Fretworn's custom ST-1 (12 string)

[tonyw]

Sounds good mate love the sound of the 12

[FrankenWashie]

Magic sound Fretty, great work on that one, really like the woodgrain finish and that heavenly 12 string ring though the sound test.

[Andy40]

Wow that sounds so cool Fretty. 12 stings over single coils! she looks good too! nice job

[gavinturner]

Sounds awesome Fretty! Love the 12 string sound.

cheers,
Gav.

[Busbar]

Ive just opened the box of a PB 12 string ST-12. on the bridge, is there any chance of a close up pic..I can't quite work out the string arrangements, is there any chance of a close up pic of your strung bridge please? Its my first build and I find the PB generic ST build a bit vague in this area, ditto the YT videos. tia

[Simon Barden]

Ive just opened the box of a PB 12 string ST-12. on the bridge, is there any chance of a close up pic..I can't quite work out the string arrangements, is there any chance of a close up pic of your strung bridge please? Its my first build and I find the PB generic ST build a bit vague in this area, ditto the YT videos. tia

Hi and welcome.

If you check the dates the last post here was almost 6-years ago, so don't expect the original posters to respond as most have moved on..

If you've got any build issues, I suggest you start a thread in the build diary section, as it's easiest for you to get help that way.

The kit bridge is based on a Gotoh 12-string bridge, so you can look at pics of that for guidance. Here's an example below



The standard string sets feed through from the rear of the guitar, whilst the octave strings fed through from the back of the bridge. So you've got a mixture of rear load and top load strings.

You set the intonation of the main strings first, then undo the small hex bolt and slide the octave saddle into the right place to get the octave string intonated. Note that there should be two screw hole positions for the octave saddle fixing bolt, to allow a wider range of forward and rearward movement, so you may need to change the bolt position. But also note that at one time the second hole came untapped for a screw. I don't know if this has been fixed. If not, you may not be able to fully intonate the strings. But then again, very few 12-strings have fully adjustable saddles and the slight out-of-tuneness becomes part of the classic 12-string sound.

[Busbar]

Thankyou so much! Its all much clearer now, they do say a picture is worth a thousand words, and so its proven to be!
and now its so obvious lol.
The bridge supplied appears to be fixed with 6 screws across its breadth on the scratch plate side and I assume shouldn't be tightened all the way down as that would inhibit the movement of the mechanism.
I think I might have to get a set of new strings as the ones supplied are unmarked and apart from the obvious Ee and Bb I cant really work out which goes where...my lack of experience no doubt.

[Simon Barden]

The current Pit Bull ST-12 kit photo shows a hardtail bridge, not a trem bridge, though the older kits as pictured above had a trem bridge.

What type of bridge has your kit got, as they can change without warning from the factory? A trem will have a rear trem spring cavity cut out, whilst a hardtail won't. A hardtail will have maybe four or five screw holes in total at the front and back of the bridge and is screwed down firmly to the guitar body.

A trem bridge will have 6 holes in a line at the front, plus the trem block underneath. The two outer screws are used to set the height of the trem, which should just be off the body once strings and springs are in place, and the inner 4 set slightly higher than the outer ones, so that they don't hold the front of the plate down, but provide extra bearing surfaces for the trem to pivot on and spread the string and spring tension load on them.

[Busbar]

It appears I have the six in line so probably a tremolo bridge

[Busbar]

Sorry to be a nuisance..I'm not even sure if I'm using this forum properly..I can't see how to start a new thread
Basically I'm wondering how the string retainer bar fits on this ST12, it isn't wide enough to cover all 12 strings but the top e jumps out of the nut so I can't figure out how to make it stay in place.