Aria Cardinal Series - Bridge Saddle Question

HarrySeven

A friend of mine is looking for a bridge saddle from an Aria Cardinal...

https://i.imgur.com/A88ofE1.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/U43WZTJ.jpg

Anyone got spares or know of a source?

ICBM

Those aren't the originals - unless I'm much mistaken they're actually Fender Freeflyte ones. (Edit: lol, as Funkfingers has correctly pointed out, I am indeed wrong!)

They also have too much sideways offset, hence why they're not straight. The originals would have been these:



Which are notorious for causing string breakage - the reason should be obvious!

Assuming you can get enough height adjustment, the older style Fender USA Standard saddles should fit, they should have the right spacing and offset. Stringing it may be awkward though, since the string hole is further back than on the Fender bridge.

Philly_Q

Well done @ICBM    I've got a CS-400, although it spends most of its life buried somewhere in a gigbag, and I was looking at that top picture thinking no, there's something very wrong here...

HarrySeven

@ICBM @Philly_Q - Ditto myself. I thought they looked a bit familiar!

Funkfingers

ICBM said:

unless I'm much mistaken 

I believe that, just this once, you are. 

The saddles illustrated in the opening post are from one of those dogbreath MIK Bendmaster vibrato bridges. (The design with the notoriously crumbly zinc sustain block and the over-complex fine tuner mechanisms.)

HarrySeven said:

Anyone got spares or know of a source?

I have six of 'em, rattling around in a parts drawer. How many would "your friend" like?

ICBM

Funkfingers said:

ICBM said:

unless I'm much mistaken 

I believe that, just this once, you are. 

The saddles illustrated in the opening post are from one of those dogbreath MIK Bendmaster vibrato bridges. (The design with the notoriously crumbly zinc sustain block and the over-complex fine tuner mechanisms.)

Yes, you're right! Doh. Not enough coffee this morning...

So they aren't worth selling to unlucky owners of Freeflytes after all .

Funkfingers

The Freeflyte L-shaped saddles came as three left, three right. I kept them from a '83/84 Stratocaster after fitting a Kahler flat mount vibrato.* For a while, I used the German-made saddles on the "modern" machined from solid bridge assembly of a Squier Silver Series Telecaster. Eventually, I sold the Freeflyte saddles and arm via eBay to somebody in Germany. (I just hope that it was nobody connected with M.O.S. of Köln.)

* Now, lurking in one of the warehouses of H7.

HarrySeven

Funkfingers said:

ICBM said:

unless I'm much mistaken 

I believe that, just this once, you are. 

The saddles illustrated in the opening post are from one of those dogbreath MIK Bendmaster vibrato bridges. (The design with the notoriously crumbly zinc sustain block and the over-complex fine tuner mechanisms.)

HarrySeven said:

Anyone got spares or know of a source?

I have six of 'em, rattling around in a parts drawer. How many would "your friend" like?

I don’t think they’ll actually fit...

ICBM

These should work - https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/223384146633

If it's too difficult to thread the string through the slots, you can saw through the back edge and turn them into the same shape as the originals.

Funkfingers

HarrySeven said:

I don’t think they’ll actually fit.

My Bendmaster saddles will fit as well/badly as the four in your photograph. They are the exact same part.

ICBM said:

These should work 

Affirmative - albeit, tilted up at a fairly steep angle.

HarrySeven

Mr. @Funkfingers - you have a message...

Funkfingers

Does involve seven letters, three of which are F?