Cheap guitar, fixing up. Big issue.

[AWhitaker]

So far, I've replaced the tuners, potentiometers, knobs, pickup, and redone all the wiring with new wire, and the impact has brought this guitar from barely even playable to decent.

What I have left: replacing the nut with a properly made one.
Fixing the bridge.

This is my big problem.. it can't inonate. The bridge is a full quarter inch too far from the neck! It's totally nuts.. only string that can intonate is the low E.

Are there any easier fixes to this?
I'd rather not have to fill and remake the entire cavety that this bridge is in (it's like a rip off of a fender's 6 separate sattle bridge, string through the body)

I figured one of the least dangerous actions I could take was sanding the quarter inch off of the neck and just redoing the joints for that, since they're crooked anyway and I'll have to do it eventually.

Any better ideas?

 

[ICTGoober]

Re: Cheap guitar, fixing up. Big issue.

Might be nice to know what guitar we are talking about..... Don't you think?

 

[BriGuy1968]

Re: Cheap guitar, fixing up. Big issue.

^^ This... it would be nice to have a little more info before jumping in. What's the scale length of the neck now?

 

[Jacew]

Re: Cheap guitar, fixing up. Big issue.

Switching to thinner strings would help. But I can't say if it's enough in that situation.

 

[AWhitaker]

Re: Cheap guitar, fixing up. Big issue.

Ah, sorry, didn't think about it.

It's a Viper by Bguitars. Truly not a brand you'd want to buy from..

The length from the nut to the twelfth fret is about 12.6"
The length from the twelfth fret to the high e is about 13"

Here's a picture of the guitar in its current state

Oh, and the high e is as far out as it goes. The rest aren't set specifically. I was moving them around to check things the other day. This springs are incredibly stiff..

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: Cheap guitar, fixing up. Big issue.

it is a pretty thing
say you swapped the nut?

check that it is the right way round

measure between the fret side of the nut and the center of the 12th fret

then the from the bridge to the 12th

post those figures please

 

[GilmourD]

Re: Cheap guitar, fixing up. Big issue.

Can you take a good pic of the bridge from above?

 

[AWhitaker]

Re: Cheap guitar, fixing up. Big issue.

it is a pretty thing
say you swapped the nut?

check that it is the right way round

measure between the fret side of the nut and the center of the 12th fret

then the from the bridge to the 12th

post those figures please

No, I haven't swapped the nut. That's one of the last few things I need to do. Sorry if that wasn't clear.
I've already put those measurements up, for the high e, which should be shorter than the other strings under normal conditions.

And yeah, it is kinda nice looking aesthetically. That's one of the reasons I want to make it a good guitar.

 

[AWhitaker]

Re: Cheap guitar, fixing up. Big issue.

Here's a pic of the bridge. The missing screws have been found.. I think my brother messed with it a few years ago and took them out. They seem to block the way for the saddles to move their last couple millimeters though, so I thought about finding some flatter copies.

Also to note: I have lowered the saddles heights significantly.. the neck is not very much taller than the body of the guitar, which lead to action far too high to actually play on. So, I've lowered them to an appropriate action.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Cheap guitar, fixing up. Big issue.

picture would be great to help us guide ya

 

[AWhitaker]

Re: Cheap guitar, fixing up. Big issue.

Switching to thinner strings would help. But I can't say if it's enough in that situation.

I've already got 10-46's (cobalt) on there. I want to tune this guitar to Eb, so I didn't go with my normal 9-42's.

 

[AWhitaker]

Re: Cheap guitar, fixing up. Big issue.

picture would be great to help us guide ya

I've put a few up now. I posted this right after I got up this morning, so I didn't think it through with the information. Sorry guys ��

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: Cheap guitar, fixing up. Big issue.

well one could either
move the bridge but that would mean the cavity would have to move as well

moving the nut would require rescaleing all the frets

shaving the neck heel or the the neck pocket
that would require filling the screw holes in the neck

 

[ICTGoober]

Re: Cheap guitar, fixing up. Big issue.

Next question: What are you using to determine intonation?

 

[AWhitaker]

Re: Cheap guitar, fixing up. Big issue.

well one could either
move the bridge but that would mean the cavity would have to move as well

moving the nut would require rescaleing all the frets

shaving the neck heel or the the neck pocket
that would require filling the screw holes in the neck

I have to fill and redrill the holes for neck joint regardless, because it's in there crooked and I'd like to fix stuff like that, so I was leaning towards that idea.

 

[AWhitaker]

Re: Cheap guitar, fixing up. Big issue.

Next question: What are you using to determine intonation?

I'm using a strobe tuner on my phone. It's actually incredibly accurate. It's better than the pedal tuners I've used in the past (they were the kind that had a green light when it's tune). I've used it many times to set intonation and it's always worked for me.

 

[GilmourD]

Re: Cheap guitar, fixing up. Big issue.

I wonder if something is up with the neck heel or the pocket and the neck itself is too far out.

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[AWhitaker]

Re: Cheap guitar, fixing up. Big issue.

I wonder if something is up with the neck heel or the pocket and the neck itself is too far out.

Sent from my VK810 4G using Tapatalk

I think they just didn't set the scale length correctly.. I don't think they paid much attention to detail when they built these. If I remember right, these were $70 guitar's when they first came out.

I think I'll probably take out a bit of wood from the body, where the neck goes, and redrill the holes. While I'm at it, maybe I can add a bit of wood under the neck to raise it. It'd make it much easier to mess with the pickups and the action. The pickup can't go any higher than it's bare minimum right now.

 

[VinceT]

Cheap guitar, fixing up. Big issue.

Here's a pic of the bridge. The missing screws have been found.. I think my brother messed with it a few years ago and took them out. They seem to block the way for the saddles to move their last couple millimeters though, so I thought about finding some flatter copies.View attachment 77762

Also to note: I have lowered the saddles heights significantly.. the neck is not very much taller than the body of the guitar, which lead to action far too high to actually play on. So, I've lowered them to an appropriate action.

Can you get longer screws/springs to connect saddles to bridge? Put flat heads on the baseplate, then adjust the saddles over the top of them. Won't be pretty, but it's not major surgery!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ICTGoober]

Re: Cheap guitar, fixing up. Big issue.

I think they just didn't set the scale length correctly.

No surprise. I've even worked on Gibson and Fender stuff that was out a quarter inch. Jigs slip, people make mistakes, etc.