God Damn Tune-o-Matic Bridges!!!!! Feel free to ignore this post/rant

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The new guitar I am in the process of designing has non-standard string spacing (that is, it is not what Gibson uses). Because of the nature of the design, I need to use a Tune-o-Matic style bridge and Stop Tail piece. Up to now, I have been using Gibson or Tone-Pro bridges, which are fine bridges, but have the wrong string spacing. I have just been renotching the saddles to coincide with the wider string spacing I use. This will not do, however, for a customer’s guitar, so I need to either get custom bridges made, or conform to the Gibson Standard. Being a rather serious non-conformist, I asked a machinist I know how much it would cost to make custom bridges, and his response was quite reasonable, so I have spent the last few hours making a CAD drawing for him. The only problem is, I need to take measurements off of a Gibson Tune-o-Matic so I can use Gibson saddles (or more likely, someone else’s copies of Gibson saddles). That means taking the saddles out of a bridge and putting them back in. Taking them out is not too bad, but putting them back in is a GIANT PAIN IN THE ASS.

Just a little rant which is completely out of proportion to my actual annoyance level, but which made me feel better none the less.


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"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
Re: look into...................

gusfinley said:
You may want to check out Schaller rolling bridges. They use little wheels as bridges so they have less friction and they allow custom string spacing, all in a gibson tune-o-matic style bridge!!!

check em out ----> http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bridges...ler_Roller_Tune-O-Matic_Bridges/Pictures.html
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Roller Bridges just don't sound very good to me. I have tried them, and they just don't do it for me.


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"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
grinder said:
Why not get saddle blanks made up, that you could notch where you wanted?
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You can get unnotched saddles, and that is what I have been doing. The problem is that the string spacing on the tailpiece is not right, so it gets wider between the tailpiece and the bridge. I believe (no proof, just an opinion) that having a straight string pull outside of the nut and saddles improves sustain, so I go to a lot of effort to insure the string pull is straight. There is no way to get this with out a custom tailpiece. Additionally, it does not look right to have the strings not centered on the saddles. When you spend $2000 plus dollars on a guitar, it is not acceptable to have ANYTHING be less than perfect. Some factories don't seem to get this, but small shop builders do.

The only thing I was complaining about (and it is a small thing) is that it is a pain in the ass to get the spring clip back in place on the Gibson Tune-o-Matics. Gotoh (who make some of the finest parts in the business, by the way, and their 510 series tuners are the best machined hardware I have ever seen) makes their Tune-o-Matics with an odd little nut which makes that spring unnecessary, but I can't find anyone who makes that nut, and the Gibson parts are readily available.


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"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
If anybody is interested, this is a rendering of the bridge.


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"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 

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Light,
I just did a post on this and the bloody computer logged out so here we go again, Gotoh are made in Japan and the Japs are isometric as we are so I imagine it would be a standard isometric fine pitch, mic it using a metric mic and check the pitch, from a guess the pitch for something that small would be in the region of .5 to .75mm, (guessing here as it is 2.55 am and I’m not in the workshop)
Get your friend to drill and tap a small bit of hex and part it off, voila, instant nut.
Post the dimensions if you have any problems, it will be a standard size as I imagine Gotoh would have the things made on a CNC lathe somewhere else and the cost of having a special thread tap made up would be too prohibitive to warrant it.
I will now try to cut and paste this to the post.
Clive
 
If I want them, I will have to have them made. I have not decided one way or the other, yet.


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"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
Light,

What about the 'Flying V' string-through-body style where the strings pass through a 'V' shaped piece of metal???? Or, It could be any shape you desire.

What about just using the Strat Style flat mount bridge??? They have some that are much better made than the stock ones these days...Robert
 
I have a Gibson Lucille with non-standard string spacing and it works great for me. I removed the original saddles on the bridge portion and made new ones from brass that I notched for the wider string spacing.

I have very big hands, and it made a world of difference.

I now play a PRS and would love to find a way to do the same to it.

