How to build your Pit Bull Electric guitar

[wokkaboy]

Hi Chansom,
welcome to the forum another Perth-ite joins the community good to see !

you are bang on with your assumptions. Set the saddles about mid way. Good idea to drill string through holes even before the sanding process. What sort of string through bridge are you using for your tele ?

[Simon Barden]

I would be wary of setting the saddles at their mid-point regardless of all other factors when positioning it.

E.g. The Tele bodies and bridges have a limited amount of positioning movement because of the size of the bridge pickup rout. If you set the saddles on them mid-way and measure the scale length, you can get concerned that the overall length is too long and that the bridge plate needs to be moved forwards (which you can't do without increasing the bridge pickup rout size). But if you set the saddles further forward, but still with a few mm of thread showing, then everything is OK (not all Tele bridges have the same dimensions, so for some after-market units you may have to enlarge the rout, but with the supplied kit bridge, it's fine). With Strats, the trem block and it's rout determine the amount of bridge movement.

Unless there is something very uneven about the string construction (so it hasn't got a uniform mass per unit length), then the actual scale length will always be slightly longer than twice the nut to crown of 12th fret distance. So you should never have to move the saddle more forwards than this. As the string thickness goes up, the small amount of non-vibrating 'dead' string at each end increases slightly, so the saddle has to be moved back to get the same length of vibrating string. For wound strings, it's mainly the core wire thickness that determines this (as the wrap mainly contributes to increasing the mass per unit length rather than determining tension), which is why the first wound string saddle is normally further forward than the thickest plain string, as its core wire is thinner than that plain string.

So you'd generally want to allow some slight forward movement (strange things do happen), but the majority of any adjustment will be towards the rear of the bridge. Don't forget that if you've got springs pushing the saddles forwards, then these can only be squeezed up so much before they stop any movement, so if you do set your saddles 'half-way', then measure this point from the end of the adjustment screw to the point where the saddle won't move back any more, rather than the very start of the adjustment screw.

[wokkaboy]

@ Simon fair points raised. No need to go into too much detail but all good info !
@ Chansom there's a good chance you need to route the bridge pup cavity forward about 5mm, been a small factory error for a while the route is about 5mm too far south.
So place your new bridge with bridge pup installed, clamp the neck, wind the saddles forward and please give us distance 12th fret crown to both E saddles. High E should be around 323-325mm and low E about 327/328mm sort of range. If the distance is more than this the bridge pup cavity will need to be routed forward a few mm

[dave.king1]

Sort of nearly right, set the E/B saddle most of the way forward and set the scale length to it, the rest get incrementally further as the strings get thicker.

Once you have the bridge mounted up drill string throughs 1 & 6 right through and the other 4 part way only, then flip the body over and stick a drill bit in the 1 & 6 holes and slip the bridge over them, then drill the holes for 2 - 5 through to meet the ones you have part drilled this will ensure the holes on the back are very close to straight and correctly spaced.

I used a 3.5 drill for this and for the ferrule a 6.5 which gave a firm fit but test this drill size in a bit of scrap first because there is no easy going back if you drill that fraction too large, the ferrule holes where 11mm deep from memory.

If you have the PB ferrule with the lip, the lip sits proud it is not flush but there are flush ferrules out there if that's your preference

[chansom]

Thanks Wakkaboy & Simon. Fitted up as you suggested. Measurements on the PB bridge as supplied with about 4mm sticking out the front of the threads is 323 & 328, so it looks like I'm right on. It is so much easier with you guys looking over my shoulder
I've actually ordered a Wilkinson bridge but it hasn't arrived yet so I'll double check when it does.

Thanks Dave for the advice on drilling the strings & ferrules. I was hoping the PB ferrules would fit flush, but I will have a think about my expectations. Cheers

So regarding forum etiquette, is it OK to keep posting questions in this thread or should I start a new one / try and find an appropriate one for each question. Thanks

[dave.king1]

Thanks Dave for the advice on drilling the strings & ferrules. I was hoping the PB ferrules would fit flush, but I will have a think about my expectations. Cheers

The PB ferrules follow the traditional Tele style sitting proud, my Squier Tele has flush ferrules.

You would have to be very careful drilling for flush ferrules because a fraction too deep and they won't look as you might wish and you won't be able to retofit standard ferrules

[Simon Barden]

It's always worth trying to search for previous questions on the subject, unfortunately the search engine on the forum is poor so you are unlikely to find anything useful with it. There are some sections here that have general help info, but there are times when you need answers specific to your build.

So it's really best to start a build diary (in the My Build Diary section), to show what you've done and ask questions there. Pictures can tell people a lot and others might recognise possible issues a long time before you do. Only if you don't get a reply there is it really worth starting a thread elsewhere; unless it's a more general question for your own interest, when it's not that applicable to your build. Then I'd start a post somewhere else. Most people will read new posts, not everyone reads additions to older posts.

[chansom]

Great. Thanks Simon. Plowing on

[BigGreg]

Do you need to grain fill a basswood body?

[Simon Barden]

Hi BigGreg. Welcome to the forum. Basswood has closed pores, so doesn't need grain filling like an open pore wood like mahogany or ash does.