Can I drill my bridge for a Hipshot prior to receiving it?

Dumb question, probably, but while I wait for my Hipshot B-Bender that I have on order, can I go ahead and drill the extra bridge I have? I've read every - yes EVERY - post in this section of the TDPRI with the word Hipshot in the title and have learned a lot. I know to use a 7/64" drill bit and to drill high on the back wall of the bridge (Fender 52RI bridge) instead of down low by the body but is there any point in waiting to make sure the string lines up perfectly?

I'm assuming I just drill exactly behind the string hole that's in the bottom of the bridge plate and I'll be good to go.

I intend to drill for both G and B strings and mount my strap button over to the low E string side so I'll have the option of moving the B-Bender lever over to the G string to see which string I prefer having the bender on. Obviously I won't be drilling the two extra holes near the strap button until I receive the Hipshot since I don't know where to locate those holes yet.

But as far as drilling the back wall of the bridge - is there any reason to wait?

Thanks...just sitting here at work and dreaming of B-bending! :mrgreen:

You will 'B'e bending soon enough. ;)

You will be saving yourself 15 minutes. ;)

That said, the Bender Plate is not like a bigsby where the spacing gets narower than the string spacing that you would have to adjust for. You can move the B and G arm over, so that if you notch directly in a straight line with the string through holes in the plate, you won't be off, like you could be with a Bigsby install. Don't ask how I know. ;)

One guys 2 cents...

You may be better off with a notch than a hole...depending on saddle height versus the height of the rear lip of the bridge...to eliminate a possible rubbing point for the string, even if it's in the little teflon tube...you'll see all that when you go to line everything up on your particular guitar....

Thanks guys.

if you notch directly in a straight line with the string through holes in the plate, you won't be off

This is what I thought and wanted another opinion to make sure I wasn’t crazy.

But, I hadn't considered what ironweed posted about lining everything up first. Of course that makes sense. I suppose I should thread a B string through the Hipshot and pull it tight to see how things look before I break out the power tools.

I have an extra 52RI bridge in addition to the one currently on the guitar. What I figured I'd do is pull the current one (with great action and intonation) and carefully set it aside for safekeeping. Yeah, I know it’s unlikely to be perfect should I reinstall it later but why mess up a good thing? I’m blessed with a big fat maple neck that never moves and this setup has been very stable for a couple of years since the last time I did a setup. Then again, most likely that bridge would go on my next parts-caster….sorry to run off at the mouth so much here, but this is fun to think about.

Anyway, my plan was to drill my extra bridge, install the pickup, mount it to the guitar, and set up action and intonation with another set of saddles. Then, when the Hipshot arrives, I can immediately install it and a new B string. All I’ll need to do at that point is drill the two extra holes in back and move my strap button.

You will be saving yourself 15 minutes.

I have two toddlers at home so my free time is very limited. I figured if I can get the bridge drilling and swapping out of the way a couple of nights after work this week, I can be making bizarre squawking and squealing noises that much sooner.

But, I suppose I'm better safe than sorry. I should probably wait. Heck, I like working on Teles as much as playing them so all the drilling and swapping parts is pure fun anyway.

You may be better off with a notch than a hole

Yes, I’ve read that but it seems there are just as many players who prefer holes for better downward pressure on the saddle. I figure I can always notch after I drill a hole but once I notch, I can’t go back to a hole. Having read all the Hipshot posts here, going back several years, it seems to me there’s no clear consensus on which method is best.

Another tidbit: A lot of guys find that there is not enough down-bearing pressure on the B string saddle (or G) so they end up shimming the neck (at the body end only) to get the saddles up higher and increase the angle. YMMV.

absolutely not. you can only drill your bridge after you receive it.

Another tidbit: A lot of guys find that there is not enough down-bearing pressure on the B string saddle (or G) so they end up shimming the neck (at the body end only) to get the saddles up higher and increase the angle. YMMV.

Yep. It's floppy unless you get the saddles up high. FWIW, the hole-in-the-plate thing can cause pitch problems. I also use threaded saddles.

Yea, notch.. I agree.

