billsterl Posted October 27, 2005 Report Share Posted October 27, 2005 I am new to this and this may be a stupid question. I am putting together a tele from purchased parts. I have a question about the bridge placement. This is a through the body set up. My body has holes for the strings but no holes drilled for the bridge. Do I use the string holes to line up and reference the placement of the bridge or is a better way? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted October 27, 2005 Report Share Posted October 27, 2005 If you're lucky then your neck is going to align perfectly with the bridge and the string through holes... So I'd say bolt the neck on first and see how things line up from there. Make sure your scale is right. I just got done correcting a mistake on my tele --I'd put a 21-fret neck on a body set up for a 22 fret neck...I ended up having to shift the bridge back by about 8 mm) If you're not lucky, then nothing is going to line up and you'll end up having to plug the string through holes and drilling new ones (I just converted my bridge plate to top-load, but I didn't have a string-through body anyway). After my experience with the tele, I've decided that I'll never attempt a parts guitar again...it's much easier to build the body from scratch than to adapt everything afterward. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted October 27, 2005 Report Share Posted October 27, 2005 Let's take it from the top. Please list ALL the purchased parts you have bought so far and we'll pick it up from there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bugman96 Posted October 27, 2005 Report Share Posted October 27, 2005 I just got done correcting a mistake on my tele --I'd put a 21-fret neck on a body set up for a 22 fret neck...I ended up having to shift the bridge back by about 8 mm) ← Maybe I don't know enough yet, but why would that matter? Wouldn't the scale length and therefore bridge placement be the same? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarGuy Posted October 27, 2005 Report Share Posted October 27, 2005 Scale length = distance from the nut to the bridge saddles. If a shorter neck is put in the scale length is therefore shortened and you have a mess to fix up because the frets on the neck are set for a 25.5" scale. You just cant intonate it right after that. Short story....It'll sound like a POS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
javacody Posted October 27, 2005 Report Share Posted October 27, 2005 If the parts all fit the Fender specs, then they should be close enough to bolt together, no problems. However, if say the neck pocket and neck are different (say a standard fender neck pocket and a 22 fret neck with no shelf or the neck is a different scale), then there are going to be problems and measurements will need to be taken. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted October 27, 2005 Report Share Posted October 27, 2005 I just got done correcting a mistake on my tele --I'd put a 21-fret neck on a body set up for a 22 fret neck...I ended up having to shift the bridge back by about 8 mm) ← Maybe I don't know enough yet, but why would that matter? Wouldn't the scale length and therefore bridge placement be the same? ← Well, almost...but the number of frets affects how deep the neck pocket comes into the body too--so by putting a neck with one less fret on there, the neck moves in that much closer to the bridge, throwing off the scale. This is one of the reasons why, as I've discovered, you really can't just grab a bunch of parts and slap them together --even if you stick with Fender, because their specs vary depending on the guitar model (standard vs reissue, etc) and the place they're made. Of course, if you do your homework, make sure you know the measurements of what you're buying, you can avoid a lot of the problems...to me, it's not worth it now. I'd rather make the body to match the other parts I want to use (and match the neck radius to the bridge) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bugman96 Posted October 28, 2005 Report Share Posted October 28, 2005 Well, almost...but the number of frets affects how deep the neck pocket comes into the body too--so by putting a neck with one less fret on there, the neck moves in that much closer to the bridge, throwing off the scale. This is one of the reasons why, as I've discovered, you really can't just grab a bunch of parts and slap them together --even if you stick with Fender, because their specs vary depending on the guitar model (standard vs reissue, etc) and the place they're made. Of course, if you do your homework, make sure you know the measurements of what you're buying, you can avoid a lot of the problems...to me, it's not worth it now. I'd rather make the body to match the other parts I want to use (and match the neck radius to the bridge) ← Gotcha. I was thinking along the lines of something like Warmoth's 22 fret necks where the neck ends in the same place as a normal 21 fret neck but has the freboard overhang Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted October 28, 2005 Report Share Posted October 28, 2005 Well, as Drak suggested, you can give us a list of the different parts (and links) you're planning on using. I'd say if you bought the neck and the body from the same place, then you probably won't have issues with the bridge placement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted November 1, 2005 Report Share Posted November 1, 2005 Well, almost...but the number of frets affects how deep the neck pocket comes into the body too--so by putting a neck with one less fret on there, the neck moves in that much closer to the bridge, throwing off the scale. Um, no, it really, really doesn't. Or shouldn't if everything's lining up properly. 22 fret, Fender spec necks have an overhang with the 22nd fret on them. The bridge to end of neck pocket distance on both is exactly identical. However, you should still just be measuring the bridge location based on the measured scale length with the neck in place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spyykko Posted November 1, 2005 Report Share Posted November 1, 2005 22 fret, Fender spec necks have an overhang with the 22nd fret on them. The bridge to end of neck pocket distance on both is exactly identical. ← This is true in most cases. However there are exceptions, like some stratocasters equipped with neck humbucker and 22 fret neck. If I remember correctly there is a list of these exceptions at Warmoth's www-pages. -- Seppo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marksound Posted November 1, 2005 Report Share Posted November 1, 2005 from Warmoth.com: Known Incompatibility Roadhouse Strat® - 22 fret, no overhang Big Apple Strat® - 22 fret, no overhang Lonestar Strat® - 22 fret, no overhang Nashville Tele® - 22 fret, no overhang Fat Tele® - 22 fret, no overhang Fat Strat® - 22 fret, no overhang Heavy Metal Strat® Heavy Metal Tele® Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted November 1, 2005 Report Share Posted November 1, 2005 22 fret, Fender spec necks have an overhang with the 22nd fret on them. ← Yep, that part is true. But what I was doing was putting a 21 fret neck on a body that had a 22 fret neck with NO overhang...that's where the problem lay. And if I had bought one of the 22 fret overhang necks, I would have the same problem (actually worse--because the overhand would have pushed up frightfully close to the neck pickup...) It's a jungle out there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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