Anyone make their own bridge? Here's what I did...

This was a project I did a while ago - and always wondered if perhaps others had some thoughts on the best ways to make your own bridge. So - I'll post my approach and see if others have some thoughts.

I looked at my tele bridge and thought that I could make my own. Since I'm going to be building a bunch of guitars from scratch - it makes sense to try to make the bridge from scratch as well. The most obvious source of material I had was some electrical box lids - I house all of my DIY effects using these as well - so, I have a bunch of these laying around.

I already had some saddles I was going to use. So, I downloaded and sized the modern bridge picture from stu-mac and then glued it to the top of an electrical junction box lid. Next I got a metal blade and put it in my band saw and cut the metal to size on the sides. I also used a jig saw to cut out the center.
http://www.mojotronics.com/images/Guitar_builds/bridge/Second.jpg

Next, I took the metal and bent the rear of it up for the saddle adjustment.
http://www.mojotronics.com/images/Guitar_builds/bridge/third.jpg
http://www.mojotronics.com/images/Guitar_builds/bridge/forth.jpg

Then, mounted in a vise and bent it to roughly 90 degrees.
http://www.mojotronics.com/images/Guitar_builds/bridge/fifth.jpg
http://www.mojotronics.com/images/Guitar_builds/bridge/6th.jpg
http://www.mojotronics.com/images/Guitar_builds/bridge/seventh.jpg

These are a couple after bending:
http://www.mojotronics.com/images/Guitar_builds/bridge/Next_to_last.jpg
http://www.mojotronics.com/images/Guitar_builds/bridge/Last.jpg

I don't have pictures for the rest, but what I did was to pull the paper off and laydown some good straight lines and used a grinder to grind down to a set of nice straight lines. Also, I put a curve on the corners and the edges to that there were no sharp edges.

Next, I put a wire brush on my drill and brushed it until all of the tooling marks were hidden. Lastly, I used a flat piece of steel and some plywood - turned it over and pounded it completely flat again. Then I sanded the bottom of the bridge plate to make sure it was as flat as can be.

The bridge turned out to be not a pretty/shiny thing to look at, but it was shaped correctly and had all of the holes in the right spots - as per the picture I downloaded. It's 1/2 the thickness as the gotoh Tele bridge and not as ridged.

When I bolted it to my Tele, attached the saddles and fixed the intonation it seemed to handle the tension well. I could tel that it was not quite as solid as the gotoh bridge, but it was working fine.

The tone of the guitar was quite different though - the bridge pickup sounded different and the overall tone - even on the neck pickup - was kind of hollow sounding. Not a bad tone, but noticeably different from the gotoh bridge.

I'm wondering if anyone else has tried something similar with different material and could note their results?

I made one out of the stainless steel from a beer keg, and the control cover too.

It sounds excellent with some old Fender Stainless saddles.

Body was reclaimed 45 year old pine form a water bed frame, the neck an early MIK Might Might V Neck with bone nut and string Tee. DIY butterscotch Nitro blend. etc etc...

Posted this so many time here when I first did it I should be shot. ;(

I made one out of the stainless steel from a beer keg, and the control cover too.

It sounds excellent with some old Fender Stainless saddles.
...(
Great - how thick was the steel you used?

Great - how thick was the steel you used?

IIRC, about he same as a Vintage plate .065 area.

I also used nickles on that one. I later donated the guitar to a starving musician [is there any other kin? ;) ] and he asked me to take the nickles out before I gave it to him. Plus I wanted my Stainless ender Saddles back, so he got some RS guitar works saddles I put on.

Well after a short time he put them back in and says it sounds better and the saddle screws were a little short with out the nickles to jack it up high the way he likes it. ;)

But I think that metal for the 1900 box covers [and elec boxes in general] is pretty much just reboiled scrap crap. The Stainless from the keg is pretty high quality steel, and IMO sustains accordingly.

Aaahh yes, a 4-s blank plate... Good thinking...

I made one out of copper in the last $100 tele build off.

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/attachments/2009-%24100-tele-challenge/22167d1237075250t-completed-%24100-telecaster-challenge-palletcaster-img_1393a-jpg

This one is made from 20ga. steel that I got at Home depot. Used a wilkinson bridge as a template for the holes, and then cut, ground, drilled, sanded, and heat treated it to get the look.

Guard is leather Mike ?

I made one out of copper in the last $100 tele build off.

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/attachments/2009-%24100-tele-challenge/22167d1237075250t-completed-%24100-telecaster-challenge-palletcaster-img_1393a-jpg

Yes it's leather you can see it in page 2 of the Palletcaster $100 build thread.
http://www.tdpri.com/forum/2009-%24100-tele-challenge/148515-completed-%24100-telecaster-challenge-palletcaster-2.html

Yea, I remember now. What dye did you use for the black on the leather, I love that raw look. Maybe I will replace the carbon fiber vinyl one I put on my 48 Proto is build.

I had entered that also with my pine 48 Proto B_caster. But bubbling Nitro from farting pine slowed me way down and I pulled out of the competition. I did finish up the body later, tossed on a MIM neck and actually it is one of my favs. Nice nasty pine Esquire with a 8.5k PUP. ;( Snarly too, but I still ave trouble parting with my creations. Only have 2 out there among gigging players. ;(

And the guitar room is getting smaller and smaller.

Last time I use no wax shellac as a sealer. I use just a lacquer wash or
now pollycrilic min-wax to keep the gasses in the wood, as a sealer. ;)

Here she is with just a MIM neck on her so I could play her.

http://home.comcast.net/%7E7511/48-Broadcaster_Fin-tele-HS-neck.JPG

Yes it's leather you can see it in page 2 of the Palletcaster $100 build thread.
http://www.tdpri.com/forum/2009-%24100-tele-challenge/148515-completed-%24100-telecaster-challenge-palletcaster-2.html

I looked at my tele bridge and thought that I could make my own. Since I'm going to be building a bunch of guitars from scratch - it makes sense to try to make the bridge from scratch as well. The most obvious source of material I had was some electrical box lids - I house all of my DIY effects using these as well - so, I have a bunch of these laying around.

Be careful when cutting or burning galvanized steel. A welder friend of mine claims it gives off a poison gas.