Just did some experimenting to check the alignment of the new Bridge with respect to the centreline of the neck, here's what I found:
* Raising the Bridge by 8mm is going to result in me being able to have plenty of adjustment to get the action buzz-free.
* Positioning the centreline of the new Bridge right on the centreline of the neck will result in both of the E-Strings being equidistant from the edges of the neck.
* The new Bridge is not going to create any issues with string-spread, and both the two E-Strings will be parallel to the edge of the fretboard, that was one of my concerns, but it seems that it was un-founded.
* One of my other concerns was not having enough adjustment-range for intonation, but, there is really not going to be any issues since the saddles can be easily reversed and will still work as they should.
So as far as I can see, I think the new Bridge should work fine, I just needed to modify the original Bridge-Route to accommodate the new Bridge, all I need to do now is buy some 8mm timber from my local Big Green Shed, cut it down to size, and shape it to fit the Bridge Route prior to gluing it in place, once the glue has dried, I will be able to drill all the holes for the five Bridge mounting-screws.
I have also decided to hold off doing anything about the pickup routes till I buy myself one of these from my Local Big Green Shed:
As it turns out, I happen to have a variable-speed Dremel Toll with a flexible drive-shaft attached, which I remember buying from Jaycar Electronics, I think that if I can fit my Dremel Tool to the Router attachment, I will have the perfect tool to re-shape the pickup routes without risking any breakage, as I probably would if I tried to chisel out the unwanted wood with a wood chisel and hammer, and anyway, it's about time I invested in some kind of routing tool, I know that the above router-attachment might not produce pro quality results, but it will be better than nothing, hopefully if I receive some bits and pieces I ordered for the HotRod Strat in the post tomorrow, I might see if I can organize a visit to my local Big Green Shed on Thursday, I'll keep you guys posted on my progress.
One thing I will need to do to the body, prior to spraying it with primer, is to fill in some dings to get the surface flat, there's a fairly deep one adjacent to the bridge pickup route, I was thinking of using some Cyanoacrylate Super Glue gel to fill it, but maybe some putty made from Maple Timbermate might work better in the long run, I think I have plenty spare, but can buy some more though.
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