The string is a little smaller than the notch, lets face it. But having your git laying about in pieces... probably better to wait?? What happens of the part is defective, of never make it to you? Going to eave you git in pieces until you get one in your hands. Although just putting it back on notched and making it playable again is not such a big deal ;) I know, I just reversed myself. ;)

Just to mention I am waiting on a Trilogy for weeks now. They keep sending the one with the black baseplate when I ordered the one with the chrome plate. I am not sending back the last one, but rather now waiting for the chrome base plate to come for it before I install. Feces occurs, remember that! ;)

I think I'll wait. Why take a chance? Thanks for all the advice. I'll just take a couple of hours on a quiet Saturday morning and do it all at once.

fendorst, grammar error duly noted. I was pretty good at diagramming sentences in school and should have known better. :wink:

it was only meant in fun, happens to me all the time. hope you smiled rather than frowned when you read my post. everyone's so SENSITIVE around here...

it was only meant in fun, happens to me all the time. hope you smiled rather than frowned when you read my post. everyone's so SENSITIVE around here...


Well, the bridge is actually sitting on the guitar at his house, the hipshot bender plate he will have to wait for.


Now that I have ended a sentence with a preposition...


And also added an incomplete sentence also...


And then added a double positive as well. Is there any such thing as a double positive, I find myself wondering now.


Just saying ;)

...hope you smiled rather than frowned when you read my post.

Yep! Sure did. Got me thinking about prepositional phrases and misplaced modifiers and Mr. Montgomery, my 9th grade English teacher.

How about "Can I drill my bridge before my Hipshot arrives?" :grin:

You can drill your bridge, but you can't core a apple.

You can drill your bridge, but you can't core a apple.



Not even with the threaded saddles ? :mrgreen:

Well, the bridge is actually sitting on the guitar at his house. It is the hipshot bender plate for which he will have to wait.

^ Fixed. :lol:

the bridge is actually sitting on the guitar at his house

What got me to thinking about this in the first place is I spotted an extra 52RI bridge with saddles on a shelf in my basement music room last night. That got me to thinking and here I am today asking silly questions.

I think the bar that comes with the Hipshot would do a fine job of coring an apple:

1. With bar installed, flip guitar over and place on kitchen counter.
2. Slam apple down on bar.

You don't necessarily have to drill or notch anything.

I have a shim in my neck pocket to allow a bit higher saddle height. The strings have enough room to go over the bridge back edge into the hipshot.

Thanks again guys. I appreciate all the good advice and am glad I waited. Long post ahead so skip this if you’re in a hurry.

The bender arrived yesterday and I took some pictures of my preliminary installation last night. You guys who have them already might not care but I appreciated every picture I saw when I was searching for info and maybe these pics will help some future searchers of Hipshot installation information. I haven’t taken a lot of close-up pics with my digital camera and I think I’m getting too close. I’m learning I get better closeups from standing back rather than getting a few inches from the thing I’m picturing.

I’ll get some better pictures up this weekend after I install the bender properly – all I did last night was remove the strap button and stick the bender on with the same screw just to see how things lined up. I didn’t use the long screw or the star washer and I didn’t drill for the two side holes. I will certainly do these things this weekend and report back.

This Tele has a MIM Nashville body, a Fender 52RI bridge, Stew-Mac compensated saddles, and a 7.25” radius neck. I mention all that because I now see that the angle of the string over the saddles is partly dependent on neck radius. A 9.5” radius neck might have allowed the saddles to be a little lower – all other things being equal – and there might not have been enough room for the B string to clear the back lip of the bridge.

Here’s me getting ready and then another shot from behind that shows how high the saddles are relative to the back lip of the bridge.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a284/craigslistuser/parts.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a284/craigslistuser/bridge.jpg

I didn’t even put on a new B string when I temporarily mounted the bender! I just removed the one that was already there, fed it through the bender, and there was just enough length to get two winds on the tuning post. But that’s all I needed to see how things lined up and to see if I’d need to drill, notch, shim, or whatever. The B string clears the back lip of the bridge, but just barely. I didn’t measure, but I’d guess it has 1/16” clearance when the bender isn’t activated and maybe 1/32” or 1/64” with the bender activated. Speaking of activation – I just tuned the adjustment screw by ear and without the long screw and star washer, the bender was pulling up from the body so tuning was pretty off, but the good news is this thing works!

