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It's a shame this plate has a badly stamped serial number and 'made in China' written on it, but I didn't want to be spending too much on this project so resisted the temptation to fit a nicer one. And now for some very disappointing news. The saddles are too wide 😕 I'm not sure if I could file the them very carefully? I'd order more (they seem to be 10.8mm wide and I need 10mm. I've measured the holes in the bridge and they're 10mm apart and the old saddle is 10mm wide. Wish I'd measured before buying - I stupidly assumed they'd be a standard size! The closest delivery date for new ones is the 22nd of April at the moment 😔 I've just ordered some as they're not expensive. May show up earlier? Or I may modify the ones of got in the meantime? Edit. I've just found some 10mm ones that say delivery by 2nd to the 7th of April so I've ordered those. Might be worth waiting rather than file my current ones down.
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Looking great! I'd get filing - 0.4mm of each side of each saddle should be quite achievable, and it's not like we've got anything else on for the next couple of weeks...
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1968 Cal Look Beetle - 2007cc motor - 14.45@93mph in full street trim 1970-ish Karmann Beetle cabriolet - project soon to be re-started. 1986 Scirocco - big plans, one day!
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Looking great! I'd get filing - 0.4mm of each side of each saddle should be quite achievable, and it's not like we've got anything else on for the next couple of weeks... Thanks! I'm actually super happy with how it's turned out. I really enjoyed working with the wood which worries me that I might be turning into the bad guy from Gone in 60 Seconds... I think I will file them down - thanks! Just cancelled my order of the saddles (probably better to do that at the moment and allow the delivery services to prioritise important stuff - not that my guitar isn't important of course...)
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ChrisT
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 1,635
Club RR Member Number: 225
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Mar 25, 2020 13:32:36 GMT
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That's looking very nice. Can't see a problem narrowing the saddles a bit - I'd use the sander you used on the body, should take an even amount off. Did you end up blocking the trem?
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npp
Part of things
Posts: 120
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Mar 25, 2020 13:59:27 GMT
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that looks great!
Apart from the black screws for the trem block - they really don't look right.
Filing the saddles shouldn't be a problem unless of course you reach the holes for the height adjustment thingies
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Mar 25, 2020 16:40:27 GMT
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that looks great! Apart from the black screws for the trem block - they really don't look right. Filing the saddles shouldn't be a problem unless of course you reach the holes for the height adjustment thingies Funny you should say that - they're a bit too cheap and chewed up a bit when I put them in. I was going to dig out the originals and see what they're like tonight. I've just test filed a saddle and it went dien a lot quicker than expected! It's thinner than the original now but if I carefully match all of the saddles to this one it should look fine. I am concerned about rust though - they're some sort of chromed steel and I'd imagine they'll rust up quickly.. Still, at least I'll be able to play, even if i have to replace them down the line.
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Mar 25, 2020 16:43:10 GMT
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That's looking very nice. Can't see a problem narrowing the saddles a bit - I'd use the sander you used on the body, should take an even amount off. Did you end up blocking the trem? Cheers, mate! I didn't block the trem in the end, kept it original. I'm going to put them in the vice and use my metal file as I only get to get in the workshop when everyone is asleep so I can't really make much noise! Seemed to work on a test one. Took about 2 minutes actually and it's now a little thinner than planned but it'll still look good.
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ChrisT
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 1,635
Club RR Member Number: 225
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Nice work. I'd do a bit of reading up on setting up a guitar (intonation, saddle and nut height etc) before you start messing with the truss rod....
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Mar 26, 2020 10:09:10 GMT
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Yeah I will do. I managed it on my acoustic to change the action a bit a few months back. I'll get some new saddles and follow some guides. Sounds perfectly fine on the whole now though. Really pleased with it 👌
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awoo
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,503
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Mar 26, 2020 11:00:37 GMT
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shimming the neck pocket with a bit of card will make it a lot easier to set up. they often were designed with this in mind but the cheaper end guitars are rarely set up properly so this step is missed out
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Mar 26, 2020 12:38:59 GMT
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Mine had a small peice of yellow card up vertically on the left side. I've just put it back exactly where it was figuring it was something to do with tolerances
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Mar 26, 2020 20:25:27 GMT
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These cheap saddles really are curse word! 2 of the adjusting bolts have cross threaded even though they started lined up! They're only temporary and it is still very playable. Is it worth fitting roller saddles? I'll buy a proper set in the future.
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npp
Part of things
Posts: 120
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Mar 26, 2020 21:45:54 GMT
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These cheap saddles really are curse word! 2 of the adjusting bolts have cross threaded even though they started lined up! They're only temporary and it is still very playable. Is it worth fitting roller saddles? I'll buy a proper set in the future. I'd stick with Stratocaster type saddles as that's part of the design unless you have specific reasons to make it less like a Strat and the roller saddles would help. As with cars there's nothing against modifying guitars as long as you know what you want to achieve and how. Plus standard saddles are cheaper
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Mar 26, 2020 23:31:08 GMT
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These cheap saddles really are curse word! 2 of the adjusting bolts have cross threaded even though they started lined up! They're only temporary and it is still very playable. Is it worth fitting roller saddles? I'll buy a proper set in the future. I'd stick with Stratocaster type saddles as that's part of the design unless you have specific reasons to make it less like a Strat and the roller saddles would help. As with cars there's nothing against modifying guitars as long as you know what you want to achieve and how. Plus standard saddles are cheaper No - I don't really know what I'm doing and when searching I presumed it was an upgrade but I'm happy to just get some higher quality strat ones.
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Mar 27, 2020 16:52:47 GMT
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That's turned out very nicely indeed and I'd be proud to have that hanging on a wall.
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That's turned out very nicely indeed and I'd be proud to have that hanging on a wall. Thanks mate - I actually can't stop looking at it - turned out so much better than I imagined it would!
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