Tele right hand trouble

Do you ever find yourself damaging your right hand on the tele bridge?

If so what do you do about it?

I'm a big fan of freeing up the right hand - if you are anchoring your wrist on or near the tailpiece - that's good for muting etc , but that position is not nearly as good for fluidity in both single line and general rhythm playing - and obviously you'll rough your hand up against the metal. If by damaging your hand you mean you are 'hitting' your hand on the bridge while strumming etc - then you are playing too far back near the bridge pickup too often - and maybe letting your fingers flail around a bit too much - move your RH along the strings more and you'll hear all the different tonal possibilities - mellow up near the neck, more bite near the bridge. Sorry if im assuming too much - but just going on what you've written here.

I'm a big fan of freeing up the right hand - if you are anchoring your wrist on or near the tailpiece - that's good for muting etc , but that position is not nearly as good for fluidity in both single line and general rhythm playing - and obviously you'll rough your hand up against the metal. If by damaging your hand you mean you are 'hitting' your hand on the bridge while strumming etc - then you are playing too far back near the bridge pickup too often - and maybe letting your fingers flail around a bit too much - move your RH along the strings more and you'll hear all the different tonal possibilities - mellow up near the neck, more bite near the bridge. Sorry if im assuming too much - but just going on what you've written here.

No, you're not assuming too much. I am not even aware of whats happening until after I've been playing for a while and realize I've beaten the cr@p out of the blade edge of my right hand on the bridge. I don't anchor my hand there but I'm apparently going there enough to cause a problem. I guess I just assumed other people would be experiencing the same thing.

bridge cover - ashtray

bw

Thats seems a little obvious doesn't it?

Mine didn't come with an ash tray but it's starting to sound like a good idea to have one.

I saw a vintage style bridge on ebay that was notched on both sides with compensated saddles. Just checked, it's still there.

I've had that kind of problem with trad tele's before. My tele is unusual in that it has a khaler trem which is very comfortable and well designed...but there are mods you could do to fix things a little or replacement parts.

In some respects the tele has a bit of a design fault. Very few people use the "ashtray", ever...without it the bridge plate has those edges. The other thing is that with fenders generally, the neck/body is pretty flat and the strings low compared to say the Les Paul I played for 25 years.

Sure, there are lots of different ways of playing away from the bridge, but bridge muting is fairly important technique, not possible with the ashtray on.

Not sure how your bridge is set up, but the real culprit tends to be the height adjustment grub screws sticking up above the saddles. If you are happy with the guitar's sound and setup, a simple mod is to measure how much of these screws are above the bridge saddle and cut/file off only that amount from the bottom of the screw...then when reinstalled the screws should be flush or just slightly below the saddle.

Otherwise there are replacement parts, some resembling a strat with low screws adjustment and individual intonation...not all bridges are the same and affects the sound to some extent. Cast low cost saddles tend not to have such a great sound even if they look perfect with the chrome on...brass is traditional of course. Similarly the bridge plate itself has some effect on the pickup sound, again the material can have an effect on this too to some degree.

Other than the "grub screw" mod, the ashtray edges could be covered by folding electricians tape around the edges, this PVC tape would remove any "cutting edge" and provide some cushioning, however this is less likely the cause if you are a clamp you hand to the bridge saddles kind of player. I know that tends to e my "default" position regardless of other techniques and being able to mute away from the bridge.

Thanks Cous!

Warm, you hit the nail on the head. It is the grub screws. Interesting, I had no idea they were called grub screws. Filing them down does sound like a good idea. And I could still string mute then. I better buy some replacements first incase I mess it up. I wonder how hard it is to actually file those things.

