And yes, it does say "Made in Japan" underneath the serial number on the back of the headstock on my SR1306PM.
All the original Gotoh tuners seem to be in good condition with very little wear or backlash, the button retaining-screws just needed some tightening, so I won't need to buy a set of replacement tuners, thank goodness.
Last edited by DrNomis_44; 27-08-2021 at 05:44 PM.
Just checked the fretboard-radius of my SR1306PM using my Stewmac radius gauges and it uses a 16 Inch fretboard-radius, that's good to know for when I get round to putting some new strings on it and doing some setup-work on it.
Is the bridge black or chrome? It looks like chrome in the top photo of yours, but it could just be light reflecting off it. The original would have been black.
I'd measure it and see if you can find anything similar, as it may be cheaper and easier to get a new Chinese-made bridge than try and track down saddles that fit the existing bridge base well. The string holes in the rear should give you the required string spacing.
Originally Posted by Simon Barden
Yep, the bridge is black, what you saw was just light reflecting off it.
I already checked the Stewmac website to see if they had any 6-string bass bridges in stock, no-luck, they only had 4 and 5 string bridges, I might try looking on the Realtone Music website to see what they have in stock, and then if I have no luck, I'll give eBay a try.
Just tried Realtone Music, nope, they don't have any 6-string Bass bridges in stock at all, so, I'm going to give eBay a go.
Realtone Music do stock Bass string saddles that look like they may fit the existing bridgeplate, but they don't have any in a black finish.
A set of 6 of these might do the job, the holes for the intonation screws on the bridgeplate are all offset from the string-holes to one side.
https://www.realparts.com.au/bridge-...et-chrome.html
Just found this on eBay, the saddles might work fine with the original Bridgeplate:
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/38393169...QAAOSwn4he5FRw
Last edited by DrNomis_44; 27-08-2021 at 08:29 PM.
It's that string to string spacing that's the first check, as the saddles want to be no wider than the string spacing and ideally the same. Then its the saddle groove to saddle hole distance that needs to match the spacing of the holes on the end of the saddle base as you don't want your strings offset by 2mm to the top or bottom from the correct position.
For a replacemet bridge, I'd look at the Sung Il web site as they do a wide range of bridges. Fie one tere and then search for the part number on line to see if there's a supplier for it. http://www.sung-il.net/bbs/board.php?bo_table=b071_03
But you do need to know the string spacing, and pick one suitable for top loading, not just string-through. They don't have pictures of every finish option, so just make sure that BK is listed for that bridge.
I just happen to have a Digital vernier caliper that I can use to measure the string-spacing, so getting that info shouldn't be a problem.
Okay, string-spacing is about 16.84mm between each string, going by the string-holes on the existing Bridgeplate (measured from the centers of two adjacent string-holes).
Last edited by DrNomis_44; 27-08-2021 at 08:44 PM.
I'd measure between the centre of two outer holes and divide by five, it will introduce less overall error.
With a new bridge you could go for a very slightly narrower spacing, I see they do one with 16.5mm centres, which would end up 1.7mm narrower at 82.5mm than the 84.2mm you measured (16.84mm x 5).
Another alternative is to fit six individual-style bass bridge saddles, though you may need to fill in some holes or even fit them on a plate. But you can position them the exact distance apart you require then.
I was hoping I could just buy a set of 6 saddles that would fit the existing Bridgeplate, which seems to be in good condition.
Unfortunately for you, most saddle sets are for designed for 4-string basses, which tend to have a wider string spacing. 5-and 6-strings tend to be narrower to keep the neck width down to a playable size. Standard Fender bass saddles have a slightly wider string spacing than you want, so six of them would have an overall 85.5mm string spacing. Too wide and unless you filed the ends of the barrels down, they'd splay out because they would push together.
Also, to get six saddles that had the slot on the left and intonation screw on the right, you'd have to buy 3 sets of saddles, as the standard Fender barrel design has two saddles the the slot on the left and two with the slot on the right. The Ibanez bridge needs all the saddles to have the slot on the left side. Which is why I said it's probably easier to get a new bridge!
Hipshot do their very nice A-style bass bridge in black with an 18.5mm string spacing, but it's far from cheap.
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