To hammer or not to hammer?

[Axewielder]

I'm more of a Floyd guy, but I find myself tasked with trying to set up a TOM bridge at the moment. Two of the saddles are at the end of their length of travel, and need to go a bit farther to intonate. I've read that I can reverse them in order to flip the saddle edge around get a bit more. But, I've also read that removing and replacing the saddles loosens up the fit a bit and should be avoided. What's the deal here? This is a nice gold TOM, so I'm a little skittish about just hammering away at it uninformed. The intonation is close enough where I could probably live with it as-is, but I'm a bit of a perfectionist.

[Cygnus X1]

Not sure about the hammering reference, they should come right out...
But, sure, I have flipped the saddles as needed a few times. Only problem is,
if the notches have been filed at an angle, then that angle might be interfere,
so they have to be filed back in whatever direction you need. May not be a problem, though. Just reverse them and see what it sounds like.

[Newc]

Removing the saddles should not affect the fit. They do slide when adjusted, correct?
Ergo, they can't be as tight as all that.

[Axewielder]

Not sure about the hammering reference, they should come right out...
But, sure, I have flipped the saddles as needed a few times. Only problem is,
if the notches have been filed at an angle, then that angle might be interfere,
so they have to be filed back in whatever direction you need. May not be a problem, though. Just reverse them and see what it sounds like.

Ok, I've give it a shot. Here's a pic of some guy "hammering" on them with a dowel

[Axewielder]

OK I'm stumped. The good news is I actually managed to take a good photo of the thing. The gold saddles are trapped by the gold intonation adjustment screws. The intonation screws are trapped by these black wires. I don't see how I can get it apart without mangling those black wires apart with a screwdriver.

[Newc]

Those are spring clips keep the screw from backing out of the saddle, and they can be pinched closed with needle-nosed pliers to remove the screws.

[Axewielder]

Those are spring clips keep the screw from backing out of the saddle, and they can be pinched closed with needle-nosed pliers to remove the screws.

Is that right? That's good to know. However, I went ahead and reversed the entire bridge. I've heard of people doing that, and it was easy enough to try. It seems to have worked out really well, the guitar is intonated perfectly, and none of the saddles are at the limit of their travel range. The intonation screws are facing the opposite direction now (towards the neck), but if I lower the bridge pickup I can get to them no problem. Problem solved?

[Cygnus X1]

Yeah, I forgot to mention that...
Is the bridge going in the right direction?
I haven't seen springs like that. I like the
Gotoh bridges, myself. Nice, tight screws, and no nasty
clip(s) to deal with. Around 25 dollars at Stew-Mac.

[Axewielder]

Is the bridge going in the right direction?

Hehe beats me. I've seen TOM with the adjustment screws facing both ways (towards the neck and towards the rear). Which way is "right"? Does it really matter? The part looks symmetrical in every other way, as far as I can tell.

[Bengal65]

Hehe beats me. I've seen TOM with the adjustment screws facing both ways (towards the neck and towards the rear). Which way is "right"? Does it really matter? The part looks symmetrical in every other way, as far as I can tell.

Like you said, it does not matter. I've had brand new Gibson's with them in different directions. As long as you can get to the screws to intonate, have at it!