It depends on what tools you have, stick them in a vice thats padded with say wood to hold them without messing up the threads, if there's a bit, cut off most with a hacksaw and clean them up, but beware going too far. Also, don't cut off the tops with the allen key adjustment, you got to take it off the bottom. There's a bit of leeway, you want them ideally to be just below the top of the saddle, so there is perhaps half the depth of the saddle to play with if you get too enthusiastic. Problem is of course that you want to be sure of your setup or have replacements...you might be able to find something that fits at a specialist "fasteners" kind of place cheaper and easier than a guitar supplier. Best is if you can take one down, test the thread with the equivalent "nut" then by a dozen to suit...I live in a "metric" country and I know I have problems sometimes with these specialist things, but there will be stuff out there in the "real" world...check the phone book as these kinds of suppliers tend to be common, you just don't notice them as they generally supply to industries.

Good luck, let us know how you go, I suspect it is a common problem that I ahve experienced before and others might benefit from as well. I know I have done things like this before and it's not difficult!

sorry I missed this. those little screws are like hell on my fingers. they're the problem. I think I had started a thread about this a while back, too. I used to tear my right hand up. I shortenend the screws and moved my hand a little, and it happens less often now.

Glendale Guitars make a bridgeplate notched on both sides as well as saddles that have the screws recessed so you don't tear up your hand. Pricey to some peoples way of thinking, but I love 'em

I solved the problem of the saddle adjuster screws being too tall by shimming the heel of the nedk then adjusting the saddles to a higher level. This has worked on every guitar I had the problem with. Just change the neck angle and raise the saddles. It doesn't take much of a shim to angle the neck back, so don't go nuts with the shim size. Start with a shim of .0035 inch. Micro tilt necks make this adjustment pretty easy, but the mod can be made on any standard bolt on neck. HINT: use an automotive feeler guage to make the shim. Just loosen the strings - don't take them off - tape the strings to the fingerboard and lay the neck off to one side. Install a shim crosswise the width of the neck, and bolt the neck back in place, tightening the inner screws LAST. Raise the bridge saddles, tune and make final adjustments on saddles. If the screws are still sticking up too high, repeat and use a SLIGHTLY thicker shim. It ain't rocket science. Done properly you won't break anything, and it can.t hurt the sound or tone of the guitar. Just a poor mans micro tilt adjustment. Makes the guitar a lot nicer to play. Sure you could install shorter adjuster screws-- if you could find them.

The bridge covers on Teles and Strats, while they look really cool, make it hard to do proper string muting. I would just buy some set screws and measure the sizes you need to support the bridge sections while leaving them recessed slightly into the holes. Cut the BOTTOMS of the set screws off with a Dremel tool, and then do the fine tuning with a file ... to the BOTTOMS of the screws. You'll have to start with an accurate set up, and replace one screw at a time, but when they're just slightly recessed into the bridge sections, they won't touch your hand.

warmingtone - do you have a picture of that Tele w/ Kahler bridge? I'd sure like to see that.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v248/peterstewartwarmington/blueteleful1/bluetele9.jpg

I solved the problem of the saddle adjuster screws being too tall by shimming the heel of the nedk then adjusting the saddles to a higher level. This has worked on every guitar I had the problem with. Just change the neck angle and raise the saddles. It doesn't take much of a shim to angle the neck back, so don't go nuts with the shim size. Start with a shim of .0035 inch. Micro tilt necks make this adjustment pretty easy, but the mod can be made on any standard bolt on neck. HINT: use an automotive feeler guage to make the shim. Just loosen the strings - don't take them off - tape the strings to the fingerboard and lay the neck off to one side. Install a shim crosswise the width of the neck, and bolt the neck back in place, tightening the inner screws LAST. Raise the bridge saddles, tune and make final adjustments on saddles. If the screws are still sticking up too high, repeat and use a SLIGHTLY thicker shim. It ain't rocket science. Done properly you won't break anything, and it can.t hurt the sound or tone of the guitar. Just a poor mans micro tilt adjustment. Makes the guitar a lot nicer to play. Sure you could install shorter adjuster screws-- if you could find them.

Great suggestion Wolf! Thanks. That sounds a lot easier than filing!