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Hello fellow forum members...I've been a long time lurker on this forum and have finally decided to post so let me begin by briefly introducing myself. My name is Erik and I'm an electronics tech at a music store in South Texas called Melhart Music Center. I've worked on several Jacksons, a few Charvels, and have owned a transparent black SLSMG, so I have plenty of experience on the subject of Jackson guitars. I'm also the only person around here, it seems, that still has a Jackson truss rod wrench.
About a month ago, my friend decided to do a bridge swap on his transparent green warrior. When he asked me what bridge I recommend I had no clue. I had once done a trem swap with an original Floyd but was put off by the excessive brightness the ofr introduced to my S-470. I looked on e-bay for the cheapest good quality bridge i could find and came across a black Gotoh tremolo for 129. He went ahead and ordered it and had me install it.
I thought it would be a simple swap but it turned to be quite the learning experience. First, the studs that were supplied were much beefier than the puny studs in the warrior. I didn't want to compromise the stability of the bridge so i decided to pull out the old studs and inserts. The inserts didn't budge when i pulled on the studs so I softened up the surrounding glue with a heat gun and pried them out. Next I had to install the new inserts, so I reamed out the holes a bit and hammered the new inserts in. The inserts stuck out a little but I didn't think it was a big deal...more on this later.
I then slipped in the bridge for a test fit but the cavity was too short for the allen screws that hold the strings in place, and the bridge was also rubbing against the right side of the cavity. I took the guitar to a friend's house extended and widened the tremolo cavity with his router and put a coat of black spray paint on all of the bare wood. I then strung it up only to find that the bridge block stuck out of the back of the guitar.
Unable to find a shorter gotoh bridge block, I decided to cut it down to size. I took measurements of the original block, marked the new block and went ahead and cut almost a centimeter off of the side that meets the bridge with a chop saw. Lucky for me, the mounting holes were drilled and tapped very deep so i didn't have to make new mounting holes for the bridge block.
I strung up the guitar and realized that i couldn't get the bridge low enough to play comfortably. Apparently, the stud inserts were way too high. My co-worker suggested shimming the neck to compensate. He shaved a popsicle stick down and stuck it in the neck joint. This did the trick so after a week of problem solving I delivered the guitar to my friend.
Two weeks later my friend returned to tell me that his intonation was off, a fret was buzzing out and that this time he needed it back in time for a show opening up for Divine Heresy. The fret was a quick fix, I simply put some glue on the 18th fret and re-tapped it into place. The intonation was another story. He said that he needed to to move 6th string saddle forward, he's very competent when it comes to gear so I didn't question his judgement. I disassembled the bridge and marked the spot for the new intonation hole. I almost went insane looking for drill bits and the tap I needed to do the job. I found the bits after searching for almost a week, so I finally got to work on the bridge. The hardened steel was a pain to drill through so I spent an hour and three bits until I finally got through. Then the tap broke after one quarter turn. I told my friend the situation and he said he could live with the intonation being off. I forgot about the guitar for a while and my friend reminded me that his gig is tomorrow. Today, I re-assembled and re-strung his guitar and checked the intonation. It turns out he had been moving the saddle the wrong way, so I intonated the guitar and gave it back to my friend.
The guitar sounds amazing now, it has more low end with the same amount of clarity. He can flutter the bar easily, and the guitar stays in tune after dives with the strings unlocked. It also looks a heck of a lot better, the saddles look modern and the bridge is more comfortable. The end result was definitely worth all the time and effort it took to have the tremolo function properly.
Moral of the story: Always be sure a part is a direct swap if you want to save yourself the headache of making it fit, and when approached with a problem always see for yourself if something is wrong, user error is very common.
About a month ago, my friend decided to do a bridge swap on his transparent green warrior. When he asked me what bridge I recommend I had no clue. I had once done a trem swap with an original Floyd but was put off by the excessive brightness the ofr introduced to my S-470. I looked on e-bay for the cheapest good quality bridge i could find and came across a black Gotoh tremolo for 129. He went ahead and ordered it and had me install it.
I thought it would be a simple swap but it turned to be quite the learning experience. First, the studs that were supplied were much beefier than the puny studs in the warrior. I didn't want to compromise the stability of the bridge so i decided to pull out the old studs and inserts. The inserts didn't budge when i pulled on the studs so I softened up the surrounding glue with a heat gun and pried them out. Next I had to install the new inserts, so I reamed out the holes a bit and hammered the new inserts in. The inserts stuck out a little but I didn't think it was a big deal...more on this later.
I then slipped in the bridge for a test fit but the cavity was too short for the allen screws that hold the strings in place, and the bridge was also rubbing against the right side of the cavity. I took the guitar to a friend's house extended and widened the tremolo cavity with his router and put a coat of black spray paint on all of the bare wood. I then strung it up only to find that the bridge block stuck out of the back of the guitar.
Unable to find a shorter gotoh bridge block, I decided to cut it down to size. I took measurements of the original block, marked the new block and went ahead and cut almost a centimeter off of the side that meets the bridge with a chop saw. Lucky for me, the mounting holes were drilled and tapped very deep so i didn't have to make new mounting holes for the bridge block.
I strung up the guitar and realized that i couldn't get the bridge low enough to play comfortably. Apparently, the stud inserts were way too high. My co-worker suggested shimming the neck to compensate. He shaved a popsicle stick down and stuck it in the neck joint. This did the trick so after a week of problem solving I delivered the guitar to my friend.
Two weeks later my friend returned to tell me that his intonation was off, a fret was buzzing out and that this time he needed it back in time for a show opening up for Divine Heresy. The fret was a quick fix, I simply put some glue on the 18th fret and re-tapped it into place. The intonation was another story. He said that he needed to to move 6th string saddle forward, he's very competent when it comes to gear so I didn't question his judgement. I disassembled the bridge and marked the spot for the new intonation hole. I almost went insane looking for drill bits and the tap I needed to do the job. I found the bits after searching for almost a week, so I finally got to work on the bridge. The hardened steel was a pain to drill through so I spent an hour and three bits until I finally got through. Then the tap broke after one quarter turn. I told my friend the situation and he said he could live with the intonation being off. I forgot about the guitar for a while and my friend reminded me that his gig is tomorrow. Today, I re-assembled and re-strung his guitar and checked the intonation. It turns out he had been moving the saddle the wrong way, so I intonated the guitar and gave it back to my friend.
The guitar sounds amazing now, it has more low end with the same amount of clarity. He can flutter the bar easily, and the guitar stays in tune after dives with the strings unlocked. It also looks a heck of a lot better, the saddles look modern and the bridge is more comfortable. The end result was definitely worth all the time and effort it took to have the tremolo function properly.
Moral of the story: Always be sure a part is a direct swap if you want to save yourself the headache of making it fit, and when approached with a problem always see for yourself if something is wrong, user error is very common.
not to mention a popsicle stick? most of the time shims are done with thinner pieces of wood than that. popsicle stick seems a bit extreme to me! LOL
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