Neck Reset With a Gibson Slanted Bridge

[SBrown03]

So my Kalamazoo KG-11 finally needs a neck reset. I’ve done a bunch of neck resets in the past and I feel good enough to tackle this. I pulled the neck a few hours ago and have done some finish touchup while everything dries.

I noticed the bridge is significantly lower on the treble side, from what I can find online it’s to have the saddle higher on the treble side and thus more break angle on the high E string.

That being said, when I go to reset the neck should I measure the projection over the bass side? That’s my first instinct, but at the same time that would result in the treble side being overset considerably.

Thanks in advance!

[John Arnold]

The tapered bridge is done to allow for a uniform saddle height, since action is lower on the treble strings.
I tend to base the reset on the saddle height on the middle strings. In any event, the target saddle height and action can be an average on all the strings.

[SBrown03]

Originally Posted by John Arnold

The tapered bridge is done to allow for a uniform saddle height, since action is lower on the treble strings.
I tend to base the reset on the saddle height on the middle strings. In any event, the target saddle height and action can be an average on all the strings.

Thanks, that makes sense! So you’d recommend laying a straight edge over the frets on the centerline of the board, resulting in the treble side being slightly overset and the bass slight under set?

[John Arnold]

Yes. A saddle that is lower on the bass side can work well, because the saddle is closer to the bridge pins on the bass end.