Where to mount the bridge?

[mid_life_crisis]

I asked this at the end of another thread and was ignored (or people chose not to ridicule me).
There are calculators for determining where to put the frets based on the effective string length. My question is, what if you start with a neck that already has frets and build a body? How do you determine where to put the bridge to make sure it is located to allow proper intonation to be set?

[Andrew311]

Measure the length from the nut to the 12th fret. Double that and you have your scale length. (Probably 34 inches). The scale length is the length between the nut and the bridge so you'll want to place the bridge so the saddles in their middle position are that far from the nut.

[mid_life_crisis]

Thank you.

[mech]

What Andrew311 said but I add 1/8" to the overall scale length for the bridge location to make up for intonation adjustments. This will be the length of the center string...D on a 5 string or between D and A on a 4. I also have the saddles about 1/8" forward of the middle of travel to keep the E or B string saddle from being crammed up against the base of the bridge.

mech

[lug]

In theory the top of the G String saddle fully extened should be 17" from the crown of the 12th fret on a 34" scale bass. I always move it just a tad bit closer because I'm a chicken.

[walterw]

Originally Posted by lug

In theory the top of the G String saddle fully extened should be 17" from the crown of the 12th fret on a 34" scale bass.

well, i'd say not fully extended, but the G should be close to the theoretical scale length (exactly twice the distance from the fretboard edge of the nut to the center of the 12th fret), and the other saddles will be set back from that.

[Hellbastard]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDi7VyqWdgI