Ed
 
Robert Herndon said:
Light,

What about the 'Flying V' string-through-body style where the strings pass through a 'V' shaped piece of metal???? Or, It could be any shape you desire.

What about just using the Strat Style flat mount bridge??? They have some that are much better made than the stock ones these days...Robert
Click to expand...

The tops on my guitars are arched, so it is very difficult to use a plate style bridge, plus I like the look and sound of the tune-o-matic.

I have done a plate style bridge on a bass I made for my sister (one of the advantages of having a couple of luthiers in the family. She also has an acoustic my father made). I had to make a little raised platform for the bridge, which was a major pain, and though it looks cool, it is not the look I am going for.

I don’t really like the look of the flying V style of plates. I really like tune-o-matics for the look. They are very classic looking, and I like my guitars to be very traditional looking, without being copies of anyone else’s guitars.

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"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
Ed Dixon said:
I have a Gibson Lucille with non-standard string spacing and it works great for me. I removed the original saddles on the bridge portion and made new ones from brass that I notched for the wider string spacing.
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This is what I have been doing, but it does not look right, and on an extremely expensive guitar, everything needs to be right, including every detail of the appearance. There is actually an interesting thread over on the Acoustic Guitar Magazine site, in the Luthiers Corner section, on just this topic. I can’t say that I agree with any of the posts I have seen so far, as they all seem to think that it is OK to have some things look sloppy.


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"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
For many, the primary aspect of a guitar is how it plays and sounds. Withput that, the other things are of lower importance.

With the notched bridge area, it may look different, but sloppy is not the word that comes to mind.

Offering a wider string spacing, with a customization of the bridge area, would be seen as a good option to many.

I've had the Lucille for about 20 years. Over that time many people have played it and looked at it. Many have commented that they loved the way it both played and looked. Not a single person ever even noticed the bridge area.

Ed
 
Light,

On my Hamer...Is there a 'rule' for how wide I can set the string spacing???? How far in from the edge of the frets can I go???

I have the old 'covered' PAF's and the strings don't even line up with the 6 pole pieces. The strings are farther inboard, towards the middle of the guitar and the string spacing at the bridge measures 2.031" from 'E' to 'e' string.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated...Robert
 
Ed Dixon said:


I've had the Lucille for about 20 years. Over that time many people have played it and looked at it. Many have commented that they loved the way it both played and looked. Not a single person ever even noticed the bridge area.

Ed
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But they were not custom guitar buyers. I am not saying, in any way, that what you have is a bad thing, I am saying that when people buy a custom guitar, they look at every detail, and even if most people would not notice, or even care about the bridge, some people would, and that would be a lost sale.

Playability and sound is the most important thing, without question, but there are so many people doing custom guitars, and all of them have sound and playability. Many of them also have the looks too. In order to compete in this market, I need to have it all, including the looks. Believe me, the people who buy custom guitars want everything, and if you are paying more than $2000 for a guitar, you deserve it. And on the prototypes I have made, more than a few people have noticed the strings not being centered on the saddles.


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"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
Robert Herndon said:
Light,

On my Hamer...Is there a 'rule' for how wide I can set the string spacing???? How far in from the edge of the frets can I go???

I have the old 'covered' PAF's and the strings don't even line up with the 6 pole pieces. The strings are farther inboard, towards the middle of the guitar and the string spacing at the bridge measures 2.031" from 'E' to 'e' string.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated...Robert
Click to expand...


The "E" strings should be parallel with the edges of the fingerboard. Everything else should be equally spaced.


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"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
I remember rebuilding a mutt many years ago. It had a cheapo "roller" bridge and I just had to have a tuna-matic. I duly ordered a gen-you-wine Gibson part (gold, at that) and the first time I broke a string I lost 2 or 3 of the saddles! Seems how they left off the "piano-wire" retainer...

Shortly thereafter I replaced with a solid Carvin bridge which has been on it ever since...um, 1983?
 
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