Wazkelly's EX-5

[michnet76]

Thanks for the reply - I was on the Realparts website site last night and had it in the cart along with some new Gotoh tuners and pots ready to pull the trigger... Then I noticed the string spacing is 16.5mm (66mm total) so thought I'd check the original supplied bridge (I presume it's the same one that came with the EX-5) which is 18mm (72mm total) spacing. Cosmetically I think it will look okay with the allparts bridge - I squeezed in the strings on the bridge side to emulate the 66mm width and it gave equal spacing all the way along the neck between edge of the fretboard and the B and G strings. With the stock bridge, the gap on the edge gets narrower going from the nut down to the 24 fret. I t prefer the 18mm spacing though, having fat stubby fingers it suits me better!

The only bridge I've come across with 18mm spacing, apart from the higher end '3D' ones which offer adjustable spacing, is the Gotoh J510B0-5CK (http://luthierssupplies.com.au/produ...roducts_id=447) which is a bit more pricey. The minimum saddle height from top of guitar body is 12mm looking at the specs diagram so may not be much lower than the stock bridge height anyway. Another thought I had to make the stock bridge saddles lower is to take the saddles off and grind a mm or so off the bottom of the saddles on the G/D strings. I haven't had a good look to see how much meat is between the bottom and the adjustment screw hole but it could be another option.

My original thought to solve the uneven string height issue is to reprofile the base of the neck at the joint (the tongue?) to change the neck angle. I might try shimming to start with to see what kind of angles I'll need to achieve it before attacking the neck with a belt sander!

[wazkelly]

The only bridge I've come across with 18mm spacing, apart from the higher end '3D' ones which offer adjustable spacing, is the Gotoh J510B0-5CK (http://luthierssupplies.com.au/produ...roducts_id=447) which is a bit more pricey. The minimum saddle height from top of guitar body is 12mm looking at the specs diagram so may not be much lower than the stock bridge height anyway. Another thought I had to make the stock bridge saddles lower is to take the saddles off and grind a mm or so off the bottom of the saddles on the G/D strings. I haven't had a good look to see how much meat is between the bottom and the adjustment screw hole but it could be another option.

Fairly pricey bridge and not sure you would achieve much as the diagram showed string saddles were a combined 14 mm high? On the stock bridge I was 15 mm and found the action too high.

Grinding down the saddles solves part of the problem but the bigger one is the ridiculously high point the adjustment screws come in at, and as you lower the saddles that angle increases. The massive diameter of the saddles is also part of the problem too and had me looking at Fender style 5 string bridges to see if there was anything better. Unfortunately not much out there in black hardware.

At first glance and quick play the one just fitted looks like it might do the job. Hope to do intonation and tweak the action tomorrow night to get a better indication.

[michnet76]

Fairly pricey bridge and not sure you would achieve much as the diagram showed string saddles were a combined 14 mm high? On the stock bridge I was 15 mm and found the action too high.

Grinding down the saddles solves part of the problem but the bigger one is the ridiculously high point the adjustment screws come in at, and as you lower the saddles that angle increases. The massive diameter of the saddles is also part of the problem too and had me looking at Fender style 5 string bridges to see if there was anything better. Unfortunately not much out there in black hardware.

At first glance and quick play the one just fitted looks like it might do the job. Hope to do intonation and tweak the action tomorrow night to get a better indication.

G'day wazkelly... The new bridge looks good!

Thanks for reporting back with your findings so far. The string height looks more manageable now with the new bridge and the 16mm works well on the EX-5.

I've done some more work on the IB-5 with some neck adjustments but I'll post it over on my thread when I get the chance so I don't keep hijacking yours!