Saga TC-10 Babicz bridge issues.

[spamsicle]

Hello folks, I’m having problems. My first build, a Saga TC-10 Tele is assembled and ready for setup. I installed string ferrules and swapped the supplied bridge for one of those Babicz full contact jobs. On assembly day, I was happy to see the strings fitting nicely and everything lining up so neatly. I was only minutes away from my first mal adjusted get down, when I discovered that the bridge does not appear to sit high enough. That’s right, with the saddles set at top dead center, as high as they will go I’m getting string buzzes over much of the neck. I loosened the truss rod to see if that would get me anywhere but it does not seem to help. I guess the obvious thing is to install the stock bridge and see if that corrects the problem. But another idea I have is to use my jointer and shave a 16th or so off the back heal of the neck making it sit lower in the pocket. Any recommendations? Is there something I’m missing? A shim somewhere? Thanks.

[flatfive]

Welcome to TDPRI!

Yes, before doing anything else you should try a simple shim
in the neck pocket. There are lots of different things people
makes shims of; I usually use a section of playing card.
You'll want your shim to sit in the headstock end of the
bridge pocket.

If you google 'guitar neck shim' you'll get tons of info. Here's
a TDPRI thread on the subject:

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-tech...r-saddles.html

[spamsicle]

Thanks for the advice. I'll give it a go this weekend.

[boris bubbanov]

Hey!

Please pardon me, but I like to say the best thing about Saga kits is it forces the newcomer to do all his own heavy lifting; no short cuts, no leapfrogging over other people by buying superb $ 250 necks, and other beautifully made parts you just bolt together. Instead, the Saga kit is loaded with hard knocks, and anyone who completes one and makes it sound and play well has earned the right to say, he BUILT that Tele. Not assembled, but built the guitar. And kudos to that person.

However.

Affixing an expensive, intricate and technology heavy part like the Babicz bridge nullifies the glory of the bloody battle you're winning. By using that "some wizard made this" bridge on the raw collection of parts you have birthed into a guitar, you're robbing yourself of a victory that should be all yours.

I'm saying, way the wrong Tele for a Babicz, if you ask me. Some my bridges cost me $ 25, and some cost $ 200. You're putting the wrong bridge on that guitar; that bridge goes on a $ 1,500+ guitar. Again, pardon my heavy hand - I almost deleted this post 3 times but I think you deserve an honest opinion.

I've put $ 250 necks on $ 69 guitar bodies before, but I did it knowing it was temporary. I know from experience, you will get the strangest looks when people see what you've done - just giving you the heads up.

[OpenG Capo4]

I have a guitar built from kit parts that I think might have been a Saga. One problem I had was the neck heel had a weird angle it it. Once I sanded it down flat the neck was OK and I ended up using it with a different body.

But yeah, the Babicz bridge is way overkill for the Saga. If I were going to spend money improving the Saga I'd start with the pickups, electronics, and tuning keys. Even then I wouldn't spend much. Save the fancy hardware to use with a better quality body/neck.

[raito]

Looks like I have something else to look forward to with my (what appear to be) Saga parts. I'm glad I read this. At least if I have the same problem, I'll have a clue where it came from.

Then again, I'm putting a Vibramate and a Bigsby on mine, so that $200 bridge is lookin' a little cheap...

But I'll have to drop 'assembled' as a verb -- boris says so.

[Sawarow]

I've tried a babicz bridge before and while very well made, they have a limited amount in the height adjustment compared to a normal tele bridge. Unless you want to start thinning the heel of the neck, I think you may want to consider a normal tele bridge.

[Barncaster]

Hey Spam,

If the bridge is not sitting high enough, e.g., it is maxed out in it's height adjustment, your neck pocket needs a shim. Check out the thread supplied. Use a hard wood shim only. If you do not have access to any, hardwood veneer sheets work great. If you can't find any, private email me and I will send you some.

Concerning your bridge, this is America. You can put any bridge on any guitar you want. Don't let anyone here start raining BS on your project. The fact that some members here have trouble controlling their negativity has to be tolerated for sake of freedom of speech. Do it your way and there will be tons of positive people here to help you. Post a sound clip and pictures if you can. Have fun.

Barncaster

[boris bubbanov]

Originally Posted by Barncaster

Hey Spam,

If the bridge is not sitting high enough, e.g., it is maxed out in it's height adjustment, your neck pocket needs a shim. Check out the thread supplied. Use a hard wood shim only. If you do not have access to any, hardwood veneer sheets work great. If you can't find any, private email me and I will send you some.

Concerning your bridge, this is America. You can put any bridge on any guitar you want. Don't let anyone here start raining BS on your project. The fact that some members here have trouble controlling their negativity has to be tolerated for sake of freedom of speech. Do it your way and there will be tons of positive people here to help you. Post a sound clip and pictures if you can. Have fun.

Barncaster

I'll be sure to check in on your recommendations first, if I want to throw a lot of money down the drain. Yes, a guy is free to gold plate the water faucet in the barnyard, as long as he appreciates that's what he's doing start to finish. Maybe I am being presumptuous, imagining that a guy who maybe has not done many projects might not understand he had a mismatch, but why label it negativity? You make it seem like every mistake we make, makes us happier, wiser and richer. That's just not true.

