugged imo. Sounds great with some OD. I have a Gretsch Jim Dandy, now I kinda want to put a pick up in it 😂 ✌🏼

Is this the guitar the Beatles used on Rubber Soul album? 😉

imagine if the rubber saddle was easily removable, then it could do both.

Obviously an acquired taste. Not my thing at all, lol. It is interesting, though. I have an Orangewood Austen dreadnought and is quite nice, especially given its low price. Glad to see them responding to the market.

Well done, I’d much rather see that guitar go to a veteran rather than destroying it. Nice job!

I’ll take 2! Love it!

Couldnt you achieve a very similar sound by just wedging an appropriately thick piece of, say mousepad, under the strings just north of the bridge? I had a little piece of foam from a monitor isolation pad stuffed under the strings of my short scale bass and it was pretty effective.

hey Mr.McKnight! ive been trying to save up for a strandberg boden 8 standard, do you think you could do a video on one? I'm trying to figure out the color of the blue model, every photo I've seen looks different. keep up the great content!

I send all my "whoops" to guitars for vets! I assume that was plugged in when the volume was up?? That actually might work well playing (sort of) bass at a 2-3 person happy hour gig. I used to use a cheap semi-hollow w/flats and neck pup like that. Non-amplified, with very low volume? Not even a good couch guitar it seems? Hard to tell... Thanks! --gary

I like most everything about it, except the rubber bridge

coolest trend in guitar in a long time

If you play, you know. Blues, jazz, 1920's Leon Redbone. Joe Walsh.😁

I like the look very much - so much so that I ordered one. Then I thought about it for a few more minutes and changed my mind. Now that I've heard it - even with the limitations of my computer speakers and coming over the web - I'm glad I didn't buy one. Orangewood generally makes guitars I like, but I don't like the rubber bridge sound at all.

SHARPEN MY AXE: Rubber Saddle....???

Is this latex rubber or silicone? I’m allergic to latex.

The guitar sounds like a recording from 1920....

?? I love your shop shirts Phil , I hope they become part of what you sell on the channel. But how can you stand to wear 2 shirts when it’s in the 90s???? I can barely wear 2 shirts in the 60s! ❤ I really don’t like the muted sound very much Without overdrive …

If I was that person who has a rack of guitars on stage... ok, if I was thinking about my 5th acoustic, this might be it. don't reckon I'll ever get there...

I think Tomo has one? Thanks Philip 🎉👏👏💯💜🤍💙❤

Thanks Phil for trying something so we don't have to!

Can you adjust intonation on that wide rubber saddle? 🤔 Though I guess acoustics are generally fixed anyway, so its probably no worse than any other.

It sounds like you are palm muting the strings. I suppose if you like to play continuously with your palm on the strings, this may be the guitar for you? For some reason, I was expecting a warmer tone using the rubber saddle. I was very wrong. Odd, how an acoustic actually sounds better using electric guitar FX. That may be the niche for this instrument. Not for acoustic players but for electric players that want to include an acoustic type guitar to their arsenal. Thanks Phil for the demo! Always can count on your reviews to determine if this is something I can use or not. Cheers!

Nice

I don't get the rubber bridge thing. While it's not for me, I'm not going to bash it. It does sound cool with distortion. I have a Gretsch Gin Rickey which scratches my electrified parlor guitar itch, so I'm not in the market for another one. That said, I'm looking forward to hearing what some folks will do with this one. I LMBO when you whipped out the circular saw.

fun video, phil!

Video idea! How to make your own rubber bridge guitar.

I donated money strings to G4V