Fishman Posted March 25, 2019 Share Posted March 25, 2019 What's the best approach to accurately drilling and attaching a bridge into a new body – any advice appreciated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Islander Posted March 25, 2019 Share Posted March 25, 2019 (edited) Measure the distance from the middle of the fret edge of the nut to the centre of the 12th fret wire, now double that and you have the distance from the middle of the fret edge of the nut to the centre of the bridge. Check and double check your measurements before committing. Edited March 25, 2019 by Islander pedantry :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stub Mandrel Posted March 25, 2019 Share Posted March 25, 2019 At the risk of getting shot down in flames my approach on guitars has been to wind the highest string bridge piece so its as close to the neck as possible and fit the bridge so it's exactly twice the distance from nut (or zero fret) to 12th fret from the nut. The highest string usually needs only a small amount of movement to set the intonation and this leaves plenty of adjustment for the other strings. The bridge should never need to be closer to the neck than this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassalarky Posted March 25, 2019 Share Posted March 25, 2019 Once you have the correct distance set, I would suggest using string taped to the headstock and run through the two outside bridge saddles to check the side-to-side alignment. This works for me but does assume that you have the neck attached. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommorichards Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 Low adhesive masking tape is your friend, as well as some boring old string for bridge alignment. Put the tape on your body, covering the area where the bridge will go, then use pencil to mark out the position of the bridge when its exactly the scale of your bass from the nut (34", etc) as well as when its central. Use a bass you currently have strung and intonated as a guide for bridge placement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grangur Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 13 hours ago, Bassalarky said: Once you have the correct distance set, I would suggest using string taped to the headstock and run through the two outside bridge saddles to check the side-to-side alignment. This works for me but does assume that you have the neck attached. Good idea. The only thing I would suggest is to do this with wire, rather than string as string can stretch more easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geek99 Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 28 minutes ago, Grangur said: Good idea. The only thing I would suggest is to do this with wire, rather than string as string can stretch more easily. Good advice - I used string and was about 3mm out and it’s really annoying. Just use some old bass strings 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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