People come here for guidance, not to be told, go ahead and do anything; pick up the pieces later. You make it sound like I'm trying to do the guy wrong. I think you're absolutely, totally mistaken. When people ask for help you're supposed to help them, not stand back and watch them crash and burn.

Had he got this thing together with no hitches, I'd be delighted to have been the first to congratulate him. But something is quite wrong, and I think this unusual bridge prevents us from diagnosing and fixing the problem. You suggest a shim. To me, a shim is what you do when nothing else works and you're in tears. Why not instead use a bridge that doesn't require any shims at all, and save the Babicz for the next project?

I would like to have spared this builder all this excitement, but I do not appreciate people calling my post BS.

[OpenG Capo4]

I'm not trying to spread negativity at all, I'm just sharing my experience with the Saga. Mine was alright when I acquired it in semi-finished form, but I decided I wanted a 3 saddle "vintage style" bridge on it and thats when my problems with it started.

In my opinion, the bridge that comes with the Saga is the best piece of hardware in the whole kit. I like them so much I bought a couple from GFS for my own builds.

Here is mine when I started on it.

[vincent]

I had used the Babicz bridge on my modded WolfTwang. I had the same problem. I ended up cutting a heavy gauge guitar pick in half and using that as a shim at the headstock end of the neck pocket. It should fix your issue. Overall a pretty nice bridge. It looked really beefy in the picture so when I opened the package I was surprised at how lite it actually was. Good Luck!

[Barncaster]

Vincent,

That looks sweet how does it sound?

Barncaster

[Barncaster]

Hey Spam,

Take a depth measurement of the neck pocket from the face. It should be 17mm/ .669". If your body measures to this value then the neck is the culprit and a little thinning as you mentioned would be required. Go in small increments to fit it well. In this way you could avoid the shim altogether and have an optimal joining of the body and neck. Or, you could use the shim method mentioned. The choice is yours. Either way you are gaining valuable skills in the solving of your problem. Have patience and it will come out fine! Keep us posted.

Barncaster

[vincent]

Originally Posted by Barncaster

Vincent,

That looks sweet how does it sound?

Barncaster

Thanks Barncaster. I really like it. I just posted the thread a few days ago detailing the process of the mod. There are some pics and a link to a youtube video so you can hear it.

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home...d-content.html

[Barncaster]

Vinnie,

Great thread. Now that's what I call re-purposing! Well done!

Barncaster

[vincent]

Originally Posted by Barncaster

Vinnie,

Great thread. Now that's what I call re-purposing! Well done!

Barncaster

Yeah. It was a fun project.

[jeremypodom]

Same problem with mine, the saddles don't go very high. I'm just going to replace the bridge. It's sold on ebay for more than I payed for it in the first place.

[vincent]

Originally Posted by jeremypodom

Same problem with mine, the saddles don't go very high. I'm just going to replace the bridge. It's sold on ebay for more than I payed for it in the first place.

At least you were able to recoup your money (plus a little extra).

[spamsicle]

Thanks for all of the input. I’ve had plenty of fun putting this kit together. I have indeed learned a lot and owe a debt of gratitude to this forum and to folks that have posted here. I haven’t yet had time to try a shim, but I did take off the neck and make measurements. The neck pocket is just shy of 5/8”. The neck, measured to the top of the fingerboard is 1”.

Now, it’s been some time ago but, I think I bought the Babicz bridge because it looked highly adjustable. The design also seems (seemed) like a nifty engineering solution to string adjustment. I like it fine. My limited experience in electric guitar bridges comes from the tune-o-matic world, one intonation adjustment for each string. Since I purchased it my tastes have changed a little, I now find it to be too shiny and I could do without the large lettering etc. Regardless, the old bridge mounting holes are filled and the new bridge has been fit along with string ferrules (the stock bridge was top loading). Maybe this weekend I’ll find time to work on it. Thanks again for all of the help.

[Bubbalou]

Originally Posted by spamsicle

Thanks for all of the input. I’ve had plenty of fun putting this kit together. I have indeed learned a lot and owe a debt of gratitude to this forum and to folks that have posted here. I haven’t yet had time to try a shim, but I did take off the neck and make measurements. The neck pocket is just shy of 5/8”. The neck, measured to the top of the fingerboard is 1”.

Now, it’s been some time ago but, I think I bought the Babicz bridge because it looked highly adjustable. The design also seems (seemed) like a nifty engineering solution to string adjustment. I like it fine. My limited experience in electric guitar bridges comes from the tune-o-matic world, one intonation adjustment for each string. Since I purchased it my tastes have changed a little, I now find it to be too shiny and I could do without the large lettering etc. Regardless, the old bridge mounting holes are filled and the new bridge has been fit along with string ferrules (the stock bridge was top loading). Maybe this weekend I’ll find time to work on it. Thanks again for all of the help.

Spamsicle, That is going to be a very nice guitar when you are totally finished. I have a BabicZ on my Jazz Bass and love it but I hear ya on the name standing out. I have learned to not let it bother me as the bridge is just so good! I can't wait to hear how the problem turns out for you.