Tune-o-matic Bridge Post Alignment Issue

[marcus]

Hi guys! I'm putting together my ES-1Q kit from Pitbull Guitars and just ran into an issue with the tune-o-matic bridge installation. It seems that the bridge posts are not quite parallel to each other. They only point very slightly away from each other, but it's enough so that the bridge itself doesn't fit on them (even with some elbow grease). I've attached some pictures that show the issue.

Is there a good way to correct this issue?

Thank you!
-Marcus

[ThatCluelessGerman]

Sometimes it works to screw the posts out some more, put the bridge on and screw them back in slowly. Screw one post 1 turn, screw the other post 1 turn.... slow but sometimes it works.

If you can't get it on even with the posts farther out, you can try to file the holes bigger.

Third option is to get a tune-o-matic style roller bridge with smaller posts and oval holes, these have a bit more room for adjustment.

I find myself using a combination of all three every time

[marcus]

Awesome, thanks for these ideas! I went the filing route and it worked great. Used a needle file on one side of one hole. It didn't take much for it to get to a good place. 👍

[GregLane]

You could also try turning the bridge around. ie screws facing backwards. It doesn't matter which way they face. You may need to reverse the bridge pieces though. Besides I have found it easier to intonate from the back. Plenty of advice on youtube about whether you need to reverse them. Depends on guitar intonation.

I had a rattle sounding like fret buzz but after much frustration and research on youtube if found it was the spring behind those little screws. Took it off and no noise. Some comments were that the bridge bits would fall out if you turned it upside down. Well that is correct but I have not found a reason to turn the bridge upside down yet. Aren't we already upside down in Aus?

[Simon Barden]

It’s more normal to see the screws on those ABR-style Tune-O-Matics pointing forwards in order to stop the strings catching on the intonation screw heads. Otherwise you need to have a shallow string break angle so they don’t touch the screws as they will vibrate and buzz and erode the screws (and the rear edge of the bridge) if they do. I’ve seen this happen on a couple of guitars. You want a reasonable break angle to stop string buzz in the saddles and you don’t want the stop tailpiece set too high either. The lower the better is the general consensus (which is why you sometimes see the strings fitted backwards and run over the top of the tailpiece so that the tailpiece can be screwed right down to the body.

On the Nashville Tune-O-Matic style bridges, the design sets the intonation screws lower down so they aren’t in the string path, so these are normally seen with the screws pointing backwards. Also done because with the screws lower, they are harder to get to with the bridge pickup in the way.

The screw retention spring can be loose and buzz, though often this is because it’s not fully inserted into the two locating holes fully. You can also adjust the spring with pliers so that it sits more tightly against the screws.

The kit T-O-M bridge saddles can be quite loose in their slots, which itself can cause string buzz issues. A good quality bridge will have almost no side-to-side play in the saddles. If this is an issue, then bridge replacement is best. You don’t need to go for anything too expensive if you don’t want to, as you can get Korean-made low cost good quality replacements. Also look for metric versions, as the direct Gibson replacements will be imperial with different post spacings.