Lock screw- worth it?

[RockinProf]

Hey all,

I bought a knock off Gotoh FX6 hardtail bridge off ebay. It was supposed to be a real Gotoh one but for ~$50 I cleaned it up, dressed the string holes and etc. then left a bad review. It’s solid milled brass so it should be decent when I install it. I had a set of brand new Gotoh saddles that I haven’t used that I put in. So it has to be close to what I thought I bought.

Anyways, on some high end hard tail bridges where there’s a lip around the sides of the saddles theres a set screw to lock the saddles against one another. Theoretically this would create a bigger surface area to resonate if the lock creates a tight joint. I’m thinking that if I got #4-40 tap and placed a hex head machine screw (like in a saddle height screw) and placed it like the Babicz saddle lock I might enhance things a bit.

Is this a reasonable venture or a total waste of time? Any thoughts?

 

[Chris Pile]

It's probably metric threads.... not ASE.

 

[RockinProf]

Ah, I wasn't specific enough. On this knockoff bridge there's no hole at all on the side. On the Babicz and some of the other fancy pants hardtail with a lip on the side there is one. The claim is that such a screw that presses against the Low E saddle from the side and then crushes all the saddles together there are a lot of enhancements. So I'm thinking of drilling in the same place as the others and then tapping that hole for an M3 (Metric) or a #4 (ASE) hex screw.

Any thoughts on adding such a lock screw? Potentially worth the effort or am I chasing Bigfoot?

Thanks!

 

[JamesPaul]

I'm not aware of any bridge which does this, but I'm a dinosaur.

To me it seems like pushing all the saddles to one side affects string to string spacing and may cause issues at the nut. So you may need a new nut or nut slot work. I'm thinking no issues due to small fretboard radius. The other thing is aesthetic, but the strings may not align as well with the pickup pole pieces - if that kind of thing bothers you.

One of the Forum Luthiers will have some real world information for you.

 

[RockinProf]

Here is the bridge in question. What I’n considering is going ~1/2 way up the length of the bridge plate and 1/2 way up the height and drilling/tapping for a screw. As you can see there’s very little room for the saddles to move at all. In theory the locking screw would simply create a virtual complete joint between every saddle and the bridge plate. In terms of physics this makes sense to me.... but.... if it’s perceptible to humans is my question. Considering that there’s only microns of room to move now, nut/neck/pickup spacing issues won’t be applicable here. Does that make more sense?

 

[FuseG4]

Looks like a hefty solid bridge, I would leave it
if whatever guitar that goes on has sustain problems after that, I'm gonna guess it's not the bridge! Would say, enjoy it as is and rock on!

 

[ehdwuld]

So you bought a knockoff bridge
and left a bad review because it didn't have all the features of the one it knocked off

Did i read that right?
How entitled have we become

 

[RockinProf]

So you bought a knockoff bridge
and left a bad review because it didn't have all the features of the one it knocked off

Did i read that right?
How entitled have we become

Well, when an item is sold as a Gotoh bridge and its not manufactured by the company you were told it was manufactured by that’s misleading. If it was manufactured by Gotoh it wouldn’t have had jagged burrs at the string holes that required filing/sanding/polishing and the chrome job would have been better. Eg. it would have been the quality of the product I believed I purchased. Does that explain it a bit better your majesty?

 

[ehdwuld]

Well, when an item is sold as a Gotoh bridge and its not manufactured by the company you were told it was manufactured by that’s misleading. If it was manufactured by Gotoh it wouldn’t have had jagged burrs at the string holes that required filing/sanding/polishing and the chrome job would have been better. Eg. it would have been the quality of the product I believed I purchased. Does that explain it a bit better your majesty?

price was the giveaway

just like the Chibson's you hear about

waaa.....

seriously if it wasnt the High Quality you expected you should have sent it back
but nope you kept it and are now polishing that turd

 

[JB_From_Hell]

On lots of extended range guitars, individual bridge units are used for each string. The idea is they’re isolated and allowed to resonate freely, My Falbo 8 string is setup this way, and rings like a piano.

I’m not claiming this is the sole reason for the absurd sustain, but the guy who built it knows a thing or two, and it’s working on the opposite principle of locking them all together.

 

[RockinProf]

price was the giveaway

just like the Chibson's you hear about

waaa.....

seriously if it wasnt the High Quality you expected you should have sent it back
but nope you kept it and are now polishing that turd

It was listed as an open box by a seller with a high rating. It’s reasonable to expect a reasonable discount for an open box item. The concept of leaving poor ratings is to alert the next person that things aren’t as they seem. After a little work it’s fine, one without experience would have snapped strings and such.

Why so combative? Do you need a hug?

 

[RockinProf]

On lots of extended range guitars, individual bridge units are used for each string. The idea is they’re isolated and allowed to resonate freely, My Falbo 8 string is setup this way, and rings like a piano.

