Bridge Placement

[The Fiddler]

I know all about scale length etc. I am modifying an Ibanez S and putting an Edge fixed bridge in. I was wondering where is the point of reference taken from on the bridge to find its needed placement on the body. Is it taken from the the front edge of the bridge, the low E saddle, the D saddle ??

[Reinhold]

If you know all about scale length, you should be able to place a bridge, just search for it. I believe Stewmac has the answer in their free information section somewhere.

[stratoskier]

I know all about scale length etc. I am modifying an Ibanez S and putting an Edge fixed bridge in. I was wondering where is the point of reference taken from on the bridge to find its needed placement on the body. Is it taken from the the front edge of the bridge, the low E saddle, the D saddle ??

Stew-Mac does have a bridge placement "wizard" for the bridges they sell, which works for many common bridge designs. But the Edge Fixed is a very rare beast, only available on the JS2000 if I remember correctly, but possibly on some other models. I thought, perhaps incorrectly, that the stud placement on that bridge was the same as on other trems in the Edge family, but I could be wrong about that. I don't know what S model you're working with -- originally an Edge or LoPro Edge? If it's a newer S-model that had the ZR, things might be more complicated.

Anyway, if I was trying to figure this out, I'd first measure the distance from the center line of the saddle movement range on the Edge Fixed to the center line of the mounting posts. Then compare that to the same distance on the original bridge to see if you need to relocate the studs.

Also, Rich Harris (Ibanez Rules) is probably the only guy who could tell you for sure if the stud location matches up on the Edge Fixed and the original bridge.

[stratoskier]

Late addendum to my previous post:

I had a look at the pics for a JS2000 in a new Ebay ad (item #280492350347) and see that the post location for the Edge Fixed is nowhere near the post location for a regular Edge trem. The posts are pretty much directly lateral to the saddles. In fact, the whole route pattern appears to be unlike an Edge. You might find the detailed pics in that listing to be useful.

Again, I think the only way to position it correctly would be direct measurement relative to the saddle position for a 25-1/2 scale, or else find someone that owns one to take accurate measurements for you (from bridge side of fret 12 or 22 to center line of posts).

[Moth]

Scale length refers to the length of the area between the Bridge's last contact point with the string, and the nut's first contact point with the string. In other words, the length of the space between nut and bridge. If you can find that length, then you can place your bridge.

Try determining how deep into the body you're going to be setting your bridge. How high are your strings going to be? Mock up your guitar with the neck in place (always mock attach the neck before routing for pickups/bridge placement) and use a straight edge in the place of where you would like your strings to be. Mark your points on the body where your scale length ends. The space where your scale length ends is where you will place the last contact point with the string (i.e. the string saddle), and you can mount your bridge from there. You may have to get creative with some templates in order to get the shape of your rout onto the body.

Good luck!

[The Fiddler]

Thanks for the replies guys. I did a bit of reading from all over the internet. I was more wanting to know where you position the saddles when first placing a bridge onto a body. The general consensis is to put the saddle half way between all the way forward and all the back. I was more curious which string do most people use as the point of reference when mounting the bridge, due to the staggered nature that the saddles end up in when intonating etc.

The bridge is from a Micky Thomas MTM2.

[Moth]

In that case, you'll want to place the high e's saddle all the way forward. since wavelengths are not perfect through string plucking, you'll need to make the string longer to compensate for intonation. the high e having the smallest wavelength out of all of them will require the least amount of extra length. The thicker the string, the more length it'll need to compensate for the vibration. So as you get to the lower strings, you'll have your bridge saddle further back.

take a look at guitars with TOM bridges. Note that they're slightly angled with the high e more toward the neck than the low e

Edited April 14, 2010 by Moth