Telecaster bridge question

**ChrisN** · 01-22-2024, 01:44 PM

Good morning. Would someone with a standard Fender Telecaster with an ashtray bridge please measure from the nut to the back end of the bridge and post the length?

I'm looking at a tele style guitar wondering if the length of the neck pocket is more than standard or the bridge is located too close to the fretboard.

The scale is standard and it intonates, but with the first saddle back almost to the bridge and the 5th & 6th strings 90 degrees out of the body.

Thank you.

**dconeill** · 01-22-2024, 05:49 PM

The distance you're asking for will vary somewhat according to the model of the guitar and therefore of the installed bridge. "Traditional" Teles have a shorter bridge tray than do later Teles. Further, more traditional Tele bridges have four mounting screws, while some more recent bridges have only three. Some Tele bridges have three adjustable saddles, and some have six. There are also several kinds of saddles across the bridge models. Traditional bridges have the string holes behind the bridgeplate mounting holes, while the newer styles have the string holes in front of (toward the nut) of the mounting holes.

So if your guitar is a Fender or Squier, maybe you could list the guitar model. If it's another manufacturer or a partscaster, you'll have more detail to dig up, which is what you've done with this post.

You can see technical drawings of some Tele bridges at
Telecaster Vintage Ashtray Bridge - Brass Saddles | Guitar Anatomy
Telecaster Guitar Bridge Modern 6 Saddle - Free Delivery | Guitar Anatomy
and other bridge drawings at that website.

**ChrisN** · 01-22-2024, 07:43 PM

Thanks for the info. I'm trying to track down the layout discrepancy between my tele style guitar and the standard Fender.. it's looking like the bridge, which has the specs of a regular old ashtray type (4 screw holes, 3 saddles, string holes behind the screw holes), is positioned about 3/8ths forward relatively toward the strings.

Here's a link to a diagram I came across that kind of gives the info I was looking for that may be helpful to someone.

Thanks much.

Fender Telecaster Guitar Templates | Electric Herald

**Geunther** · 02-26-2024, 05:50 PM

Is it a "partscaster"? Did you buy it used? Standard Fender scale length is 25.5 inches, my guess is that you have a Tele style body that was intended for a 24.75 scale length and someone (assuming you bought it used) put a 25.5 scale neck on it.

About 20 years ago I bought a Tele style unfinished ash body with ugly grain suitable for a solid color for $40, fiddling around with it trying to fit my Allparts neck and the bridge plate I discovered all the holes, routing, etc. were off, it all should have been about 3/8 inch further from the end of the neck pocket. I filled the front end of the bridge pickup routing and the screw and string holes with epoxy, marked where everything should go, routed for the new pickup position and redrilled holes. I put a finish on it and it has been my favorite Tele ever since. It was a lot of extra unexpected work which made it not such a bargain, but I happen to like doing stuff like that. Other people have played it and they can't tell that its anything other than a cool old Tele.

So that's my best guess; you've maybe got a mismatched body and neck. I see Warmoth sells 24.75 conversion necks for Teles, BUT I assume that is for a standard dimension Tele body, might be better but probably not a perfect solution.

**ChrisN** · 02-26-2024, 06:27 PM

I wound up using a Gotoh In Tune bridge top loaded. The guitar is a Washburn Laredo LT-82. It works strung through the body but there is no distance from the string holes to the saddle for the bass strings. Top loading gives it a reasonable looking break angle. I would guess the neck and body routing are original. The Gotoh bridge plate is longer than most, about the length of the Wilkinson it had originally, but that bridge loaded through the body. With the Gotoh plate it's 26 and 3/4s from the nut to the back of the plate. It's 26 from the nut the the string holes.

Thanks much for your suggestions.

**Geunther** · 02-26-2024, 07:22 PM

Aha, sounds like you've got a workable solution, awesome! Now that you mention Washburn I think I remember the body I got back then was from a batch rejected by Washburn that a parts seller had gotten hold of, so it had been configured to their specs. A great thing about Teles/Strats; whatever is wrong with them can be fixed, usually by just DIY.