I’m not claiming this is the sole reason for the absurd sustain, but the guy who built it knows a thing or two, and it’s working on the opposite principle of locking them all together.

You have a point. We’re in full quarantine/lockdown up here again and with young kids that won’t let you rehearse or anything, one occupies them self with trivial details about a guitar they’re building. Looking at the Babicz original hardtail bridge it has a similar bridge plate construction but with the lock screw and high claims about the advantages of locking it..... so my thought is... maybe that could be a good idea.

 

[Artie]

I'm not aware of any bridge which does this, but I'm a dinosaur.

The Schaller bridge on my Peavey Patriot does this. It's a "cam" screw on the side. Once you get it intonated properly, it's about a half turn to lock the saddles down. There's virtually no sideways movement of the strings, other than what you might measure with a micrometer.

 

[eclecticsynergy]

Not sure locking them together would help much, other than preventing shifting & rattle (which shouldn't be an issue with that bridge).

As JB_From_Hell says, they might actually do better as separate individual pieces.

I've heard of people cutting thin slots between the string notches in a nut, to let each string vibrate more freely from its neighbors.
Can't say if it works, and it might well be more applicable for acoustic guitars than electrics.
But I know the idea's been around since the 70s at least.

 

[alex1fly]

It was listed as an open box by a seller with a high rating. It’s reasonable to expect a reasonable discount for an open box item. The concept of leaving poor ratings is to alert the next person that things aren’t as they seem. After a little work it’s fine, one without experience would have snapped strings and such.

Why so combative? Do you need a hug?

Since it's being discussed, IMO always give merchants a chance to fix things. The folks I know that sell music gear would be horrified to know that they'd sold counterfeit parts. They'd refund your money and go give hell to whoever sold it to them. You might consider that route before drilling holes in a bridge of dubious quality.

 

[devastone]

Here is the bridge in question. What I’n considering is going ~1/2 way up the length of the bridge plate and 1/2 way up the height and drilling/tapping for a screw. As you can see there’s very little room for the saddles to move at all. In theory the locking screw would simply create a virtual complete joint between every saddle and the bridge plate. In terms of physics this makes sense to me.... but.... if it’s perceptible to humans is my question. Considering that there’s only microns of room to move now, nut/neck/pickup spacing issues won’t be applicable here. Does that make more sense?

I'm not following this at all, and don't think I've ever seen a bridge that did that, please post a pic of an example.

And, I understand wanting to warn others that you bought a Gotoh bridge that was apparently a knock-off, but I'll ask too, did you contact the seller before you left negative feedback? That's pretty much common courtesy. Of course, if they don't respond after a reasonable amount of time, or they just tell you to get bent, feedback away. It's just a good practice to give someone a chance to rectify a situation, as mentioned, they may not have known it was a knockoff.

 

[JamesPaul]

I'm not following this at all, and don't think I've ever seen a bridge that did that, please post a pic of an example.

...

ArtieToo has one in post #13. It uses a cam instead of a set screw, but the result is the same. FWIW, I'd never seen one before either.

 

[RockinProf]

I'm not following this at all, and don't think I've ever seen a bridge that did that, please post a pic of an example.

And, I understand wanting to warn others that you bought a Gotoh bridge that was apparently a knock-off, but I'll ask too, did you contact the seller before you left negative feedback? That's pretty much common courtesy. Of course, if they don't respond after a reasonable amount of time, or they just tell you to get bent, feedback away. It's just a good practice to give someone a chance to rectify a situation, as mentioned, they may not have known it was a knockoff.

Hey

Below is an example of the lock I’m considering. Considering that the bridge plate is solid brass it should be easy to drill and tap.

With respect to the the misrepresentation, I knew I could make it functional and I’ve got lockdown time to kill. I could easily see anyone who wasn’t experienced accepting the part as listed and having issues though. That’s my beef. I did send a note just advising the seller.... no reply. So hence the rating. I see it as a service to those who may buy and get stuck with something they didn’t pay for.

 

[devastone]

ArtieToo has one in post #13. It uses a cam instead of a set screw, but the result is the same. FWIW, I'd never seen one before either.

I saw Artie's (those clever Mississippians!) and I was aware of the Babicz bridge, but didn't know about the locking screw, makes sense now.

That said, no, I wouldn't bother with it.

 

[RockinProf]

I saw Artie's (those clever Mississippians!) and I was aware of the Babicz bridge, but didn't know about the locking screw, makes sense now.

That said, no, I wouldn't bother with it.

You’re likely right as this thing has got a lot of mass by itself. My thought was that all that mass would have greater interaction with the string(s) if the bridge and all saddles were virtually one piece. I’m between going ahead and leaving it alone...