Bridge/string hole placement?

[Tedecaster]

Hi there, I’ve been visiting the TDPRI site for a while but this is my first post. I think it’s great site, certainly a reflection of the members, and has been a wealth of information gearing up for a Tele project. Pouring over tons of posts on TDPRI, I found the pine-bodied Teles pretty interesting and have decided to put one together. I have quite a bit of woodworking experience and tooling but this will be my first build other than partscaster assembly. I will buy a neck for this one but the body will be native VT pine. For the bridge, I would like to use the standard 4-hole + string-through pattern so I would be able to use any bridge that has “Fender” compatibility. I am wondering if anyone could give me “standard” bridge hole placement dimensions. There seems to be a standard as Warmoth, USACG, Mighty Mite, etc. offer bodies completely drilled. I made a body pattern from a friend’s ’71 Tele and measured the bridge placement (from the butt of the neck) as best we could without taking it apart. This is well within adjustment range but I was wondering if anyone has hard numbers for both mounting holes & string-through holes (or if there are hard numbers)? Thanks!

[jwells393]

I think it's best if you have a bridge in hand before you do the drilling. With a neck installed you can run fishing line from the two E string nut slots to the saddle slots and move the bridge laterally to get equal spacing with regard to the fingerboard edges. Mark and drill the two outter string through holes. With a drill press drill through with a 1/8 inch bit. Turn the body over. Draw a straight line between these two holes. Lay the bridge on the back side and mark the four other holes. Drill them from the back.

Better yet ............. buy these templates.

http://www.guitarbuildingtemplates.c...etemplates.htm

[Fatmanstratman]

Originally Posted by jwells393

I think it's best if you have a bridge in hand before you do the drilling. With a neck installed you can run fishing line from the two E string nut slots to the saddle slots and move the bridge laterally to get equal spacing with regard to the fingerboard edges. Mark and drill the two outter string through holes. With a drill press drill through with a 1/8 inch bit. Turn the body over. Draw a straight line between these two holes. Lay the bridge on the back side and mark the four other holes. Drill them from the back.

Yep - I'd agree with that, other than the "drill from the back" bit. That's not really necessary, 'cos you've still got to drill 6 larger holes in the back to accommodate your ferrules.

I converted a body to string-thru some years ago. If it is of any interest, check out this page from my website:

SHORTENED LINK

Don't forget to protect your body properly before you start work!

[jwells393]

FatMan,
I'm not sure why you disagree with drilling four of the holes from the back. The reason for doing this is to get all six holes in a straight line. I've seen posts in this forum where people have commented on mis-aligned string ferrules when discussing Teles on Ebay.

What do you suggest?

[Fatmanstratman]

jwells,

Sorry - I was not disagreeing as such. I just meant that if you are drilling the holes on a engineer's precise drill setup like I was, you can achieve the straight line.

But you are right - if you are doing this at home with a hand drill or similar, it probably IS better to drill from the back to guarantee more accuracy.

[Tedecaster]

Thanks for the replies & links! I had basically come around to a similar procedure to locate all the holes. I just wanted to double check in case I was missing something. I'm suprised I never found the template site. I have an 80's aftermarket bridge kicking around and thought about using it but am still not sure if it's "standard" as far as holes, so I'll probably get a new one. Good idea drilling from the back to get everything lined up and prevent tear-out. I came across one page with the ferrules intentionally mis-aligned. I think that would drive me crazy! TD