Tele bridge placement

poopot

Plug the string through holes, move bridge towards neck for proper scale length , drill new string through holes... whack some strings on it and bust out your best brad paisley licks!!!!

sorted!...

poopot

Or alternativly get a proper fender spec bridge.

http://a68.tinypic.com/kcmcxt.gif

Or, drill new string holes in the bridge you have further back and in the right place!

paulnb57

m_c said:

Roland said:

Would longer screws sort this out?

Most likely, but I'm a perfectionist, and I just know longer screws would be a constant reminder I took the easy option.

Really? Bolt the bugger up and use slightly longer intonation screws..then play it! Life is too short to worry about a couple of mm screw length....

FatPete

poopot said:

Or alternativly get a proper fender spec bridge.

http://a68.tinypic.com/kcmcxt.gif

Or, drill new string holes in the bridge you have further back and in the right place!

If it's a Gotoh bridge as stated, the spec, in terms of fit, matches the vintage Fender pattern perfectly. The relative positions of the front edge, pickup opening, mounting screw and string through holes are all exactly the same. The extra (15mm or so) length is at the back to accommodate the modern saddles and doesn't affect anything - apart from the appearance, obviously.

poopot

FatPete said:

poopot said:

Or alternativly get a proper fender spec bridge.

http://a68.tinypic.com/kcmcxt.gif

Or, drill new string holes in the bridge you have further back and in the right place!

If it's a Gotoh bridge as stated, the spec, in terms of fit, matches the vintage Fender pattern perfectly. The relative positions of the front edge, pickup opening, mounting screw and string through holes are all exactly the same. The extra (15mm or so) length is at the back to accommodate the modern saddles and doesn't affect anything - apart from the appearance, obviously.

Ah ok...

just measured my two teles... from the front of the nut to the string through holes is 26” on both.

http://a65.tinypic.com/28asv9g.jpg

http://a63.tinypic.com/6fukcl.jpg

from the edge of the neck pocket to the holes is 7 10/16ths (ish) on both.

http://a65.tinypic.com/2q1dqtx.jpg

http://a67.tinypic.com/jai98g.jpg

hope that helps.

ICBM

They're not the same though. The blue one has the string holes almost 1/8" further back, which is enough to make all the difference the OP is finding a problem with the intonation screw lengths.

The distance from the nut to the holes is 26-1/16" on the blue one and 25-15/16" on the white one, and the neck to hole distance is 7-5/8" on the white one and slightly more than 7-11/16" on the blue one.

m_c

@fatpete 198mm from the edge of neck pocket to centreline of string holes, and having just checked a few body drawings found online at random, it seems that measurement should be 7.69" (195.3mm).

@poopot thanks for those pics. Just measured from the edge of the pocket to the centre of the mounting screws, and I'm getting pretty much bang on 190mm.

Hmmm..decisions..

poopot

ICBM said:

They're not the same though. The blue one has the string holes almost 1/8" further back, which is enough to make all the difference the OP is finding a problem with the intonation screw lengths.

The distance from the nut to the holes is 26-1/16" on the blue one and 25-15/16" on the white one, and the neck to hole distance is 7-5/8" on the white one and slightly more than 7-11/16" on the blue one.

That’ll be my wonky pics with the iPhone...

they are bang on the same in reality.

FatPete

m_c said:

@fatpete 198mm from the edge of neck pocket to centreline of string holes, and having just checked a few body drawings found online at random, it seems that measurement should be 7.69" (195.3mm).

@poopot thanks for those pics. Just measured from the edge of the pocket to the centre of the mounting screws, and I'm getting pretty much bang on 190mm.

Hmmm..decisions..

Ok, so the string-through holes are in the wrong place. Assuming returning the body isn't an option, I'd tend to go down the path of least resistance - longer screws and tweaking the scratchplate if necessary seems a lot hassle than modifying the neck or pocket, or drilling new string-through holes. You can tell people it's a deliberate and rare alternate spec from the 70s to get slightly more top from the bridge pickup (because you need that on a Tele).

I fully get that having some aspect 'wrong' in that way could be a niggle, but the more complicated mods would also leave it 'wrong'. Plus, it will always be the sort of body that was built to a standard where something being 1/8" got through QC.

poopot

For the sake of accuracy 

scratchplate off the blue one and a more accurate rule...both measured from edge of neck pocket to strings holes.

http://a65.tinypic.com/2e4j5tv.jpg

http://a66.tinypic.com/8wmf7c.jpg


The ruler isn’t long enough to do the whole scale so below is from front of nut to the twelfth fret.

http://a67.tinypic.com/nwkfbc.jpg

http://a65.tinypic.com/2moz8fk.jpg

iphone was supported horizontally by a block of wood

poopot

Just found this:

https://www.electricherald.com/diagrams/telecaster/Fender-Telecaster.pdf

Should give you all the measurements you need.

Roland

What would Leo have done? Given that he used available timber, telephone jacks, and automotive paint, I’m sure that he would have gone for the easy option, and used longer screws.

m_c

I think I'm going to settle for the longer screw option if needed.

I ordered the required tools to level and dress the frets tonight, so the normal build thread should resume shortly, and give me a couple days to psyche myself up for drilling the neck..