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slotrod65
S'51 Modder
USA
236 Posts |
 Posted - 07/20/2010 : 17:49:20
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I just received one of these short bridges fromAZ Guitar. It looks great!
Question: I feel kinda stupid, but as this bridge does not share any of the stock screw holes, how do I determine how far from the pickup to place it? I want to keep the stock blondie finish, and there is currently a GFS bridge on there (I did not add it, I am the 2nd owner.) I am worried that if I simply place it to cover the current screw holes, that I will not be able to get proper intonation.
Phred
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jcazzy
S'51 Modder
USA
473 Posts |
Posted - 07/21/2010 : 08:19:49
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quote:
Originally posted by slotrod65
I just received one of these short bridges fromAZ Guitar. It looks great!
Question: I feel kinda stupid, but as this bridge does not share any of the stock screw holes, how do I determine how far from the pickup to place it? I want to keep the stock blondie finish, and there is currently a GFS bridge on there (I did not add it, I am the 2nd owner.) I am worried that if I simply place it to cover the current screw holes, that I will not be able to get proper intonation.
Phred
I put masking tape on the body along the edges of the stock bridge and used a straight edge to mark the alignment as a guide for the new bridge. You can also mark where the break point is on the 1st string saddle for positioning the new bridge. One thing you will notice is that the original screw holes will not be covered unless you run the saddles out on the new bridge. I was able to cover the original screw holes on mine and was still able to intonate properly, but I almost ran out of saddle screw length to do this. There was nothing scientific in the way I did mine. Just a lot of eyeballing. If I had to do it over, I probably would have positioned the bridge a bit closer to the pickup and dealt with the exposed screw holes left behind.
Just take a bit of time and you'll be okay. The main thing is for you to be able to intonate the guitar when the new bridge is on.
~ jc |
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Boris Bubbanov
S'51 Mod God
USA
5251 Posts |
Posted - 07/24/2010 : 12:17:47
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I like to cover all the holes from the stock bridge. I re-tap all saddle bores to 6-32 and I then use longer 6-32 hardware especially for the D-G and B little E.
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Boris Bubbanov
S'51 Mod God
USA
5251 Posts |
Posted - 07/24/2010 : 12:25:55
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Now this Taipantone bridge plate is much shorter than the Wilky or a chopped Fender plate, and so the front holes do show, but this image shows you exactly where the saddles should fall relative to the back edge of this style of bridge plate for proper intonation:
This rearward placement is also crucial to keep the string end bindings from coming up and onto the saddle break point especially on the big E and the A strings. 
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slotrod65
S'51 Modder
USA
236 Posts |
Posted - 07/25/2010 : 06:19:23
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Thanks guys,
Based on my initial calculations, the bridge will sit a bit back in order to cover all of the present holes. Some of the screws will have to be almost out to the ends to achive intonation.
Phred |
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tremolux
S'51 Genius in the making
USA
903 Posts |
Posted - 07/25/2010 : 07:07:08
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If you find yourself with (completely) visible screw holes from the original bridge and don't like the look of that, you could drive screws into the open holes. Dummy but decorative hardware. 
$0.02.
~~ Tremolux ~~
Smile - it delights your friends and drives your enemies crazy! |
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Boris Bubbanov
S'51 Mod God
USA
5251 Posts |
Posted - 07/25/2010 : 10:03:45
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quote:
Originally posted by slotrod65
Thanks guys,
Based on my initial calculations, the bridge will sit a bit back in order to cover all of the present holes. Some of the screws will have to be almost out to the ends to achive intonation.
Phred
The other alternative is to use M3 hardware and just use the next longest screw length. That's what I was doing in 2007 and early 2008 perhaps also. Admittedly the break angle of the string is shallower but I think it is imperative not to have the string ball end bindings coming up onto the saddle beak point. To permit that is pretty awful sounding and it chewed on your hand depending on your picking or right hand style.
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slotrod65
S'51 Modder
USA
236 Posts |
Posted - 07/26/2010 : 04:19:57
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| I am converting to "string through" for this bridge, so the string bindings should be down into the body. I guess I will now go searching for some chrome M3 screws... The stock ones appear to be 30mm long. Does anyone have suggestions for sources? |
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Boris Bubbanov
S'51 Mod God
USA
5251 Posts |
Posted - 07/26/2010 : 10:50:48
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McMaster Carr, Bolt Depot.
Avoid Small Parts.com
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stratdaddio
S'51 Genius in the making
522 Posts |
Posted - 07/27/2010 : 18:59:43
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I mounted mine just barely covering the rear screw holes and it intonates fine.
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jcazzy
S'51 Modder
USA
473 Posts |
Posted - 07/27/2010 : 19:21:08
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You replaced the saddle screws, correct? In doing a visual and comparing the two, the bridge is positioned very close to where mine is but the saddle screws in mine do not extend out of the saddles as yours does.
Thanks,
~ jc |
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stratdaddio
S'51 Genius in the making
522 Posts |
Posted - 07/27/2010 : 22:52:14
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| I can't remember if I did or not. I have another one somewhere and will look for it to see if I did change them. |
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Boris Bubbanov
S'51 Mod God
USA
5251 Posts |
Posted - 07/30/2010 : 08:14:34
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Those look stock in length to me.
And that's where I would put it, right there. Yes, the space from the break point back to the ball end might be longer than on a toploaded 59 Telecaster but this way you don't get the wire bindings falling over the saddle break point.
Be careful to check your bridge pickup for alignment before worth begins. Maybe 10% of sunburst 51s have a humbucker rout that is too close to the right side of the guitar - you wanna align the bridge pickup right before placing the new bridge assembly.
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slotrod65
S'51 Modder
USA
236 Posts |
Posted - 07/30/2010 : 08:20:32
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| I checked online, but shipping was a whopping $8. So off to my local hardware store... The stock screws are M3 x 25mm. I did find some 30mm M3 machine screws, but they are not chrome, or stainless. No big deal. |
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Topic |
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Wilkinson Short Bridge (WTBC)
