What Is This Part For?

[Mickguard]

I bought one of these:

Build quality looks satisfactory, price is right. The one I received was brushed aluminum, not the chrome I thought I was getting. Maybe I can find matching pickup covers.

Anyway, the bridge came with no mounting instructions. Looks pretty straight forward. But...what is that long rectangular piece with the hinge for?

I'm assuming I'm missing the obvious.

If anyone can point me to a mounting diagram or has seen the bridge in place, I'd appreciate some info.

[jammy]

Methinks it's a leg rest as fitted to those little bodied steins

Allows sitting down playing!

[Mickguard]

Ah, I never even thought of that. Makes perfect sense....cool.

[WezV]

where did the bridge come from?

[Mickguard]

where did the bridge come from?

Ebay. Seller called fastsales123. They're probably parted from the cheapo Chinese guitars (five-necks!) he imports--I'm sure there's a fair amount of breakage there. The bridge and other parts seem pretty well made though. Price was good enough to take the risk (especially since I won't need to buy tuners).

[GregP]

Hey Mick,

Is the headpiece a hybrid that has allen screws (or somesuch) to accomodate regular strings, or do you have to use double-ball?

[bluesman94]

yeah, it looks like what jammy said. and it might double as a nail file

[Mickguard]

I figure I'll put a pickup on it and use it as a washboard.

Greg--it uses regular strings, which is the best part. The headpiece takes the ball end -- the bare string end feeds through a cam on the tuner end, looks like it pretty much gets locked into place as you turn it, because the holes are offset from the radius.

As long as I'm at it, here's some other features of the bridge -- the saddles lock down with a side screw like the Steinbergers. And there's a switch to block the trem too. The tuners pull out so you can tune each string individually. Doesn't look like there'll be an issue with cramping the fingers in the small space. Tuner movement appears pretty smooth--so hopefully the gear ratio is pretty high.

Another anomaly: The headpiece has two holes on the top and a rectangular center channel across the strings-- the holes don't go all the way through. It looks like there should be an extra piece that can be fitted there that would keep the strings from popping out of the channels. On the other hand, that doesn't look like it will be an issue.

Routing for the bridge looks pretty minimal --a smallish center channel to accommodate the spring housing, otherwise it looks like the bridge can be mounted directly to the surface. That might position the saddles pretty high though. Worse comes to worse, a wider route as a bed for the width of the entire assembly, with a narrow route for the spring housing.

All in all a pretty good deal for the price--assuming the bridge doesn't fall apart in use!

And that leg extension thing will be very useful if I decide to take another stab at a Bo Diddley guitar. Which I just might do now.

[TemjinStrife]

Tell us how that bridge works out. I'm a big headless fan and I saw those on eBay, but have never tried them for fear of them being unworkable in a project.

[WezV]

i have a very similar non-trem bass bridge hiding somewhere - was going to use it for a cheap and easy project but havnt got around to it yet

[Mattia]

They're OK quality units - have one here I traded for some Maple, in black, and it feels solid enough. Not sure what I'll put it in yet, but I'm sure I'll come up with something...

[GregP]

Cool beans, Mick, thanks for that detailed description. Might have to grab one of these myself some day before they stop being available.

That extra channel is probably meant to accomodate the rubber-band-like string retainer thing that some Steinberger headpieces use.

[Mickguard]

Cool beans, Mick, thanks for that detailed description. Might have to grab one of these myself some day before they stop being available.

That extra channel is probably meant to accomodate the rubber-band-like string retainer thing that some Steinberger headpieces use.

See, I've never looked into the Steinbergers before. I've been planning a Klein-based build, but planned to use a normal neck. Then I stumbled across this one --gives me a trem AND the tuners for much less than I'd have to spend on another Trem King (which is also very cool) and locking tuners. And I have a nice maple blank here--it's too short for a normal tele/strat neck, but will be perfect as a headless.

As for the string retainer -- the headpiece isn't supposed to be a nut, right? I'm thinking of building the neck with a slight angled extension past the fretboard-- that way, the headpiece will provide an angle to give tension on the nut. And I should be able to add the trussrod adjustment at the head, instead of the heel. (I know the Kleins don't have truss rods, but I'd feel more comfortable having one).

[avengers63]

As for the string retainer -- the headpiece isn't supposed to be a nut, right?

My Steinberger has a 0-fret. Maybe these things are designed the same way. Do the necks on the guitars these were scavenged from have a 0-fret?

[GregP]

Yeah, not "retainer" in the same way that it's meant for other guitar parts-- I was just confirming your suspicion that it's likely to accomodate a way to keep the strings from slipping out. Steinberger headpieces use a rubber-band thingy that goes through this channel, over the strings, so that the ball ends aren't at risk of popping out. Far as I know, all Steinies have used zero-fret.

If you haven't alread done so, you should check out Robert's blog at http://buildingtheergonomicguitar.com/ and search for articles related to the Forshage guitar. He extends the neck a bit, as you describe, which is functional (prevents that "whoah, this is the end of the neck?" feel) but also allows him to put a touch of inlay up there.

Greg

[Mickguard]

I've been all over Robert's site, and I love the Forshage guitar. And yeah, I've been wondering about that 'whoops' factor.

I used zero frets on the last couple of builds, but I miss the twang of a nut, so I'm planning on using a nut instead.

But I can see that the headpiece is meant to provide string guides for the zero fret. That won't interfere with a normal nut though.

Also, another feature I overlooked on this bridge: the saddles are roller saddles. Nice touch (although it would be nice to have graphtech-type saddles too).

On the other hand, there are a couple of places where the plating isn't all that great--mostly at the screw holes, where the holes weren't neatly cleaned up.