Bridge suggestions for economy jazz(ish) guitar

**Ralph124C41** · 08-12-2023, 01:45 PM

I just bought an Iyv IJZ-500 full-hollow (I'm told) guitar off Amazon. It was priced insanely low, less than half of what it has sometimes been sold for. Plus it has some construction details I don't have experience with ... such as a giant 17-inch wide body and a full wood bridge.

Ah, that bridge ... the only specs I can find about it are that is made of "wood." I'm also bothered by the fact that the guitar comes stock with what I suspect are generic 9-gauge nickel-plated strings and that from what I can see the small notches in the bridge are not deep enough for the low E string and maybe the A string. At the very least I'd like to put on a set of 10-gauge/11-gauge pure nickel strings and I may even put on some 10-gauge flatwound strings.

The bridge seems pretty well intonated or as best as can be expected I think with the high and low Es intonated well.

I have one somewhat similar guitar, although it is a smaller version, my Ibanez AG-85. I also have two semi-hollow body guitars. All have a TOM-style bridge atop a wooden cradle so this is my first experience with an all-wood bridge.

So what would you recommend:

1. Keep the bridge as is and just make the notch cuts if needed (my luthier buddy can do that for me as he makes his own line of acoustics) and hope it can withstand the extra tension of a set of 10s either pure-nickel or flatwounds;
2. Replace the bridge with a better version of what I have. My buddy can shape the base if needed to follow the curve of the guitar top;
3. Replace the bridge with a wooden cradle with either a bone top slab or the one with the little grooves that have metal clips in it to aid in intonation and to perhaps help prevent the notches from getting too deep under pressure from the strings? (I have that type of bridge in my Rogue "Beatle" bass and it's been fine after 20 years.)
4. Replace the bridge with a TOM/wood type as on my other guitars. I understand the tone of the guitar will probably change (maybe for the worst) and could have more treble and less bass. However I could somewhat compensate for that tonal shift by putting on the more mellow flatwounds.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

**Chazmo** · 08-12-2023, 03:09 PM

To address your proposals numerically, in my oh so humble opinion, but based on experiences modifying my own guitars over the years:

1. The notches in the saddle have to be only deep enough to hold the strings in place, so they don't move around. They will likely be fine if you put larger gauge strings on. The strings will sort of seat themselves over time anyway if the change in string size is not too great--and going from .009 to .010 or .011 is not. The reasons to re-notch the saddle would be if the string spacing was off or you want to match the string radius with the fretboard radius to maximize playability.

2. What's so bad about the wood that the stock bridge is made of? If it sounds okay and is consistent in appearance with the fingerboard, why replace it? Your buddy can sand the bottom of the existing bridge to conform to the top if needed.

3. A bone saddle can bring out acoustic properties if that is what you are looking for. If you are going to add metal you may as well go all in with a Tuneomatic (TOM) and get precise control over the intonation.

4. A TOM would be good if you are experiencing severe intonation problems, or you just want to experiment with the metallic sound. Either way, you may be able to use the stock bridge base and just get a new TOM saddle if the post to post spacing is the same.

**sgosnell** · 08-12-2023, 03:28 PM

This is entirely subjective. Any of the choices could work, and it depends mostly on the sound you prefer. I don't think the bridge it comes with necessarily needs replacing. It should easily hold up to .013 or even bigger strings. The notches in the saddle only need to be deep enough to hold the strings in place under tension, as noted above, and the pressure from the strings as they're tuned should be sufficient to create indentations deep and wide enough. The biggest problem is often an incorrect saddle radius, which doesn't match the radius of the fretboard, and thus causes the outside strings to not match the center strings as to action height. It's usually that the saddle is flatter than the fretboard, so the outer string slots need to be progressively deeper than the center ones. The saddle can be re-radiused, or the slots can just be cut deeper. It may not be necessary, though. It's up to you. I've tried the saddles which have slots cut along the length, and with the metal (partial frets, more or less) pieces set into them, but I've never liked the tone. That's entirely subjective. I have a guitar with a bone insert in the top of the saddle, and I like it, but I went to that because the guitar needed a brighter tone than I could get with the standard wooden saddle. That's also entirely subjective.

If it were me, and it obviously isn't, I would try the original bridge with whatever strings I prefer for awhile before changing anything. That could save work and expense which just wasn't necessary. If, after some time with the installed hardware, you want something different, you have many choices, and pretty much all of them are valid, it's just a matter of personal preference as to which to choose. And it's not that hard or expensive to try more than one.

**Ralph124C41** · 08-16-2023, 10:59 AM

Thanks for all the suggestions. There is a part of me that likes having a bridge that will aid in intonation ... but there is also a part of me that understands that type of a bridge may alter, perhaps just a little, the sound of the instrument. So I'm thinking I will ask my luthier buddy if he can make some type of wood bridge (with strong wood) that has some sort of intonation ridges or whatever. At least he can give me a cost estimate. Of course he would shape the bottom of the bridge to fit the curve of the guitar and the fingerboard. So I imagine he would provide a stable bridge that would retain, if not improve, the sound of the guitar.

But as many, if not most of you folks have suggested, there is no need to change it if what I have seems to be working. I won't be taking it out of my house and I am not a hard-handed player at all.

Next would be to buy a hardshell case that will fit my guitar. However I have it now in an oversized gig bag made for large acoustics and it fits fine. In fact that is the same gig bag I used to transport that Rogue semi-hollow bass to many a gig before I broke down and bought a hardshell case ... so it it protected my bass when I was playing at sketchy bars or on a flatbed trailer I think it should be OK for my new guitar. Right?