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Bridge question

#3
96tbird said:
Glue in hardwood dowel. Any thing else is foolhardy. Drill the old holes out to fit the dowel. If both your old and new bridges have a center screw don't fill it in by mistake!
Click to expand...

Thanks. So drill out the old holes to fit the dowel exactly. Cut the dowels to fit flush. Glue them in an let them dry overnight I am guessing. Sand to make sure their smooth with the body. Then drill the new holes. OK cool, I can do that.
 
#10
My guess is the holes will be too close if he just drills new, they make be weak and break through. When I was a kid, I didn't plug and they broke through the walls of the old holes, plugging at that point was a messy repair, hidden by the bridge yes, but I know its there and it bugs me.... my old Gibby G-3.
 
#12
96tbird can call me foolhardy if he likes but I use tooth picks. Fill the hole with glue and cram as many as I can get. Next day exacto knife off the extra. This method has worked for me many many times without fail. If you don't have to patch the holes I'd leave them.
 
#13
Nope, that's ok, I was steering him to the absolute best method. Toothpicks or hardwood slivers would be #2 and only 2 because of it's appearance which will be hidden... still good if appearance is of no concern to you. I just don't want a guy to fill with wood filler like I saw on one thread! LOL.

Agreed to leave the holes if they are far away from the new ones, too close and they may break through when the screw is inserted. The threads may cut through. As I said, I did it when I was a find kid and my new repair (finally 30 years on) is messy looking but hidden. One of those "I wish I had known better" situations.
 
#14
Well thanks for the input. I am happy to report there was no "fill and drill" needed. Next I am working on the electronics. Taking them back to the way they were with no toggle switch. The pots should be: 1. Vol. 2. Bass 3. Treble. The toggle switch is connected to the EMG Phase Shifter circuit board. Totally useless in my world.

And below is the story of this bass.

I got this recently from my drummer who back in the day bought it from Tim "Stungun" Stunson, the former bassist with Blackfoot. It's a Robin Freedom bass with some mods, some be me and some before I got it.

I called Tim and asked him some questions about it and he told me that when he was in a band here in my area called Intimate Action back in the late 80's his guitarist caught the attention of the Robin people out of Houston. As a band they went there and got a tour. They then were taken to an area with the custom guitars and basses and were offered to pick out one they liked and were sold to the band at a large discount.

This bass has seen action all of the US and maybe outside as well. He couldn't exactly remember but he did tell me he wishes he had it back. Sorry Tim, it's mine now. Lot's of people here have Fenders, Musicman (I have one), etc. But not a Robin and not one with this kind of history.

Here are the mods before I got it.

*--Original Rio Grande pickups replaced with active EMG's
*--Original round string retainer replaced with a bar type and and additional smaller bar added for the E and A strings.
*--Toggle switch where one of the original knobs was. It is wired in and I asked Tim what it does and he didn't recall.

My mods just completed.

*--Original bridge (unbranded) replaced with a Babicz
*--Original tuners (unbranded) replaced with Grover Wavy Titan in a 2+2 config. I had to reverse two of them and they were a "just right" fit as you see
*--Original strap buttons replaced with Dunlop Straplocks

Here are pics

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