I've touched on the subject of offset guitar bridges countless times, and here on the blog has certainly seen its fair share of offset bridge waffle over the years! So why am I here yet again typing about offset bridges again? As another has crossed my path that I simply had to spotlight on the blog too.
We truly are spoilt for choice these days with a variety of bridge and vibrato solutions from cheap and cheerful to engineered to perfection pricey offerings. It's a great time to be an offset guitar fan, having said that, it can also be somewhat tricky deciding which bridge solution is the right one for you. I am in a lucky position where I am a professional guitar tech, also running a shop too. So I get to see a variety of offsets pass through my hands, providing me with plenty of chances to try a variety of bridges over the years which has been great. That's alongside my own personal offset modding journey too. I've tried my best to share those findings in prior blog articles, which get views daily, to this very day which is fantastic to see.

At the 2024 Guitar Show in the UK, I was lucky enough to meet and chat to Dan. The welcoming, passionate and knowledgeable man behind a new bridge to the offset scene, The Tuffset Bridge. Dan had set out to make the ultimate rocking offset bridge. As already touched on, we are truly spoiled for choice in the offset bridge world with plenty of options out there to tempt us with. So what made Dan want to put another into the mix? He felt (not his words by the way, my interpretation of them) that there wasn't the perfect rocking bridge solution out there. Why rocking and not fixed? Because Dan simply feels this is the optimal way to get the very best from an offset and their vibrato design.
I have honestly enjoyed fitting, working on and owning both rocking and fixed bridge styles on offset guitars over the years. Providing they're each done well, they both have merit and validity in the market. Let's face it, as players we all have our own preferences and playing requirements. But if you've tried the dedicated fixed, non-rocking design offerings available on the market and it hasn't suited how you play, or you admire the vintage rocking style but haven't yet found a reliable option in that field either, then the Tuffset certainly deserves your full attention.
I had originally intended for this article to of course firstly be a chance to share my thoughts on it, but to also provide a guide for installation and adjustment. But in all honesty, I didn't need to do the latter as the information already provided by Tuffset is detailed and certainly covers that ground. I didn't encounter any moments during the install process where I felt the information provided was a little vague or inaccurate. It was well thought out and certainly more than up to the job in helping anyone perform a setup after installing the bridge. So I will only touch on some minor details regarding install going forward as they benefit discussion about its design, but will provide some photos from my installation process along the way.
Overview

Firstly, rocking bridges; to work optimally and reliably 'rock' with the string movement as the vibrato is used requires one thing, Friction! It's understandable of us to think you want your strings to glide as freely as possible across your bridge saddles, and that may be correct for other bridge styles. But for a rocking bridge, you want it to be consistent, you want and need it to return back to a reliable central position. To move with the string in unison, and that's where string groove design in the saddle is paramount.
On offset bridges you'll likely see two types of string groove on the saddle, a U shape, or a V shape. For the string to sit confidently in the saddle and move in unison with the vibrato action, a V shape string groove is what you need, and that's what adorns the Tuffset. The saddle itself is stainless steel, so perhaps those familiar with the popular Staytrem bridge or Descendant for example will be looked after in that regard. But Dan now also offers a brass saddle alternative, which is a familiar material to those who have used a Mastery, and is also a nice little crossover to other guitar bridge saddle types.


The two outer posts have been made with a smaller overall diameter, for more rocking 'allowance' so to speak! Which it certainly achieves with an impressive amount of travel from its pivot point at the bottom of the body thimbles. Should provide you with ample room for wailing on the wiggle stick!
Adjustments/Setup
Next up is adjustment, which the Tuffset provides in a pretty unique and beautiful way (if you're a weird guitar tech like me and likes that kind of thing). Starting with the saddles, the outer two are 'fixed' in terms of their height adjustments as that ultimately is taken care of by the main post height adjustments. Which, like the traditional design and basically most aftermarket offset bridges out there, are located within the outer two posts that sit within the body thimbles.
Those outer two saddles however do of course feature back and forth adjustment for intonation, of which there is a significant travel distance for which is always reassuring heading into a fresh setup.
And for reference, the string spacing outer E to E is 52mm.

The inner four saddles are height adjustable via a wedge that sits underneath and against the main upper part of the saddle, allowing the player to dial in their preferred height/radius. Whether you love for the strings to hug the radius of your fingerboard perfectly, or prefer to simply dial it in as you see fit, those inner 4 saddle height adjustments will help achieve that. You simply un-lock the saddle via the locking screw on top of the saddle, then head to the vibrato facing side of the saddle where you'll find the wedge adjustment screw which will allow you to raise the saddle to the desired position, ready to be locked back down again.
Intonation is done via the upper saddle locking screw and then simply pushing the saddle itself in whichever direction you need it to go, and locking back in place. Intuitive, effective and simple.

These adjustments feel secure and reassuring. Knowing the saddles are locked in place and won't go anywhere, is certainly a far cry from the often drifting unreliable and inconsistent saddle adjustments on the traditional rocking offset bridge design that's for sure. I must add here, that although other aftermarket offset bridge options have reliable adjustments and some of which do feature some locking features, this as far as I'm aware, is the only one where all adjustments made can be 'locked' and secured in place. So a nice extra bit of reassurance if you hate having to adjust setup, a real 'set and forget' type of design here. Which, for a rocking bridge, is a nice thing I must say.
As I say, I'm not going to go into absolutely every detail of its adjustment as setup, I just wanted to touch on the key details and show some of those via the photos above. This is ultimately because the booklet and online guides provided by Tuffset with the bridge do a great job on providing the purchaser of this bridge with the info and support they need. If you decide to go for one, then you'll be pleased to find a solid install guide provided and I felt (coming from a professional tech standpoint) it covers all the details required in a digestible way. I don't need to document each and every step here today. But I will summarise the setup process and say it is an intuitive process, despite some aspects of the saddle and adjustment design/approach feeling pretty unique I think. There are some aspects to the adjustments that I can't really say I have seen on other bridges, regardless of type. But it was pretty common sense, and intuitive throughout so yes, having some prior setup knowledge is always beneficial when setting up a brand new bridge on any guitar, but their guides, and the bridge itself lends itself well to an easy install process. To further this, the locking elements are well executed and feel trustworthy for years of stress free use on your guitar I think.
Aesthetics

