Going to be ordering my warmoth strat body soon, hardtail bridge question/problem

[Xeromus]

It's going to be a hard tail strat body, Warmoth will drill the body to accept their vintage flat mount bridge, seen in the link below:

http://www.warmoth.com/hardware/bridges/bridges.cfm?fuseaction=vintage_strat_fixed

I'm not interested in putting that bridge on the guitar. I want to put a modern fender style 6 saddle bridge like this one on:

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bridges...idges/1/Hardtail_Bridge/Pictures.html#details

now my question is, will the mounting holes line up the same? I don't want to drill holes for the bridge or worry about alignment issues, or mess up the body in any way because I'm also having them do custom paint on the body. I'm surprised warmoth doesn't stock or drill for these bridges, being as common as they are.

Also, is there a difference in tone at all whether the pickups are mounted to the body or suspended by a pickguard? I haven't decided on top or back routing yet.

 

[Paul S.]

Re: Going to be ordering my warmoth strat body soon, hardtail bridge question/problem

The mounting holes will not line up properly. I went through the same thing with Warmoth a few years back. I believe that if you buy the bridge first and send it to Warmoth that they can route/drill to accomodate. There may be a bit of an upcharge for this. I wound up using USA Custom Guitars instead...
Also, there is definitely a difference in tone when the pickups are suspended from a pickguard as opposed to mounted to the body. I find that the tone is more open and 'vintage-y' when suspended from a pickguard. When mounted to the body, you get a bit more sustain and a more focused sound, in my opinion.

Paul

 

[rspst14]

Re: Going to be ordering my warmoth strat body soon, hardtail bridge question/problem

I own guitars with and without pickguards, as well as a guitar in which the pickups bolt directly to the body. I really don't notice any difference, I think it's one of those guitar myths that gets passed around. That's just my opinion though, some people swear there's a difference, others don't hear it.

Ryan

 

[Xeromus]

Re: Going to be ordering my warmoth strat body soon, hardtail bridge question/problem

bump

 

[kmcguitars]

Re: Going to be ordering my warmoth strat body soon, hardtail bridge question/problem

Your best bet would be to take it to your local Luthier and let a pro do it.
I've done a few hardtail's. the alinment is only half the problem. If it's gonna
be a string thru? that's the tricky part. You really need a drill press to do it
right.

 

[Fresh_Start]

Re: Going to be ordering my warmoth strat body soon, hardtail bridge question/problem

For a guitar with rear routing, I'd go with pickup mounting rings - even for single coils. It's a much cleaner look than mounting directly on the wood and having the screws & "ears" of the pickup showing. Here are StewMac's:

For just a few $$$ more, you could get this Hipshot bridge that looks great and gets really good reviews:

Hope this helps.

Chip

P.S. Warmoth will drill holes for virtually any bridge - for a fee.

 

[Xeromus]

Re: Going to be ordering my warmoth strat body soon, hardtail bridge question/problem

I may just purchase a bridge then and send it off to warmoth so they can drill holes in the body for it. That hipshot bridge looks nifty

 

[rspst14]

Re: Going to be ordering my warmoth strat body soon, hardtail bridge question/problem

If you really want to get fancy, LR Baggs makes a hardtail strat bridge with a built-in piezo pickup system. I have the trem version on my Strat, and it's a very high quality bridge and a great sounding piezo system, very convincing acoustic tones. It also fits a standard hardtail Strat routing with no modifications.

Ryan