Is there a correct tool for adjusting the 3-point bridge on an EB-O?

Pilgrim · #1 10-04-2007, 12:30 PM

I have a new Epi EB-0 and am doing some setup work. The 3-point bridge has slots that clearly are too large for any conventional screwdriver, and I refuse to bugger up the sides of the slots by using a tool that doesn't fit.

I discovered last night that the slot in the central adjustment screw nearest the pickup is exactly the same width as a dime, which can be used to adjust that specific screw. The other screws have slots which look similar in width, but I haven't had time to mess with them. Looks like I'll have to loosen the strings to take tension off the bridge before making any adjustments on them. I just don't want to mar them.

Is there a specific tool to turn and adjust these? Or does everyone use a work-around like a coin?

jrfrond · #2 10-04-2007, 01:04 PM

Stewart-MacDonald has a Stop Tailpiece Wrench specifically made for these Gibson screws. It is part# 4618, and the price is $30.49.

Pilgrim · #3 10-04-2007, 01:24 PM

Thanks, John. I've seen entirely too many of those EB bridges with the side of the slots gouged from people using conventional screwdrivers in them.

Of course, being the cheap guy I am, I also night consider making a slot tool with my grinding wheel. Iron bar stock wouldn't be too hard to configure.....

jrfrond · #4 10-04-2007, 01:57 PM

Hey, why not? While companies like Stew-Mac and Luthiers Mercantile make tool purchasing very easy, I am also plenty old enough to remember when I had to "roll my own", and I have "safe" edge files and other tools I've made that date back 25+ years. I LOVE purchasing new and groovy tools that make my life easier, but I won't hesitate to construct my own either.

Pilgrim · #5 10-04-2007, 02:11 PM

Cool! I saw the Stew-Mac tool before posting, but it was listed as the tool for the Tune-O-Matic bridge; my gibby/Epi nomenclature is weak and I wasn't sure that bridge was same as the Epi - although it looked similar.

I think for $30 I can find a piece of bar stock or an old tool that I can re-shape into the proper slot size.

And that dime did fit amazingly well.

sublime0bass · #6 10-06-2007, 01:23 AM

yeah, 30 bucks for a tool sounds like price gouging to me

its called standardization, get with it Epi

Pilgrim · #7 10-06-2007, 10:04 AM

Eh, I'm OK with paying $30 for a good tool that fits well and doesn't leave marks. The Price is bound to be higher for a tool that Stew-Mac might sell 1000 of in a year. Sears probably puts out 100,000 sets of nut drivers in the same time so economies of scale dfinitely apply.

OTOH, if I'm not doing this for a living and will only need the tool a couple of times, making my own has a definite appeal. That $30 will cover beer and pizza for today's Washington State Cougars football game!