After much time not posting, I have an update on my Chinese 12-string.
I had the bridge with a single saddle for all 3 strings upgraded to the Sung-II 8-string bridge that was modified to use with a 12-string. It works much better than the original bridge in that the mounting posts are not pulling out of the body under tension (yeah, that's bad), and the intonation can be set separately for the main string, and then for the pair of octave strings which are the same gauge, so they are pretty close, if not spot on. I will mention that new grooves for both of the E and A octave strings had to be filed in order to accommodate the thicker octave strings, whereas only one extra groove needed to be filed for the extra D and G octave strings.
The other upgrade was a new string retainer, also made for an 8-string but extra holes were drilled to accommodate the extra strings. It, too, is a much better setup than the original in that now, each string has its own guide hole whereas before, all three strings were fed through one hole.
Both of these upgrades were made possible by the information shared by @BTL Thanks again!!
Although I had wanted to install these myself, I just was finding no time to do so. That's why I turned the work over to my friend, and Luthier, Fox, at Mallory Guitars in Albuquerque. I'm very happy with the job he did. The bass feels good and is now actually playable. And, it sounds good! I will say that the neck is extremely wide but, after a little getting used to, it is playable.
I also had the silver knobs it came with replaced with the black, Jazz style knobs in the pictures.
