chinese floyd rose and placement, where should i stick it?

[simon1138]

Hello,

i bought a cheap floyd rose and without a left handed locking nut available i have opted for locking tuners. i have a floyd rose and from looking at pictures there seems to be some difference with the two posts the bridge sits against. they seem to fit into the bridge, recessed somewhat. whereas my bridge has them sat in front of the bridge.

this is what my bridge looks like, as though the posts would sit in front of the line (i dont know what its called, the horizontal line that the bridge lines up with on the guitar)

the above brdige is a more expensive one. this shows the recess i mentioned.

reason being i think that it alters where the bending angle is.

 

[curtisa]

Generally you treat the installation and alignment of an unknown bridge by referencing off the scale length of the guitar. The mounting posts just sit where they have to sit in order to satisfy the scale length of the instrument.

1. Dismantle your bridge to remove the trem block and re-fit the outer two saddles on to the baseplate. Position them so that they sit as far forward as practicable. Do not position the saddles such that they overhang the forward lip of the bridge plate (the 3rd string saddle on your first pic is about as far forward as you want to position them, whereas the 1st string saddle in the same pic is starting to overhanging too much).
2. With the neck fitted to the body use a long straightedge and lay it along the treble-side of the neck over the body of the guitar. Mark a line extending from the end of the neck along the full length of the body. Repeat for the bass edge of the neck.
3. Measure your scale length (nut to 12th fret and multiply by two) on the treble side of he neck. Mark this distance on the body on the two lines drawn in step 2 have been placed. Repeat this measurement/marking for the bass side and draw a straight line across the two marks. This should give you a perpendicular intonation line to work with.
4. Position the partially-assembled bridge on to the body and align as best you can the saddle witness points on the two two outer saddles (the edge where the string takes off from the saddle) with the perpendicular intonation line you placed in step 3.
5. Mark the centres of the trem post cutouts in the bridge plate on to the guitar body. Check these positions as accurately as you can for squareness and centre-alignment with respect to the assembled guitar neck. In your case this appears to be pretty much in line with the forward lip of the bridge:

   

   Any error here can mean that the bridge sits off-centre from the neck and risks the strings falling off the edge of the fretboard, or the bridge ends up sitting crooked on the face of the guitar.
6. Drill as accurately and carefully as you can the two marked post holes using a drill press or other form of drill alignment guide. Use a brad point bit to aide in keeping the bit bang-on the marked positions. Do not use a regular twist drill as they can be difficult to align by eye and have a tendency to wander when first plunging into the wood. If you're unsure about the exact size/depth of the required hole to fit the post sockets, practice on some scrap first as you will only get one shot at it on the guitar itself. The stud should be a firm press-fit into the wood if the hole is sized correctly (ie, it shouldn't take whacking with a hammer to get them in).