Tremolo or Hardtail?

Ok, I had too many questions last time so Ill stick to just one. I want a tune-o-matic through the body guitar bridge. Should I have the body drilled with arched holes, angled or staggered? (see webpage under recessed tune-o-matic with string through mounting.) here

Is there any advantages to any of them or are they just for looks?

Thanks,
Jimmy

It's mostly cosmetic... some luthiers believe that it does have a small effect on the sustain of the guitar and also how quickly the strings wear... Sharper string angles on the bridge usually offer more stability but wear the string down faster at that point and can make strings go "sour" much faster and eve break... Mosly I would look at the way other guitar companies are doing it. Schecter for instance is known for it's good sounding guitars in a lower price range... they use a staggered through-body.

I think the most important thing is that the strings should clear the back of the bridge as they slope down to the holes.

Also you might want to search about how best to drill the holes especially if you're going for the straight line lay out.

I think the main problem seems to be the drill bit flexing & lots of people get the layout, drill 1/2 way through except for the two end holes, then drill the other 1/2 way through from the back. There are templates - jig designs about too.