Dan, this is an excellent video. You have a very friendly and direct presentation manner that makes complex matters very easy to understand. As Fusion says, "Brilliant video." Very helpful. And I love your "stone age device". Thank you for your efforts.
Being from Canada, and used to working in both Metric and Imperial, this is easy for me either way--but I like Dan's clever way of doing things, and learned a lot from him over the years starting way back with his articles in Guitar Player and Bass Player--Dan, you rule! Thanks!
That was a great instructional vid. Not only did I learn in one hit how to fix a bridge but also how to make myself one of the old contraptions. Many thanks
Okay I'll just move this 137/9.96 seventeenth and 24 ounce squint fraction diamater of an inch! Why not just use metric?? That would have been a nice 30cm
Dan I love the way you learn something new and it just led you back back to the old way. Shrug!!!! I like your temporary tailpiece better. Great job all around.
BTW, just as a fun addition another "thinker" (which is a great compliment, Dan) showed me this method to use on "floating bridges" (where the strings anchor other than the bridge piece): Use a digital tuner, tighten the strings, and move the bridge around until you get exact intonation for each string. It strikes me that coupled with Dan's "stone age device", these two methods could be used to quickly and easily get perfect bridge placement.
Indeedy. Once you have the shop tooling for doing it that way, its probably even faster than doing the calculations, and you can get even more precise bridge placement than you ever will by measuring and calculating, more than likely.
Hi Dan! I don't understand why there is not break angle when you put electric guitar especially for a Floyd rose, is it not the same break angle that you need whether if it is 26, 30 frets, etc? Thanks from Venezuela.
Brilliant! Your 'stone-age' idea/model is simple brilliant! So practical and positive, you should market it! Why you bother with Stewmac over-rated and OVER-PRICED and somtimes 'junk' is beyond me! (I will try to recreate your Fabulous Freddy Flinstone Fix - you have my permission to commerically use that as your trade name; FFF&F) :))))
As usual, Dan's clever way of doing things, and 'splaining things is just perfect. I'm with you Dan, I'd be making a jig like yours and setting it that way too. The calculator is cool too, but me, I like old school stuff. What Stradivarius did with violins is still a mystery to the world. Even with all the sonic measuring-density measuring - finish measuring things, no one can still figure out how he did it. And with what we would consider to be primitive tools. Thanks for all you sharing.
I like the temp bridge! Luthiers should make more of their own jigs & tools! I just made my own neck tension jig that has better adjustable cauls, and an extension for the table with an adjustable second beam for double necks. Rather than use those dial indicators I opted for anvils on the beams and use of telescoping gauges to be used as a go-no go set up. I made my own version that is a combination of Stewmacs, Rich Beck's green monster, and my own design. BTW Love yer Laser!
You could also make a template with a wide aluminum yardstick. Take the saddle and grind the top flat. Place it back into the bridge slot and dab some pc7 epoxy on top. Take the wide ruler and butt one end against the nut, then lay the ruler on the epoxy to set. Now you have a template that can be used to locate the position of the new bridge.
How exactly does this work with electric guitars? I want to change the bridge on one of my electrics because I replaced the neck but the bridge is adjustable.
Nice video, What different types of material are use for the saddle insert. I know of bone and plastic, I'm sure wood is also, but what do you think about wood.
The StewMac setup kit costs $95.It consists of a string action gauge, radius gauges(I don't know how many) and a straight edge! I just bought a capo, a ruler in 64ths increments and feeler gauges on ebay for $9! And, I'm gonna get 8 radius gauges for $19.95(shipping included). For a grand total of $28.95. How do you come up with your prices?
