It's a fender, I got it used on eBay. I think it came from a Mexican Tele but can't be sure.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Not another Tele build! Yawn
- Thread starter Flying B
- Start date
It's a fender, I got it used on eBay. I think it came from a Mexican Tele but can't be sure.
- Apr 18, 2008
- 16,011
- 1
- 31,710
- Disclosures
- I'm highly opinionated and extremely self-assured
I just swapped out my Wilkinson three-saddle bridge for one of those Fender six-saddle jobs. Mostly because the (vintage style) lip on the Wilkinson was getting in the way of my palm muting.
That Fender is a perfectly nice bridge; it will serve you quite well.
That Fender is a perfectly nice bridge; it will serve you quite well.
Gotoh makes a nice looking bridge with compensated saddles and sloped sides, which fixes the palm muting issue too
I really like the gotoh stuff. Really nice quality for not silly amounts of money. Gotoh tuning heads on this guitar.
I generally have a high level of trust for stuff made in Japan. I had a chance to tour some factories in Japan, Korea, and China some years back and the efficiency and attention to process in Japan really wowed me. They have a way of setting their processes up that makes it harder for errors to occur. I'm sure it's no coincidence that the best crafted instrument I own is a Japanese made Ibanez - even for the late 90s the fit and finish are impeccable.
I've been scratching my head about how to ensure the string-through holes line up, both front to back, and also in a straight line. In the end I drilled all the holes from the top using the bridge as a guide, but only went all the way through with the two outside holes, like this:
Then I made this jig up. The wooden dowels fit nicely into the two outside holes, so I can drill the middle ones in a perfect line. Obviously I'll need to enlarge the two end holes to 8mm to match the others after. I only had 5mm dowels so had to do it this way.
Then I made this jig up. The wooden dowels fit nicely into the two outside holes, so I can drill the middle ones in a perfect line. Obviously I'll need to enlarge the two end holes to 8mm to match the others after. I only had 5mm dowels so had to do it this way.
- Apr 18, 2008
- 16,011
- 1
- 31,710
- Disclosures
- I'm highly opinionated and extremely self-assured
Well, if I knew that was a thing then I would've blimmin used one too!
Because he had only 5mm dowels. In order to immediately go all the way through on the outer holes, he would then have needed 8mm dowels.
Give it a try! Drill six holes in a straight line through 40mm of hardwood and see if they exit in a straight line. They never do for me anyway!
Well, yes, but also I only wanted 8mm on the back side for the ferrules. The hole on the front was only 3 or 4mm to match the holes on the bridge.
This is the end result. A bit of extra work but worth it. There's nothing worse than looking at the back of a guitar and seeing those ferrules out of line with each other.
I swear at least 50% of my drive to build instruments is just to satisfy my desire for lining stuff up. 
Last edited:
Well your results speak for themselves, this is good to know before I embark on a build with through-body stringing. I plan to use a drill press for things like this - does that make it easier?
Drill bits can still wander with a drill press. Figuring a way to drill from both sides is the typical way around the issue. Another method I’ve seen is to start the holes from one side and drill about half way through. Make up a board for your drill press table with a dowel or pin the size of the holes you just drilled. Line up the dowel with the drill bit and clamp the board to the press table. Set the first hole over the dowel and drill the rest of the way through
A drill press will definitely improve your hole drilling accuracy. It's almost impossible to free hand an exactly perpendicular hole with a hand drill. Also the holes will always come out slightly bigger using a hand drill due to involuntary side to side movement, as I found out drilling my side dots!
I would say a drill press and a router are the two tools I couldn't do without for guitar building.
