Again, as a bona-fide 3-point lover on my Epi LP Standard, all the break angle talk got me to thinking, because I don't have any trouble with break angle on my Epi Les Paul Standard, but when I look at the bass from the side the reason is obvious: the carved top slopes down below the bridge and the the stud mounts are set a good ways BELOW the actual end of the string travel, creating a backward pitch on the 3-point bridge and overcoming its inherent lack of break angle. I also play with a higher setup than most folks, which helps too. On something like a T-Bird without a negative pitch on the back of the three point, unless the studs were set REALLY high and the neck pitched down pretty far, it would definitely be a vibration killer.
Maybe the 3-point was designed for a carved top bass, and was so expensive to produce that Gibson just stuck it on everything because it was so big and "uptown gaudy" like most of their aesthetics. Back when the bridge was introduced, sustain was probably the LAST quality their perspective customers were looking for, since most of them were guitar players or were trying to emulate the lifeless thump of upright basses on recordings from that era. One thing to say about the the 3-point is that it certainly LOOKS unique, a look I like.