Gluing is like cutting, measure 3 (or more) times, then do it. I like your "Stone Age" device the best, you're bound to get correct intonation (assuming you use new strings), even if there's something "odd" about the ax, like high nut cuts... Of course, we'd correct the nut cuts so the ax doesn't go sharp whenever fretted, esp in the lower registers. Many of SM's tools are overpriced, but once in a while you get something "free" that's just awesome. Thanks for the great video! :)
I like the bridge top about 1/8" (or a tad more) lower than the fingerboard, so there's plenty of room to lower the saddle as frets are redressed over time. The bridge will (should) be on there over the lives of several sets of frets. I would also dress the frets & cut (correct) the nut slots before replacing the bridge/saddle. I use the gauge of strings preferred to determine the depth of the nut slots, a string thickness above the fret for each string slot (doubled for any very light strings).
I guess depending on how you hold it. used in the normal way, it might loose too much due to sag, but why not. What he did has to be adjusted anyway. The stoneage tailpiece looks like a good tool to have!!
I kinda do it the same way .. except I just use part of an old thick metal coat hanger , and hist make a V that loops around the end pin , then it bends around the body . I use thick cardboard and put behind it .... I took a piece of pencil and cut to the same dimensions of the center of the high E bridge pin hole , to the center of the low E hole ...that's my spreader ... so if I have a wide or narrower neck/bridge setup , I just cut a spreader to match it . Tune it to pitch . Then press the string down at the 12th feet. If that string is flat I move it forward of its sharp I move it backwards.... That's on a new guitar build. Unfortunately if it's a guitar already built and the inotation is off tou just have to make another bridge ... and use a temporary low saddle resting on the unslotted bridge , after you've glued it down... to find the sweet spot and slot it with a jig ...with nerves of steel .🥴
The calculator is very useful but I always like to use a similar tail piece aswell just to hear the notes play in tune and to check the strings are in line with the fingerboard.
Love the stone-aged device, it's smilier in away to how we get the correct bridge position on a Banjo, just move it about until it right. Just found your site, you certainly have a few new trick for and old dog, sorry about the euphemism. :0) A Big thumbs up from Scotland.
"Stone Age Calculator", now that's some real ingenuity! You should have patented that one! Seems much more reliable than using those measurements, which seem to only get you "in the ball park" anyway. Great video.......... Steve
I bought a caliper that reads in mm. .0005" Imperial, and fractional Imperial. I love it when I buy parts and half are in SAE (Imperial), 40% are in metric, and the other 10% somehow came up with BOTH, and not both for the same dimension, but something silly. This happens when importers translate into English. My favorite example is Gotoh's tuner installation instructions saying, "Use care with scratching guitar". I think I will disregard that part, and not even think about scratching guitars.
My guess is that when dealing with vintage guitars, shrinking woods, old repairs,etc, he wanted to take it on as an individual for greater precision. I know with archtops, the bridge is not glued....you move it around and get the two E strings intonated and hope the rest is right. Seems to be the concept he used with his so-called "Stone age calculator" which to me looks like a cool tailpiece that won't leave scars.
Well I'm like you Dan don't care if it came from the factory, doesn't mean it perfect there are things as factory defects and gotta keep that in mind too also wonderful tool on the website there because yeah math is no one's strong suit but knowing how to do that is a wonderful thing. I actually have a passing interest on checking my electric guitar to see if mine is placed well too like left to right even. It has a tune o matic on it and is intonated right too but always felt like the strings "off" to me
that must be the original dan erlewine intonator. you're finding the theoretical saddle location there, fine for locating the bridge but surely the saddle slot should be located with a high quality strobe tuner calibrated by matching the open string to the harmonic off the twelfth fret. all respect to mr. erlewine from whom i have learned much over the years.
lol....I think that's the feeling on this for real. In the years of debugging computers and having to learn how to add and subtract in hex I know the feeling...I think it's more people don't like change. I understand that, but for kids it wouldn't make a difference. I'm good in math but suck at building things, and laughed when I saw a calculator to convert the fraction to decimal, but was amazed at the low-tech stuff I was never able to do.
