#1
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Floating bridge help
Can someone help me or give me some guidelines with an arch top style floating bridge? I changed strings on my semi hollow yesterday and did not realize it did not have a set bridge like my Sheraton and now I have the intonation all off even after the strings have settled. Where does the bridge need to be located in relation to the tail piece and the pickup? I'm hoping I can loosen the string and make the adjustment.
Here's a photo of how it sits now. Thanks for any help
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Taylor- DN8, GS Mini, XXX- KE Gibson - Gospel Reissue Takamine- GB7C |
#2
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Well, start by establishing the scale length, and tweak from there. Look up how to check harmonic vs. open string.
You've learned the most valuable lesson of all. Strings are best changed one at a time
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I only play technologically cutting edge instruments. Parker Flys and National Resonators |
#3
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Common mandolin mistake too, as I discovered the first time I changed strings on my first mando. You are just going to have to get there by trial and error.
What I would do is, use masking tape squares to locate where your bridge is now, then loosen all the strings except the outer two, then loosen those two just enough to move the bridge to a new location, then tune up the outer two strings only and check intonation at the 12th fret. Fretted note higher than the harmonic, and you have to move the bridge away from the neck, so move it a little bit relative to the tape squares and then move the tape squares to the new position and check again. Since your saddles are individually adjustable, you don't have to get it absolutely perfect, just close enough that you can finish the job by moving the saddles.
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'17 Tonedevil S-18 harp guitar '16 Tonedevil S-12 harp guitar '79 Fender Stratocaster hardtail with righteous new Warmoth neck '82 Fender Musicmaster bass '15 Breedlove Premier OF mandolin Marshall JVM210c amp plus a bunch of stompboxes and misc. gear |
#4
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Thanks for the advice. I'll go play around with it and see how it goes. I'm used to taking the strings completely off my other guitars so I can clrsh them. This is definitely a hard lesson learned.
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Taylor- DN8, GS Mini, XXX- KE Gibson - Gospel Reissue Takamine- GB7C |
#5
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Measure the distance from the nut to the twelfth fret. The bridge should be that distance from the twelfth fret. You may have to tweak a bit from there.
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#6
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As a result the one sting at a time thing has carried over to all my guitars. When I was looking for a hollow/semi-hollow, key words in my search were "pinned bridge"
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I only play technologically cutting edge instruments. Parker Flys and National Resonators |
#7
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Lifelong archtop player here:
As with the members of the violin family, start by using the inside "points" at the center of the f-holes as your initial guide (a couple inches higher than where you've got the bridge set right now). You'll need to center the bridge so that you can draw a straight line between both points, that intersects the height-adjustment wheel shafts (doing this by "eye" is OK, as you'll be moving the entire bridge assembly shortly); making sure the bridge base is perpendicular to the center seam of the top (don't "slant" the bridge base - you'll be using the TOM saddles to set intonation) use an electronic tuner to check the 12th-fret harmonic against the fingered note on both the low- and high-E strings. If you've done this correctly (and the luthier was respectful enough of tradition) you should be fairly close - at this point it simply becomes a matter of fine-tuning by moving the entire bridge assembly closer to/farther from the tailpiece (remembering to keep it square to the center seam), and adjusting the individual saddles as necessary. While I agree 100% with the idea of restringing one-at-a-time (you want to keep as constant a tension as possible on the string path in the interest of structural stability), should you need to perform structural/electronic repairs or wish to give your guitar a thorough cleaning it'll be easy to reset the bridge again using this method... Hope this helps...
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"Mistaking silence for weakness and contempt for fear is the final, fatal error of a fool" - Sicilian proverb (paraphrased) |
#8
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Add .1 or about 3/32nd inch to that for compensation and you will be pretty spot on.
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#9
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This is so elegant! Better than what I do, which is to make a small pencil mark on the top where the bridge was.
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#10
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Thanks everyone for the great and informative replies. I learned a ton from reading them and found them very helpful.
I ended up starting with this suggestion, and then I used redir's suggestion of adding a .1 inch of compensation and it seems to have done the trick. It sounds in tune up and down the neck now. Thanks again, I was afraid I wasn't going to get this awesome sounding guitar's intonation right again.
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Taylor- DN8, GS Mini, XXX- KE Gibson - Gospel Reissue Takamine- GB7C |
#11
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BTW to the OP that's a cool looking guitar I like the pearl mastic inlay. What kind of guitar is it? |
#12
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Here's a thread about it I posted a while back. http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...d.php?t=454829
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Taylor- DN8, GS Mini, XXX- KE Gibson - Gospel Reissue Takamine- GB7C |
#13
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With floating bridges, I also find it even easier to change just one string at a time.
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#14
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That's probably the best practice, if aint broke... |
#15
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^ This is exactly right. It may take some fiddling (heh heh), but this is the process.
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-Steve 1927 Martin 00-21 1986 Fender Strat 1987 Ibanez RG560 1988 Fender Fretless J Bass 1991 Washburn HB-35s 1995 Taylor 812ce 1996 Taylor 510c (custom) 1996 Taylor 422-R (Limited Edition) 1997 Taylor 810-WMB (Limited Edition) 1998 Taylor 912c (Custom) 2019 Fender Tele |