improperly placed bridge.

[renegadetele]

The bridge on my tele is about a milimeter too close to the nut. I had my bridge changed from the factory style to one of these


and the tech placed is slightly off, such that the string holes are slightly covered by the baseplate (about a quarter of the diameter is obscured). The end result is that I have to have the saddles as far as they can go toward the nut...like hanging on by a thread. Also, its off toward the right if I'm facing the guitar, such that in the upper frets my e string is really really close to the edge of the fingerboard (I'm always fretting out). I know there is a way to fix this but I dont know what is is. I don't care about the finish because the bridge would probably cover it up. Should I just fill the bridge holes with wood putty and move the bridge back a little? Should I just get longer intonnation adjustment screws? What should I do?

[BritishBluesBoy]

You had this done by a professional guitar tech? I'd take it back if I were you...

BBB.

[renegadetele]

Originally Posted by BritishBluesBoy

You had this done by a professional guitar tech? I'd take it back if I were you...

BBB.

yeah, it was a few months ago. Idk if he would remember (30th street guitars). Do you think he would take it back.

[BritishBluesBoy]

Originally Posted by renegadetele

yeah, it was a few months ago. Idk if he would remember (30th street guitars). Do you think he would take it back.

Call 'em up and see what they say... I took my Guild F50 in there a while back but ended up getting the work done at Chelsea guitars on 23rd Street. They did seem pretty cool when I spoke to them though... (??)

Keep us posted... OK?

BBB.

[Jack Wells]

Well ........... I wouldn't take it back to a "professional" who didn't get it right in the first place. We're not talking rocket surgery here. Take off the bridge ...... glue toothpicks in the mounting holes ........ position the plate correctly ........ re-drill and reinstall.

[BritishBluesBoy]

True enough Jack, I just hate to see a 'pro' charge money for stuff, mess it up and get away with it... Shame, coz they are a well known guitar store and have a pretty good reputation.

[denny]

The misalignment might be the neck. Try slackening the strings, then loosen the neck screws maybe 1/4 turn, the bump the underside of the headstock with the heel of your hand. Don't try to force it, just a little nudge. There may be enough clearance in the neck pocket to align the strings. If so, just tighten the neck screws up and play. If it wants to slip back, you could put a shim the lower side of the neck pocket.

If longer intonation screws solve the reach problem, you're all set.

denny

[renegadetele]

the neck is cool, this didn't happen until the bridge was changed (4 months ago). The reason I'm not quite sure what to do is because the holes for where the bridge will be properly alligned will most likely overlap the existing holes, so its a matter of figuring out something that work and provide enough resistance and durability to handle the string pull. I dont want my bridge to fall off on me, hehe

[fuzzferatu]

This might sound silly, but perhaps you can just locate some longer screws for the saddles. I have been playing with bridges lately and noticed that I had several lengths of screws involved.

If it's only a millimeter, that might be the ticket.

Oh, and I love the flames!

[renegadetele]

Originally Posted by fuzzferatu

This might sound silly, but perhaps you can just locate some longer screws for the saddles. I have been playing with bridges lately and noticed that I had several lengths of screws involved.

If it's only a millimeter, that might be the ticket.

Oh, and I love the flames!

the longer screws could do it, but its also slightly offline, so sometimes when i'm playing up high on the e string it just wont let my have my normal agility. i wish there was a way to just move the high e string over a bit

[denny]

If you really want to move the bridge, I would suggest plugging the existing rear holes with dowels. The rear screws are taking most of the stress, and it looks like the plate would cover the dowels, so I would plug and re-drill only those holes. The front screws are just keeping everything from vibrating, and there is not much there to cover a repair, so you could probably just drill out the front screw holes in the right direction and fill with toothpicks.

BTW, a screw installed in a hardwood dowel glued into the body would likely be stronger than the original attachment.

denny