Bridge conundrum

[docsteve]

I have a 335 copy that I bought when I was about 20. Or rather, I bought the body with a set neck, and fitted it with the necessary hardware, as well as two P90s (which resulted in some subpar woodwork to fit them into the humbucker routings). It's a DIY job, and not worth much, but there is emotional value attached to it.

The body was actually built for a strat-type hardtail, string-through-body bridge, and that's what I had on it until last year. During lockdown, I mounted a trapeze tailpiece and a wooden bridge, of which I had to remove the base and sand down the actual bridge part to 1 cm to match the neck angle. The objective was to achieve a more woody sound than was possible with the hardtail bridge.

Unfortunately, this hasn't brought the desired result. The sound is woody, true, but bland and dull. Moreover, it's impossible to adjust string height and intonation, and the bridge is quite unstable, since it's held in place only by the strings.

I don't want to go back to the original configuration. I'd like to keep the tailpiece if possible, and replace the bridge with something that's more appropriate. Unfortunately, all TOM bridges are way to high. The only way to go seems to be a hardtail toploader bridge. I can always fasten the strings at the tailpiece just for good looks.

Any ideas or alternatives for a bridge that is adjustable, only about 1 cm high, and works with a trapeze tailpiece? I'll add some photos if that helps.

Thank you, Stephan

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

I’m not sure what you mean by “the bridge is quite unstable”. Most archtop bridges are held in place only by the strings and are quite stable, but they’re on a base. Did you really use just the saddle without any base or studs to support it?

If the bridge really is just a saddle and it’s easily moved when tuned to pitch, something is wrong in the relationships among neck angle, top height, and bridge height. And if that’s the case, there’s insufficient pressure on the bridge to properly transfer energy to the body. This would cause poor tone.

Assuming your guitar body has a block under the bridge area, you could fit a TOM saddle piece directly to the body on a pair of thin posts. Look at this page of options from StewMac - several will probably go as low as a cm above the top.

The original configuration may be your best bet. I’ve had great success with Hipshot bridges on string-through bodies.

[docsteve]

That’s what it looks like now. It is really just the bridge saddle, and it moves sideways easily.


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[JohanAbrandt]

Göldo lowrider bridge, dont know if its low enough but


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[sgosnell]

I don't think there is much that can be done with that. If there is a block under where the bridge should go, it's not going to be where the bridge actually is, so studs into the block probably won't work. The body was designed for a much longer scale neck, as shown by the bridge location being well short of the points of the f holes. You might be able to replace the neck with one with a 25.5" scale, but that seems like more trouble than the thing is worth. If it played and sounded okay with the Strat bridge, it might be better to put that back on. There aren't many, if any, floating archtop bridges that would be low enough. You might be able to sand a base down to almost nothing, and do the same with a saddle, and get it low enough, but the base probably won't have enough depth to hold the posts in place. Another solution might be to change the neck angle with a shim, to allow use of a taller bridge. I think that might be where I would start to lean.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

That’s what it looks like now. It is really just the bridge saddle, and it moves sideways easily.

If you can slide the "bridge" around while tuned to pitch, you're not going to get anything like that to work because the neck angle appears to be far too shallow. You'd need a neck reset at a steeper angle to make the guitar playable with the kind of bridge you want. Unless you really want to get into resetting the neck, I could be wrong but I think you'd best go back to the original bridge-TP design.

[docsteve]

It’s a set neck, so a shim won’t work, and no way I‘m going for a neck reset. I only wish there was a way to keep the tailpiece, if only for the look of it. Of course it would be silly to leave it on, but not attach strings to it. That’s why I thought about a toploader bridge - thread the strings through the holes in the back of the bridge and fix them at the tailpiece. Will probably still look silly. It might reduce pressure and get rid of the twang, though…


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[RayS]

there's this thread that might help: Floating bridge on a semi hollowbody.

Ray

[sgosnell]

I thought I had read that the neck was a bolt-on. If it's a set neck, the original bridge is probably the only real solution.

[docsteve]

It's a set neck with a center block. Having read the thread linked above, I think I'll just go back to the original configuration.

[docsteve]

So I got myself a Strat toploader bridge and threaded the strings through the bridge to the tailpiece. Did it all while listening to Janis Joplin’s last record. What do you think?




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[citizenk74]

If it works - does what it is supposed, and needs to do - it's good. How's it sound? I'm guessing "articulate" (clear, bright-ish, sustaining).

Well done!

[docsteve]

If it works - does what it is supposed, and needs to do - it's good. How's it sound? I'm guessing "articulate" (clear, bright-ish, sustaining).

Well done!

Thank you, it sounds bright and sustainy, but got rid of the twang. It can also sound woody and funky, and play the blues on the bridge pup.
Mission accomplished, I guess.


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[Hammertone]

The Framus/Warwick-073..BL10. Not a lot of those were built. Some had single f-holes, and bolt-on necks - a nod to the earlier version built by Framus in the early 1970s before they closed their doors.

These were built @1981/82. Not cheap guitars. They came equipped with Schaller tuners, Dimarzio pickups, ebony fretboards, maple necks, and maple or rosewood bodies.

[Hammertone]

Alternatively, you can solve the problem by recessing a tune-o-matic bridge into the top, as Godin did with their LG-90. Nylon or Graph Tech saddles will soften the sound.

[docsteve]

The Framus/Warwick-073..BL10. Not a lot of those were built. Some had single f-holes, and bolt-on necks - a nod to the earlier version built by Framus in the early 1970s before they closed their doors.

These were built @1981/82. Not cheap guitars. They came equipped with Schaller tuners, Dimarzio pickups, ebony fretboards, maple necks, and maple or rosewood bodies.

Wow, thank you for digging that out. As I wrote, I bought the wood only from the infamous Guitar George in Essen, Germany. He had a few of them and sold me this one for what I thought was a good price (300 DM IIRC). It had some lacquer blemishes. That was probably the reason why Warwick sold them in the raw, and George was just the guy to jump at the occasion.

I had just discovered P90 pups so I very amateurishly routed cavities for them, installed Schaller tuners and a string-through bridge that I never really liked. Got rid of that after only 40 years now. I also replaced the tuners with new Klusons, the Schallers were giving out.

BTW the P90s are original Gibsons, but I can’t quite remember where I bought them - one may even be from a shop in Denmark St., London. The other is probably from George‘s shop.

Looking forward to bringing it to rehearsal next week!


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[Hammertone]

Guitar George? He knows all the chords.