Here are pics of the clearance of the string over the back lip with no adjustments. I know I can raise action and/or shim the neck so I’m not worried in the slightest.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a284/craigslistuser/sideview2.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a284/craigslistuser/sideview.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a284/craigslistuser/backview.jpg

I’m going to buy some snap-ring pliers after work today so I can move the B Bender over just a little. Out of the box, it’s a little off, but then again the plate looks like it’s not perfectly centered behind the bridge, so maybe the factory strap button hole is a little off instead. But hey – any excuse to buy a new tool is a good one, right? Here’s a shot of the string going over the saddle – you can see it’s on the adjustment screw instead of where it should be. Minor problem and easily fixed when I have the time to do this installation right this weekend.

Thanks again for all the help, guys! I’ll be back this weekend with pics of the finished installation.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a284/craigslistuser/topview.jpg

Be warned, the holes in the hipshot are smaller than MOST? ring retainer tools.

Get and exact measurement, or bring the plate when you go tool shopping.

Thanks robt57 - I bought these pliers at Ace Hardware for $16 and it works, after I switched to the small tips:

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a284/craigslistuser/snap_ring_pliers.jpg

Got the Hipshot installed today and it's working very well. I'm very pleased with it, and must say again I'm glad I didn't drill my bridge. It didn't need drilling or notching at all and it works great. I gave it quite a workout today, both using the bender (badly, at this point - it's my first one) and also made sure the string wasn't going to pop out of the saddle, rub on the back of the bridge, or sound "flimsy" without a hard break angle over the saddles. I'm happy to report this thing works great and I had fun doing some simple mods to my Tele, cleaning it, and restringing it for the first time in I-Can't-Remember-How-Long.

Here are some pics of my installation.

I didn't need to swap bridges, but I did anyway. Here's my Tele looking a little naked:

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a284/craigslistuser/bridge_swap.jpg

I figured as long as I was at it, why not shim the neck? I knew it couldn't hurt and would probably help me get the saddles up nice and high. I used a piece of thin cardboard that's maybe a little thicker than a business card, but not much.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a284/craigslistuser/shim.jpg

By the way, I can't remember who I bought the neck from about ten years ago but I know it was from the old-format TDPRI board and whoever you are - thanks. This has been a great neck. It's a MIJ "JD Tele" that came to me with threaded inserts and allen-head machine screws. It's has some fret wear now but nothing worth worrying about yet. I had a good professional guitar tech install a bone nut on it a while back, too.

I decided I might like the option of moving the bender lever over to the G string and read here that the strap button is in the way when you do that, so I mounted the strap button over to the right. I used the regular strap button screw for that and added another star washer and a black felt washer too. The middle screw is the long one that came with the bender - and star washer, of course - and the right one is a 4 x 3/4" wood screw per Hipshot's instructions.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a284/craigslistuser/strap_button.jpg

I don't know if I'll move the bender lever over to G or not. I had so much fun with this thing today I'm thinking I'll eventually order the palm lever for the B string. I do a lot of "manual" G bending now but the B bender makes bends so smooth that they have a different sound that I really like.

Here I've installed both E strings and am checking neck alignment.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a284/craigslistuser/checking_neck_alignment.jpg

I also installed some slotted steel saddles. I've had brass saddles on this Tele for a few years but figured the slotted ones would hold the B string in place better.

It's hard to say what kind of change steel saddles made to the tone, since I also put on new strings at the same time. Sure, it's twangy and "clangy" but it's not harsh and, frankly, I don't hear a huge difference from brass - it just sounds like a Tele with new strings.

I have at about 1/8" clearance over the back lip of the bridge without activating the bender and, of course, slightly less than that when the bender is activated, but the string does not touch the back lip of the bridge and that's what counts. It's up higher with the shim than without but my action is still nice and low after spending some time on the setup.

Here's a lousy pic, but the best I could manage:

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a284/craigslistuser/clearance.jpg

So that's about it. I'm very happy. Here are some final pictures. Thanks again to everyone who gave me advice and the moral of the story is...don't drill your bridge before your Hipshot arrives! :grin:

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a284/craigslistuser/steel_saddles.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a284/craigslistuser/Tele1.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a284/craigslistuser/Tele2.jpg