Nice video. I'm wondering how to do this if you do not plan to build the clamped temporary bridge. For someone just working on their own guitars at home, you probably wouldn't have something like that.
I just temporarily attach a $4 dobro tailpiece with wire to the endpin. Any trapeze style tailpiece would do but it is also easy to drill 6 holes in a piece of wood like the video.
Also floating bridges on arch tops. I think he should make something up like this and sell it. Like any other adjustable tail piece but leaves no marks.
I was brought up using the metric system, very precise and fast, then the family moved to the US and I had to learn the standard system, very difficult indeed and I still don't like it. I'm not sure but I believe the US is the only country in the world using the standard system. It is unfortunetly used in physics too, sorry about the spelling. Great video for a beginner, a more advanced builder would measure quite differently.
@@joseislanio8910 I know, but do you measure from the top edge of the nut close to the tuners, or the middle of the nut, or the bottom edge of the nut closer to the fretboard? I know the difference is minimal, but accuracy counts.
Nice story, but it makes no sense at all. What would you do with more than the thousands? You can't cut more accurate than that. At least in 1963 and it would still make no sense today. It's cheating yourself into believing you are more accurate than you really are. Maybe he did it to show what the computer was capable off at that time.
onpsxmember Nope. Yes, tools are limited in accuracy, but the more precisely one measures, the more that inaccuracy can be mitigated. I measure to the 32nd at work (commercial/industrial electrician) and to the 1000th when making parts (for stringed instruments or automotive applications, I'm also a hobbyist hot rodder/dirtbiker/luthier) at home. I'm not that accurate, but the less 'off' my measurement is, the less 'off' the end result will be.
I would love to have Dan Erlewine create a custom guitar for me the man is one of the best luthier's there is Notice I said create not build anyone can build a guitar Dan creates works of art when it comes to his guitars! :)
acoustics are a problem, because they may not come with the strings and action you want. If for example you put on lighter strings and lower the action, then the intonation may not be fully correctable by just reshaping the saddle. They should just come with a saddle slot wider than the saddle, with spacers on each side of the saddle you can exchange and or reshape for best overall intonation placement and angle (and then still shape the saddle for individual strings).
Sir, when you convert 43/64" to decimal, you defeat the ONLY ONE good thing in the imperial system: the ease to calculate by doubling or taking halves, quarts, eights and so on. 43/64 doubles simply to 43/32, or 1 + 11/32 (43-32 = 11). 11/32 is a familiar length, little short from 3/8. The decimal system is better, as it works in tens (and tenths). Mixing the two systems to read something like .67" is confusing both to americans AND the whole world, which thinks metric. Great video! Go metric!
I am good in math and smiled a couple times, but think what you made and called a stone age calculator is ingenious. Funny...sure I'm not alone, but I can do all this stuff in my head when given numbers, but don't have the hands or smarts to figure the mechanical stuff out like you and other good repairmen luthiers....that is where the real skill lies as others have said.
Great old technic is the best! The problem is you if change the string gauge, the bridge position became slightly wrong. If you use non standart tuning it is a same story. So... there is no right place. The best result is if you stick to same strings gauge/brand, same tununing. Metal strings very sensitive in this case.
2/3 is ONLY a more accurate notation which means it only seems more accurate. When measuring it is no more or less accurate than 0.666666666667. In other words... it's all in your head.
Half scale length is 12-43/64. Hmmm.... better look it up in the chart to convert it to decimal..... hmm.... 43/64 is .6719.... sooo..... scale length is 25.34. If he had used metric: Half scale is 322 mm, so the scale length is 644 mm. Hmmm.... that was really complicated....
A friend of mine bought a new guitar that he couldn't tune. At some point he measured the scale length and discovered that the bridge was in the wrong place. He took at back and convinced them that it was defective. This was a guitar manufactured in China. How many thousands of those were imported into the country and how many youngsters will give up playing because they couldn't get their new guitar in tune?
