Thank you for taking the time and putting in the effort to film this and take us along. I especially appreciate your narration/voiceover when you say things like "I probably should have done this before I put the neck on" or "I usually do this with the drill press, not sure why I did it this way". These types of things help al of us LEARN so much more than if you just edit something out or don't elaborate on the why and how of doing certain things. VERY thorough and helpful. I am much more confident in how I want to mount a bridge now after watching your video. I was ready to put a replacement on recently and did not bc I was not happy with the layout and how I would have had to drill screw holes too close to the original holes. After watching htis I am glad I decided to just keep the old bridge on. When I am ready to upgrade I will get a different bridge and use the same method you did here, just for a replacement. Thank you for sharing this with us. Most things would go quicker and smoother without having to deal with the camera and editing, so I appreciate it that you put in the extra effort.
I have looked and looked for a video that explains this simple looking, yet difficult process in terms that a "master of none" guy like myself can use successfully. Before looking at your vid, I had tried on one build, and though it looked like it was properly done, when I strung it up, the 6th string was on the very edge, while the 1st string was well away from the edge. So I have since been hesitant to go ahead and drill the holes for mounting the bridge, out of fear of screwing up the alignment of the bridge again, and no one else has presented the info in such an understandable way. So I will have to kill my fear of failure, and just trust my understanding of your explanation and go for it.
Every time I've recessed a barrel jack I've just used a Forstner bit to counterbore for the flange. I like the idea of a core box bit to give the recess a little profile. Most times I also end up needing to add a little cleat in the control cavity so the mounting nut will tighten up square and flush. The jacks I've used come with a black rubber gasket that gives it a little purchase so it doesn't spin in the hole.
I find that if I use an 1/8” drill bit first for the string through holes, it works great for me to stop drill bit wobble and won’t make chips on the opposite side of the body…
"sometimes a lazy man works twice as hard" I definitely like that saying and unfortunately resembled that saying a few times. I think it might replace my "do it right do it once" saying. Yes on the jack recess, once you get some shine on it it's really going to look classy.
I'm sure you've thought of this, if you had ferrells, with the proper size hole, that could slide over your drill bit, & be seated in your String Thru jig, you'd have the jig perfectly centered for drilling or marking the remaining holes. We had similar jigs/templates (depending on who you were talking to) for drilling a lot of holes. Plus our "drill guides" fit right into the jig, so our holes were perfectly straight, as well.(sometimes we had curved surfaces, like the top of a wing, but we had a jig that snugly fit those surfaces too.) We were drilling titanium, aluminum, composites, but you get the idea. We had to drill literally thousands of holes a day, they had to be straight, because for outside surfaces the rivets, fasteners, screws were countersunk. (Aerodynamics). Funny we were working Hueys, for the Army, & had an old (let's say a man who more than enjoyed drinking) guy who was constantly talking about "the gyroscopic stability" of the helos.(in between bathroom/nap breaks in toilets so full of mosquitos, I don't see how any warm blooded mammal could survive. I'm guessing maybe he'd pickled himself. LoL)
Yes some steel inserts would be great but now I’m hoping the cnc machine will take care of that. By the way I bet being an aircraft mechanic is very interesting. My dad (a pilot) always thought I should have become an aircraft mechanic.
@@eworcustomguitars I actually had more fun working "Field Service". Travelled all over. Factory work was really boring at Boeing. Now Lockheed was a different story. We had to do everything from scratch more or less, as the C5B was a bit different than the A model. They said if we left the layout lines on the parts (just the pencil, marker lines) it would add an unbelievable amount of weight. (They figured all that stuff out). Big thing with B model was weight reduction, so they shaved a few .100 off parts. Believe me that thing is huge. I did body mate. The top of fuselage is Waterline 426. (That's inches). The top of the Empinage, was 65' to the ground. Huge. You have a lot of skills, you do great finishing (to me the hardest part), plus all those other skills. I had more fun doing Electronics, I learned sheet metal on the job. After Electronics jobs dried up, I went into sheet metal. Had a d*mn good craftsman who took me & a bunch of other young guys, under his wing, & taught us the right way yo do it. Turns out Lockheed had offered him all the "suit & tie" jobs, even Dept Mgr, etc. He said "Nope, I just want to make sure all these young new hires can do the job." Believe this it took more time to assemble a lousy wing at Boeing, than to assemble an entire fuselage at Lockheed. (But B had the clowns running the circus, IMO) I'll stop. LoL.
I always struggle with the scale length line in relation to the saddles. . . I have heard 2 ways of where to place it 1, how you did it! the screws being fully extended and lining it up to the saddle or 2, sure one saddle all the way in (back) and one saddle all the way out (forward) and lining the scale length in between the two extremes so you have adjustability both directions. What are your thoughts?
Adam, I'm looking for this answer too. Highline Guitars (another RU-vidr) puts them all the way to the front, then moves them back 3/32 of an inch -- he then measures 12.75 inches from the middle of the 12th fret to the precise point where the strings emerge from the bridge saddle. In comments he says that this technique is to accommodate for the fact that more length is almost always what is needed...not sure why that's the case but that was one very precise RU-vid guru's description. For my part, I may hit the local library and seek out a guitar construction book.
