The Floating Bridge Post Dilemma

I think I may have goofed...

I was finally braving the task of wiring up my ESB-4; the harness has been good to go for a while, but the installation was something I've procrastinated over for nearly two years! I removed the bridgeposts to place the ground wire (which I know I should have done first- lesson learnt!) but when I refitted the unit and tuned up the strings the treble side popped out of its hole under the tension.

What's the best way to remedy this? I am reluctant to glue it into place- and dowelling it will mean I would lose the earthing connection. Thoughts?

I will post photos of the problem when I get home- typing this at work (naughty!)

Hi BG, good to have you back on the forum, wow 2 years !
DarthDamo had the same problem with his ESB-4. See if you can find his thread would be about a month ago in the Build Diary section.
Pretty sure he wrapped a bit of tape around the bushes to make them really tight. It's the 2 rear posts that will be taking most of the tension.

Ahhhhhh, the old bridgepost pulling out of the hole trick..
Had this happen a few times, notably on my Epi Thunderbird- (have I ever mentioned how much I dislike those crappy three point bridges)?......
Anyhoo after a lot of pfaffing about, in sheer desperation I wrapped a piece of binding tape around the lug. I guess a piece of masking tape would work as well..
Dont do what I did and forget to wrap the earth wire arond the post before pressing it back in :/

Excellent, chaps! I nearly broke out the wood putty, so that's at least saved me a messy job. I will also check DarthDamo's thread.

BG you don't need much more width on the bridge post bush. Maybe try 1 layer of masking tape and see if that holds it.
The earth wire to the control side gives it a bit more width so that may help to expose a generous amount of bare wire.
Remember if you make the post too thick you risk cracking the block !
Now the swear jar would take a hammering if that happens haha

found DarthDamos post talking about the bridge posts pulling out under tension. It wasn't in his build diary, found it in General support

http://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au...ead.php?t=4753

If you have some thread tape lying around that could be a bit more forgiving than masking tape.

good tip Pablo, the thread tape will shape around the small ribs on the bush

Hey BG,
What a blow dude! My little glue and sawdust trick worked for about 3 weeks but unfortunately the post has started pulling up again on the treble side. I suggest you try the tape first and see how it goes. I'm going to have to totally rethink mine because it's just not holding.
Good luck mate and hopefully you find a winning solution!


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Excellent suggestion- I'll use the blue stuff instead.

bummer Darth I thought your solution fixed the problem.
Sounds like a poor design to me, bass bridges should be screwed to the body.
See how you go tuning down half or a full step for a metal band haha

Haha true that woks.. Might tune down to C and see if I can scare the neighbours! I'm gonna look for a couple of nice looking bolts to take the place of the posts I think.


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