Bridge location for my LP Special double cut

[bullfrogblues]

Some of you have seen my pics in the "what's on your workbench" thread, but I'm a little confused and have a question.
Where to install the Tone Pros adjustable wraparound bridge for intonation?
The templates I bought from Mike Potvin are great, and the body has location holes for the bridge. But when I do a mockup with the Allparts neck, the scale length is nowhere near the saddles. This is all based on the 25.5" scale.
To me it looks like the treble side stud of the bridge should be right on the 25.5" mark with the bass side angled back a little. and in the mockup, if I install the studs according to the template, I may have to make a 3 3/8" neck pocket instead of the usual 3". And the pocket will have a 2 degree tilt. And it's a bolt on.
Thanks for all the expertise found here.
pic of the guitar body and the template.

 

[Moldy Oldy]

FWIW, I always wait to locate the bridge until the neck is on. That way I can set the saddles in the middle of their range and measure from the actual nut position. Another plus is that it allows me to adjust the posts sideways a few thousandths if the neck centerline is slightly off.

 

[bullfrogblues]

FWIW, I always wait to locate the bridge until the neck is on. That way I can set the saddles in the middle of their range and measure from the actual nut position. Another plus is that it allows me to adjust the posts sideways a few thousandths if the neck centerline is slightly off.

I always install the neck first for all the same reasons. I just need to know, after the neck is installed, where to drill the holes for the bridge studs. Seeing as how it's a bolt on I have some leeway, but I don't know if I want a 3" or 3 3/8" neck pocket.
I have room either side of the pickups to make the pocket longer or move the bridge.
I need to know if the treble side bridge stud should be right on the 25.5" line.
Thanks for your reply!!

 

[Moldy Oldy]

I’ve actually never measured that. With the neck on I set the bridge on the body and measure to get the correct distance from nut to the saddles. Then mark where the posts need to go. I get the “correct” nut to saddle distance for both E strings by measuring another guitar. You could also try StewMac’s fret calculator.

Regarding the length of the neck pocket, I would keep it at 3” and not give up the extra 3/8” of access to the high frets. But do whatever looks best to you. If you go longer, and if the neck is already made, be sure the heel will look ok on the back.

 

[RickyRicardo]

Once your neck is on and your tuners are in put in the 2 E strings and intonate by moving the bridge around. Mark the holes from that. Your templates are probably Gibson scale.

This is for a TOM but you'll get the idea. Go to 23:40.

 

[bullfrogblues]

Thank you both for the information.
The templates are designed for 25.5" scale according to Mike Potvin, maker of the templates.
I know the guitar will probably sound a little different than a standard LP Special due to the scale length, but it's what I have!

 

[Peegoo]

And the pocket will have a 2 degree tilt. And it's a bolt on.

Last year I built something very similar to what you are doing: a screw-on neck with 25.5" scale, a 3-degree neck pocket tilt, and a wrap-tail bridge. I wanted the same string height over the body as my LP Juniors have, so I cut the neck pocket to give me exactly 1/2" between a straight edge and the bridge location on the body, with the straight edge resting atop the frets. This step took a bit of fiddling, but it came out great.

Build thread here:

https://www.tdpri.com/threads/lone-star-tele.1069938/

It is a bit of a stressor to drill for the bridge location because you cannot undrill a hole But here's the cool thing about all that: whether the neck pocket is angled or not, you're still going to have the same string action over the frets as you would with a flat neck pocket--which means there's nothing you need to do differently.

I arrived at my bridge location by measuring several of my Telecasters (the distance from the front of the nut to the break point over the saddles for the low and high E strings), and they were all virtually identical because they're all strung with 10-gauge strings.

With the neck installed in the pocket, I held a straight edge against both sides of the neck and drew a line to the bridge location. That allowed me to center the bridge on the neck's line. Next, I measured from the front of the nut to the low E side and the high E side of the bridge location, placed a tic mark at each location on the body, and then connected the marks with a diagonal line. That gave me a visual reference to lay the bridge on the body and mark through it for the mounting studs' (threaded sleeves, actually) locations.

IMPORTANT: remember the E strings' break points over the saddles are not on the same line as the sides of the neck; they were 4mm or 5/32" inside each line for the bridge I used. So measure the string spread on your bridge and take that into consideration when you're calculating the distance.

Here's the idea:

Take your time, measure three times to confirm your geometry and dimensions, and then go for it.

 

[bullfrogblues]

Thank you @Peegoo , I'm headed out to the shop for some gozintas!!

 

[Freeman Keller]

I like to do a couple of different calculations for bridges - if they agree then I'm pretty confident in my location. First I locate the high E string side such that the farthest forward position of the saddle is at the scale length, the low E string saddle at scale pluse 1/16 or so then I run the SM fret calculator as see what it says. For a ToM bridge on 25.5 inch scale

• Tune-o-matic style bridges 25.562" from nut to center of treble-side post. Mount bass-side post 1/16"-1/8" further from the nut.

There is a third way, if I know the string gauges, scale length, tuning for each string and the expected 12th fret action I can calculate the amount of compensation that will be needed for each string. You can actually lay out where the break points of your saddles will end up and its pretty darn accurate. I'll sometimes use it as a check of the other two and almost always use it for odd ball strings or scales or tunings.

 

[gb Custom Shop]

Knowing how to mark the bridge position manually is the best way. I can't add anything to the great advice above in that regard.

However we buy templates for a reason, and a difference of 3/8" is quite significant. I would also explain your situation to Mr Potvin, and perhaps he can help you out too. He's a good and honest guy, and cares about his work. If his template was off or not as you ordered, I'm sure he'd make it right with you.