wylde1919 Posted June 5, 2007 Report Share Posted June 5, 2007 So I am trying to finally ease myslef into the project water, and I figured a good way would be to convert an old tele copy into a relic esquire. I ordered a relic'd bridge from a reputable online dealer and got it in the mail yesterday. The bridge is a string thru ( the original is top loading). I stupidly thought they would have the same foootprint, but they don't! So I measured it out so that the center of the saddles were 25 3/4 " away from the nut, marked where I needed to screw, and drilled the pilot holes. The kicker is the bridge must have shifted ever so slightly when I did this, because it is not 100% umm level I guess is the best word. There is a gap that exists between the pickgaurd and the bridge an that gap is maybe a millimeter bigger on one side than the other. Do I have to redrill, or is this gap OK? I would like to figure it out before I start drilling the string thru holes and installing the ferrules. Any help woudl be HUGE guys. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ihocky2 Posted June 5, 2007 Report Share Posted June 5, 2007 Other than looking a little sloppy, the gap is okay. The saddles will move enough for intonation that it won't affect the scale length. My question though, is why did you set the saddles at 25-3/4" from the nut. Tele's have a 25-1/2" scale. Generally you want to adjust your saddles so they are set 1/3 of the way back from the front of their adjustment and measure your scale length from there. Then mount your bridge and adjust intonation as needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wylde1919 Posted June 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2007 (edited) Other than looking a little sloppy, the gap is okay. The saddles will move enough for intonation that it won't affect the scale length. My question though, is why did you set the saddles at 25-3/4" from the nut. Tele's have a 25-1/2" scale. Generally you want to adjust your saddles so they are set 1/3 of the way back from the front of their adjustment and measure your scale length from there. Then mount your bridge and adjust intonation as needed. Mainly because I am a moron! I measured the length with the orginal bridge on it and I got 25 and 3/4, and just to be sure I pulled out my reall tele and measured the distance there and got roughly the same measurements. I do have plenty of adjustment left on the screws so I could get the saddles back taht far without having to redrill, no sweat. do you think that is a problem? The gap itslef is not the problem. It being a little cockeyed is the issue. I am less worried about intonation, an more worried about whether it is going to pull the strings funny across the neck or make it sit funky on the saddles. Edited June 5, 2007 by wylde1919 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ihocky2 Posted June 5, 2007 Report Share Posted June 5, 2007 If you were getting the same measurements on the other guitar and the orignal bridge, I don't think it will be a problem. As for the bridge being un even, the only thing it will really mess with is the string spacing. Your E strings may not be even distances from the edge of the fretboard. Depending on how bad it is, you may be able to adjust the neck to correct it. Try running some type of string from the nut to the saddles and see if it throws the strings off and by how much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wylde1919 Posted June 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2007 Thanks for your help so far! I am a total dumb@$$ so I appreciate thei assistance. here is a link to a shot of my bridge, it is lo res (camera phone) http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?...74-359ee3e562b3 As you can see the differences is minute and almost impossible to see from this pic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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