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Thunderbird Club

#89,461
theFixer said:
I see what yer sayin'. I've been drooling over a SuperTone for a while now, but have yet to encounter one live & in person. It's good to be aware of that kinda stuff :bookworm:
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That's only my take on it, I have absolutely no experience of either bridge but I am a big fan of Hipshot bridges, they are well thought out and well made
 
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#89,467
Chucky Stiletti said:
I have. That's why I moved away from my Hipshot. The difference is the three point bridge was meant to float as part of it's design. Not the case with the others.
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I woulda lost my arse if I hadda bet on it cuz I never woulda thought it could happen... but the anchor for the rear stud on the D side pulled up & out of its hole on my TB IV while it was at tension, sitting on the table next to me! I won't go around telling people that they should expect it to happen to them though. I feel bad for my Thunderbird. It obviously came from an abusive home. The silver lining is that the various issues it's had, have given me the opportunity to get intimately familiar with it, without massive expense or risk.
 
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#89,468
Christine said:
My thoughts are in that if the insert has been pressed in below the surface then if the bolt holding the bridge down is yanked up tight then it's likely you will pull the insert up a little which sort of defeats the Full contact hardware principle where the surface area in tight contact with the body plays a part if I remember correctly. I don't think it any more likely to actually get pulled out than a three point but I feel that say on an Epiphone which has the raised collar on the inserts then the bridge isn't actually in contact with the body at all.
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I might be wrong but I think I recall seeing the bottom of the bridge routed out around the anchor points to allow the raised Eppi ferrules to not interfere with the bridge sitting flush on the body.
 
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#89,469
GBassNorth said:
I might be wrong but I think I recall seeing the bottom of the bridge routed out around the anchor points to allow the raised Eppi ferrules to not interfere with the bridge sitting flush on the body.
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Glad you mentioned since it's exactly this routing that allows the inserts to raise up out of the body when torqued. Dunno about EPIs but on a Gibson (mine at least) these inserts are down flush with the body.
 
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#89,470
GBassNorth said:
I might be wrong but I think I recall seeing the bottom of the bridge routed out around the anchor points to allow the raised Eppi ferrules to not interfere with the bridge sitting flush on the body.
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Jeff's gotta SuperTone on his Classic. I'll hafta ask him about that when he gets back from his much needed vacation:thumbsup:
 
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#89,471
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#89,473
theFixer said:
I woulda lost my arse if I hadda bet on it cuz I never woulda thought it could happen... but the anchor for the rear stud on the D side pulled up & out of its hole on my TB IV while it was at tension, sitting on the table next to me! I won't go around telling people that they should expect it to happen to them though. I feel bad for my Thunderbird. It obviously came from an abusive home. The silver lining is that the various issues it's had, have given me the opportunity to get intimately familiar with it, without massive expense or risk.
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:laugh: wow, pretty drastic. I wouldn't expect anything like that to happen at all. I'm just sharing what happened to me. Bottom line is; if you torque the screws on the Hipshot excessively the anchors will inevitably raise out of their intended position.
The problem is you can't see it happening because the bridge itself, sitting flush with the body prevents one from doing so. Only when you remove the bridge will you see the raised inserts.
Just a heads up:thumbsup:
 
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#89,474
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#89,475
Chucky Stiletti said:
My only problem with those after market bridges is that they yank on the inserts which are not threaded. If you torque them down generously they will pull the inserts out. You then have a bridge that's somewhat floating. The downward tension from the strings alleviates this but it's still there nonetheless. If on the other hand you don't torque the screws down enough, you run the risk of them coming loose from vibration..
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Interesting. I have not had that happen, but I can see how it might.
 
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#89,476
GBassNorth said:
Looks like a modified Bridle Scarf joint of some sort. Bridle joints are common in cabinet and furniture making but I can't say I've ever seen one on a headstock. Usually a simple Scarf joint is adequate. @Christine and other wood workers in the club can chime in with better info I'm sure.

Edit: I can't tell for sure how far the tongue of the neck goes into the groove of the headstock but from the looks of it maybe only a quarter to a half inch, which makes it more of a tongue and groove joint than a bridle joint. If that's correct then the builder is relying very heavily on the attractive arrow head shaped portion of the neck volute to hold firm (with glue I assume) when the headstock is pulled forward under tension. On the surface and without knowing all the specifics of the design I'd say it's not as robust as a typical Scarf joint, which has a much larger surface contact area.
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Ok, they are best known for Acoustic guitars. They seem to use the same method on those as well. Which also feature a ‘Spanish Heel’ (?) - takes the neck through to the sound hole. I wonder if the Head stock connection also come through from old Spanish guitars.
 
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#89,478
GBassNorth said:
I might be wrong but I think I recall seeing the bottom of the bridge routed out around the anchor points to allow the raised Eppi ferrules to not interfere with the bridge sitting flush on the body.
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As I recall from putting on my Hipshots, yes there is a route to accommodate the Epiphone ferrules. But, as part of the installation, I checked that the ferrules were firmly seated. I used the supplied bolts to try to pull out the studs. Once assured that the ferrules were firmly in the body, I went ahead. For all bolts screws etc. I tighten periodically since the vibration will inevitably loosen things.
 
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#89,480
Chucky Stiletti said:
Glad you mentioned since it's exactly this routing that allows the inserts to raise up out of the body when torqued. Dunno about EPIs but on a Gibson (mine at least) these inserts are down flush with the body.
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On my Casady the back inserts stick out a little. If they are flush, I could see how you could pull out the inserts if you torqued the bolts down. A bit of lock-tite and less torque might be the answer - or washers if you can find the right size.
 
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