Installation Of Bridge Studs/screws

[ByronBlack]

I have got a gotoh tune-o-matic bridge, and with it are a pair of thumbwheels on M4 theaded rod. One thing that I couldn't find the answer to was; what is the preferred way of installing these? I recently installed a nashville style tune-o-matic and that came with a stud that went into the body and the bolts/screws then went into these, but with the gotoh bridge there is no studs (or at least I've not seen any) to accept the threaded rods. So, do others just create a threaded hole in the body to put these in, or do you epoxy them into place? Am I missing some obvious method of installing these?

TIA

[joshvegas]

I have got a gotoh tune-o-matic bridge, and with it are a pair of thumbwheels on M4 theaded rod. One thing that I couldn't find the answer to was; what is the preferred way of installing these? I recently installed a nashville style tune-o-matic and that came with a stud that went into the body and the bolts/screws then went into these, but with the gotoh bridge there is no studs (or at least I've not seen any) to accept the threaded rods. So, do others just create a threaded hole in the body to put these in, or do you epoxy them into place? Am I missing some obvious method of installing these?

TIA

you are missing the threaded inserts by the sounds of things.

[Narcissism]

I think they're called bushings. I'm pretty sure if you don't have them, that you can probably find them at a local hardware store

[joshvegas]

bushings thats the word I was looking for!

[WezV]

sounds like you have an ABR-1 style tune-o-matic - they usually come with the older style post that screws directly into the wood

[joshvegas]

Learn something new everyday

[ToneMonkey]

Ha ha, yeah they're a real bitch, I was just having to do this on my Cigar Box Guitar (which I've finally finished, YAY ME).

OK, they do screw diectly into the wood, a hole needs to be drilled so that it can be threaded in. I'm sure some people will have different methods for this, but I just drilled holes in a bit of wood and kept trying it until I could screw it in. I didn't see a neew to glue them as they were in plenty hard enough, as it sounds like you've just found out trying to screw it in.

To screw it in there's two options available to you, you can use the thumbscrew that come with it, but I strongly advise you to find some nuts that will fit the thread on the post, you'll need two of them. Screw them on to the post and lock them together by turning them in opposite directions, you can now use the top on of these nuts to turn the whole post, at first with your fingers and then with a small spanner. Be real careful and protect the top of your guitar when you're playing with the spanner. Handy trick to remember, 'cause I bet it wont be the last time you have to do it (but the next may not be on a guitar)

EDIT: Oh yeah, forgot. Just done this on my Eggle too, but the holes were pre-drilled. Both of them were Gotoh BTW.

Edited October 9, 2008 by ToneMonkey

[Blackdog]

sounds like you have an ABR-1 style tune-o-matic - they usually come with the older style post that screws directly into the wood

And it's the same with the Gotoh TOM, bigger threaded posts but same method.

I think the question of gluing is still valid: those of you using the ABR-1 style (or the Gotoh), do you just screw the posts into the top or do you add a drop of glue of any kind ??

[Mickguard]

There's just no need for glue. Think about it. The tailpiece provides enough downward pressure, and there's nothing pushing/pulling the bridge otherwise. And there's no real difference between using a bushing and screwing directly into the wood, since the bushing is inserted into a hole in the wood too.

[joshvegas]

completely agree about the glue but not about the bushings.

[ByronBlack]

Thanks for all the information guys, mine is the Gotoh one from stew-macs, I bought this alongside a nashville for another project and was a little thrown that it had no bushings. For some reason I don't like the idea of screwing directly into the body, has any sourced bushing to accept these? I must admit I've not looked around that much as I wasn't sure what was needed, but I'm assuming any M4 threaded insert would do the job?

(my project won't have a tailpiece as it will be as string-through, although this still shouldn't put too much pressure on the bridge should it?)

[ToneMonkey]

Have a pay about with a scrap bit of wood and you'll see that you can put them directly into the body and it'll be plenty strong enough to be able to pick the scrap wood up. You'll notice how firmly they're in when you try to screw the bloody things in.

I was thinking about this a while back and speaking in tone voodoo, I would say that removing the bushings and screwing directly into the wood will increase sustain (although probably not by any noticable difference) as you're reducing any vibration that you might have between the post and the bushing.

The fact that it is a string through will increase the downward pressure on the bridge as the strings behind the TOM will be pulled down at a shaprer angle that they would with a stop piece.

[Mickguard]

I was thinking about this a while back and speaking in tone voodoo

If I were a tonevoodooian, then I'd agree that the fewer pieces of metal between the vibration of the strings and the wood, the better.

[ihocky2]

There's no reason to worry about screwing straight into the wood. Gibson does it with no problem. Strat bridges are scewed straight into the wood. So are the older posts for the Floyd Rose style bridges, and those will see the most tension and abuse.

[ToneMonkey]

I was thinking about this a while back and speaking in tone voodoo

If I were a tonevoodooian, then I'd agree that the fewer pieces of metal between the vibration of the strings and the wood, the better.

Yeah, but I know that neither of us are

[ByronBlack]

Ok, so I'll go ahead and screw the posts directly into the body, thanks for all the help.

I have another question though. Where do I run the ground-wire? The posts are pretty small, and I'm concerned that if I try and solder a wire to this post, the bump from the solder will prevent the post from screwing succesfully into the body. (I have no tailpiece to solder the ground-wire too, so I'm unsure on how to approach this).

Cheers,

BB

[RestorationAD]

This is how I do it.

Drill your hole into the post cavity and stick a wire in there. When you screw the post in it will contact the post and be tight enough. No solder necessary....

[j. pierce]

another option, if you're using a string through body, is to use ferrules on the top side, as you normally would, and use a metal plate on the backside. This gives you a large area to attach a ground wire to. After you route a recess for the plate, you can drill a hole from that recess to the control cavity.

[ToneMonkey]

I'm about the wire a guitar that has the bushings in for a wrop around tail piece and they wont shift (I think they're glued in). I'm going to have to drill down to the bushing, strip a wire and poke it down the hole. Then I'm going to fill it with solder. A bit of an arse about face way of doing things, but if anyone knows a better idea, I'd be happy to hear it :o)

[joshvegas]

A powerful soldering iron should free it up surely

or try tapping it down first to break the connection...

then get an approriate sized bolt and take it out with a socket and breaker bar.

not that I've tried it but I have done similar things on many other things!

Edited October 14, 2008 by joshvegas

[WezV]

another option, if you're using a string through body, is to use ferrules on the top side, as you normally would, and use a metal plate on the backside. This gives you a large area to attach a ground wire to. After you route a recess for the plate, you can drill a hole from that recess to the control cavity.

on my latest multiscale i had to use the ferrules for grounding as the saddles are graphtech... using a metal plate on the back was one option but instead i decided to drill between the ferrules then into the cavity... it was a lot less fiddly than i expected.

[ToneMonkey]

A powerful soldering iron should free it up surely

or try tapping it down first to break the connection...

then get an approriate sized bolt and take it out with a socket and breaker bar.

not that I've tried it but I have done similar things on many other things!

Yeah, I've pulled bushing out like this before, but these have been retro fitted and the original holes plugged. With the position that the bushings are in comared to the plugs, the nif I take out the bushing, I'm very likely to pull the plug out too. Sonce it looks like they've all been glued, it's not really an option.