WTF!!!!Bridge problems.

[Sarge]

Though I'm not the most talented person when it comes to setting up guitars, I have been doing my own for a year or so and learning. However, my a** is kicked on this guitar (Tokai AST-62). Most ..no...all of my guitars have relativley flat fretboards, but this one has a major curve to the fretboard. The bridge saddles don't come no where near the height I need to get the guitar to play properly. The short saddle adjustors on the E's are too short and the remaining saddle adjustors are also. I belive some one replaced the original (Final Prospec) bridge with the wrong one cause the neck is true and there are only 2 springs in the trem cavity so it's not down too far. Also the saddle plate assembly is near flush with the guitar. The saddle adjusters just don't go high enough and the bridge can't be raised or it would be way off the body. I have a new vintage bridge coming which I HOPE will fix the problem. Have I over looked something?

[timgreene]

you need longer saddle screws.

[Sarge]

I wasn't aware they could be purchased with out the bridge assembly. Are they one size fits all or need to be micrometered?

[ray]

Try to shim the neck to bring the heel up closer to the strings. Fender American Strats have a small set screw that does this, but you can do the same thing with a piece of a business card. The shim would go in the neck pocket at the pickup end.
Hope this helps.
Ray

[Sarge]

Wouldn't that make the neck heel higher? Why shim when I can't get saddle height as it is?

[timgreene]

You could place a shim at the headstock end of the neck pocket. This will slightly lower the bottom edge of the neck.


Sounds like you need one of those plastic radius checking things, for a 7.25 radius neck, vintage radius.

The screws are available, in different lengths. Probably a good mom and pop shop could sell them to you. I am thinking you will need metric ones for that tokai bridge. I am pretty sure, you could get them cheaper, at a non guitar supplier, hardware store. Even better look for a local Nut and Bolt supplier in the phone book. I've never had to track these bolts down, but I know others on the board, have bought them from non guitar oriented sources. Good luck sarge.

Heres a link to I have not done business with these guys, just came up on a google search.

http://www.guitarnucleus.com/gnstore/screws.html

[ray]

Sorry Sarge, I misread your question. Timgreene is right, if you shim the neck, they should be at the headstock end of the neck pocket. That will raise the head and lower the heel, if that isn’t enough, then longer screws might be the way to go.
Ray

[maestrovert]

correct ...shim on the headstock side of the neck pocket...it will lower the end of the fingerboard (in relation to the bridge, and allow you to lower the saddles....

unless you like your saddle's high off the bridge plate (some guys do, better "downforce" on the saddles themselves), in which case shim on the butt side of the neck pocket (it will raise the end fingerboard in relation to the bridge thereby lowering the action with the saddles at the height they're at now....

[Sarge]

What radius might it be, honestly I've never seen nor played a guitar with that much arc on the fret board. It feels like I'm holding a bat. This is a mid 80's MIJ Tokai AST-62. The neck is original but the radius is crazy!

Maestovert, The is a .017 shim at the heel currently. Would taking that out help much? I would imagine that it was put there for a purpose, maybe for the ORIGINAL bridge.

[timgreene]

should be vintage radius, 7.25. never heard of a more extreme radius than that. Move the shim to the headstock end, of the neck pocket. I bet that solves your problem.

[maestrovert]

remove the shim, and try it again, shimless....see where that puts ya....
if it's still too high, try it with the shim at the headstock end of the pocket....
personally, i set my Strats up with the bridge plate flush with the body {down trem action only} with 4 springs fairly "tight" for tuning stability purposes, and better tone transfer to the body....
but that's jes' me and my preferences, y.m.m.v.

the neck radius you apparently have is my preference combined with the "U" contour....

[Sarge]

Thanks...I'll get on it!