Aesthetics are ultimately such a personal thing, so I can of course share my thoughts on what I like about it and what I don't like about it but that only really applies to me. I personally like the engineered, purposeful look to the bridge, but I don't think it is my personal favourite overall aesthetic. I likely say that is primarily down to the end sections, which look a little oversized and perhaps more rounded edges for example might help with that. But it wouldn't be enough for me to dislike the bridge, as it has so many other pleasing features, particularly in the practical sense. Ultimately some of the aesthetic choices are clearly by design too, which is to benefit its contact surfaces for string resonance, and of course to benefit its adjustability. Areas I respect and like about the bridge, so it soon personally makes me forget about the aesthetic elements that I don't personally like as much as others available. I just suspect some out there it will be something they may struggle to overcome, only you can make that decision though of course!
Also, much like with the Mastery, Descendant and others, it does feature that common machined and brushed steel finish/look too so those who love a good vintage chrome style, might struggle too.
Sound
First and foremost, it is no doubt a resonant bridge. Which when you consider the bridge's only contact point with the guitar's body is two tiny height adjustment grub screws at the bottom of a thimble, is impressive. Dan at Tuffset has clearly tried his best to ensure those strings sit against a saddle and bridge that has as much solid contact surfaces and mass as possible. The guitar is certainly lively, resonant and pleasing to the ear, with notes ringing out well, even during vibrato use.

I am really struggling to find the best way to describe the tonality since installing it however. I expected it to be pretty similar to the prior bridge seeing as the fixed post bridge I removed to test fit the Tuffset, too had stainless steel saddles, but it's different. I wouldn't personally say it's better, or that it's worse, it's just different. Perhaps a little brighter, and as cliche as it is, more focus on the upper mids.
I can only really put this all down to the reduced contact area to the thimbles due to being a rocking design instead of the fixed post design it had installed prior. I would say resonance and overall volume is on par, which as I say, when you consider there is far less contact surface area of the bridge physically against the guitar/bridge thimbles, is very impressive. If you're coming from a rocking bridge design, to the rocking Tuffset design, you're experiences I suspect will see a more dramatic change, as generally my findings of playing, owning and working on offsets with either the vintage/traditional bridge design or something like a Mustang bridge/Staytrem type bridge, is that they're generally not the most resonant guitars acoustically. Pushing the player to play a certain way to coax the best out of them, which too is part of their charm of course. Looking at the Tuffset for what it is, a dedicated rocking bridge design, it is an impressively resonant, present sounding bridge which I think would be a pleasing change from a traditional rocking design.
If you're coming from a quality 'fixed' post bridge design, the resonance from the guitar will be pretty familiar I think, that was certainly my experience. Tonally, it sounds great, but it's different and something I think might take me a bit of time to get used to before I settle into using it and feel at home. I do wonder if the brass version might tame some of the tonality to capture closer to what I personally like. I'm splitting hairs here though really, a prime example of sometimes as guitarists we just need to get back to playing the damn things that worry too much about string saddle material...
It sounds good, the guitar sounds good. I'm not 100% certain the sound is 'right' for me quite yet, but that's a personal thing and it is certainly not a bad sounding guitar as a result of fitting the bridge.
In use
For a rocking bridge design, this is absolutely a reliable, reassuring bridge to use. It's return back to the central pivot point is spot on, no sign of drifting even with heavy vibrato use. Clearly those V string slots/grooves are serving their purpose perfectly. No concerns from me in terms of playing reliability, this thing will keep you going happily I'm certain of it. It's made me trust using a rocking style bridge on an offset, for possibly the first time realistically. Fixed bridges have really earned a place in my heart over the years, particularly after finding the Descendant Companion Bridge which ticked so many boxes for me personally. But if I want to centre a build around a rocking bridge design, this will be the bridge I reach for 100%. It does exactly what it sets out to do.

Presentation/packaging
Now I must say, the Tuffset is presented, quite frankly, perfectly. From placing an order via the well designed and presented website, to the STUNNING packaging, you're treated to a great buying experience. If you like that kind of thing, then you'll be in good hands for sure. You can tell that presentation was important, but thankfully the quality of the bridge itself backs it up!
Overall I am really impressed with what Dan has achieved and created with his design. Approached the rocking bridge design with the mindset of creating the best version of it possible. As I've touched on in this article prior, I have been lucky enough to have owned a wide variety of bridge styles, and worked on a wide variety more, and this really is an impressive creation. It has a valid place in the offset market, and will provide rocking bridge players the very best from the design, no doubt. It may even win over a few from the fixed post crowd too I imagine thanks to this sturdy, resonant, rocking bridge capturing the reliability and resonance those styles of bridges have provided prior.
If you're interested in the Tuffset Bridge, then please check out their website linked below.
https://tuffsetbridge.com/
Thanks for reading,
James
Full disclaimer to end this article. I wasn't paid to write this feature/article, but I was sent a Tuffset Bridge to fit and do with as I please by Tuffset themselves directly. I personally chose to put together this article as a result of trying it out as I wanted to share my thoughts on it with you all. Main thing is I hope it helps with your offset journeys :)