The flimsy bridge from the Chinese guitar (right) was unmarked and had no thumbscrew adjusters, the intonation screws passed through the body of the Bridge. The Gibson Bridge (left) is stamped as Gibson ABR1, is much sturdier, and the intonation screws rest in a groove in the top of the bridge, they are often held there with a spring clip.
The chinese “ABR” bridge also uses posts that screw into threaded inserts in the body whereas the genuine ABR posts screw directly into the wood. I changed the bridge on my chiness 335 for a Gotoh Nashville type – much better contact between the theaded posts and the inserts. Incidentally I hate that wire on the ABR-1 – the one on my Les Paul vibrates- but if you take it off and break a string, you lose a saddle. No wonder GIbson invented the Nashville bridge.
All good points – thanks Graeme – have you tried putting a dint in the retainer wire? I saw it in a book about Gibsons with rattly ABR wires. Basically put a sharp dent in the ABR wire with a screwdriver, between a couple of the retainer screws. This increases the tension enough to avoid rattles and has made the ABR bridge on my 1996 Les Paul Jimmy Page just fine!