So, I made the rest of the brass hardware for the 25.5 scale Snakehead and have now test strung ( with Fender 9 - 42's) as has become my protocol prior to any finishing/wiring. The set-up took a little longer on this one after I found that the pre routed bridge pick up hole was about an eighth of an inch or so too far from the neck. For some inexplicable reason I ignored my own masking tape datum line (too much haste I guess) and now, although it is set up and has a nice action, I will, on final assembly, put some longer/stronger springs on the saddles to keep everything in check(the high E and B have no spring tension at all at this moment). The ongoing plan is for a brass nut but even with the plastic one it has a nice ring to it and I think it will be very playable when the neck has had a little attention ( it has the tiniest bit of spoon to it but I will let it settle before winding up the truss rod). Following on from the discussion with Simon and looking at the string angles, although there does not seem to be a problem, I believe that a string bar will probably benefit this build for practical and cosmetic reasons.
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