Need a Bridge with Tremelo - for Strat! HELP preeze.

Recording Techniques, People Skills, Gear, Recording Spaces, Computers, and DIY

Moderators: drumsound, tomb

Post Reply
s00p3rm4n
alignin' 24-trk
Posts: 71
Joined: Wed Nov 02, 2005 1:13 am
Location: Los Angeles and New Orleans

Need a Bridge with Tremelo - for Strat! HELP preeze.

Post by s00p3rm4n » Sat Nov 26, 2005 10:46 am

I need help... my (don't throw rocks, it stays in tune and sounds badass) Squier Bullet Strat stripped the threads on my tremelo bar completely. I use quite a bit of it in my music, so I need a new bridge.

Anyone have recommendations? I'd highly prefer something that looks like stock, and not like a heavy metal labia piercing from a "Washburn" guitar or a "Samick" or whatever (the best way I can describe those things). It's a string-through body, obviously. There are two springs in the body for the trem.

So yeah. Any help would be... uh... helpful.

P.S. Especially if anyone knows somewhere in the L.A. area where I'd be able to get it. Thanks in advance! Otherwise, some kind of web link would be badass too.
"He just wants to see boys' Linuses."
-- <i>Arrested Development</i>

User avatar
nlmd311
tinnitus
Posts: 1172
Joined: Wed Oct 22, 2003 10:19 am
Location: Florida

Post by nlmd311 » Sat Nov 26, 2005 11:02 am

No rock throwing from me. I really like bullets, that is if you find a good one among the bunch. With that said, you might be better off buying a new one rather than replacing the trem. unless you have modified your guitar or it is just one of those that plays great.
If you just stipped the threads off the arm, wouldn't you just want a new arm/bar then? If it is just a bar, you can pick one up new for under $15 at just about any music shop.
If you do need to replace the entire thing you might want to check here:
http://www.warmoth.com/hardware/bridges ... d_original

look to the right side menu to figure out which would be best for you.

or here:

http://www.allparts.com/categories.php? ... %20BRIDGES

don't forget the wonderful world of junk that is eBay. Might be able to find a cheap guitar and part it out.
hope that helps

-Darrill
slowly panning across something kind of crappy...

s00p3rm4n
alignin' 24-trk
Posts: 71
Joined: Wed Nov 02, 2005 1:13 am
Location: Los Angeles and New Orleans

Post by s00p3rm4n » Sat Nov 26, 2005 11:16 am

nlmd311 wrote:No rock throwing from me. I really like bullets, that is if you find a good one among the bunch. With that said, you might be better off buying a new one rather than replacing the trem. unless you have modified your guitar or it is just one of those that plays great.
If you just stipped the threads off the arm, wouldn't you just want a new arm/bar then? If it is just a bar, you can pick one up new for under $15 at just about any music shop.
If you do need to replace the entire thing you might want to check here:
http://www.warmoth.com/hardware/bridges ... d_original

look to the right side menu to figure out which would be best for you.

or here:

http://www.allparts.com/categories.php? ... %20BRIDGES

don't forget the wonderful world of junk that is eBay. Might be able to find a cheap guitar and part it out.
hope that helps

-Darrill
Thanks! I don't really have money to buy an entirely new guitar, and I'm definitely NOT replacing this one - it plays well, stays in tune after months, and has been modified quite a bit. So yeah, to Ebay.

And no, if it stripped the threads off the trem bar it surely stripped the threads inside the trem hole. Otherwise nothing would've happened to the threads at all, right?
"He just wants to see boys' Linuses."
-- <i>Arrested Development</i>

User avatar
nlmd311
tinnitus
Posts: 1172
Joined: Wed Oct 22, 2003 10:19 am
Location: Florida

Post by nlmd311 » Sat Nov 26, 2005 12:58 pm

Cool. Hope you find what you need soon. Nothing worse than having something you really enjoy and not being able to use it the way you want, or at all!
s00p3rm4n wrote:And no, if it stripped the threads off the trem bar it surely stripped the threads inside the trem hole. Otherwise nothing would've happened to the threads at all, right?
Not necessarily, or atleast not as I believe it to be so. I've had a few things which have been stripped say at the bolt and not at the "nut" or whatever you want to call what it was threaded into. Mostly I would think that would have had to been either due to wrong size of bolt used, or due to a softer metal than what should have been used.
In fact, I just remembered that last year when I was putting something in a rack, one of the rack screws stripped but the rack itself was fine... just had to pop in another screw.
Just thought by chance maybe the trem. arm may have been slightly skewed or improperly cut and may have ended up stripping its threads leaving the tremolo assembly ok.
Maybe I have just had some freaky experiences.

-Darrill
slowly panning across something kind of crappy...

s00p3rm4n
alignin' 24-trk
Posts: 71
Joined: Wed Nov 02, 2005 1:13 am
Location: Los Angeles and New Orleans

Post by s00p3rm4n » Sat Nov 26, 2005 1:34 pm

This is possible. I'll look at it with a flashlight. It's just annoying because I've used this trem bar and guitar for about 4 or 5 years now... taking it in and out. Never did this before.

Thanks for the well-wishes!
"He just wants to see boys' Linuses."
-- <i>Arrested Development</i>

User avatar
nlmd311
tinnitus
Posts: 1172
Joined: Wed Oct 22, 2003 10:19 am
Location: Florida

Post by nlmd311 » Sat Nov 26, 2005 1:37 pm

You got it.
Hopefully someone else will pop in with some other sites, or ideas.
Either way, let us know how it goes and what you end up doing. I am sure you aren't the only person this has ever happened to, or will happen to.

-Darrill
slowly panning across something kind of crappy...

kayagum
ghost haunting audio students
Posts: 3490
Joined: Wed May 07, 2003 11:11 pm
Location: Saint Paul, MN

Post by kayagum » Sat Nov 26, 2005 3:49 pm

Another resource: http://stewmac.com

hank hill
pluggin' in mics
Posts: 38
Joined: Sun Aug 17, 2003 7:16 pm
Contact:

Post by hank hill » Sat Nov 26, 2005 4:12 pm

You might want to try http://store.guitarfetish.com/

Squiers and other imports have a different spacing than USA made guitars and generally places like Warmoth and Stew Mac have mostly only USA spaced replacement parts. I think import spacing on the two pole type bridges is 10.5mm.

Or at least... I think so.

Anyway... the guy in my link is pretty high quailty and cheap and has parts for import guitars. He buys the parts in huge quantities, and its good stuff. Check out his cool retro pickups.

L.

s00p3rm4n
alignin' 24-trk
Posts: 71
Joined: Wed Nov 02, 2005 1:13 am
Location: Los Angeles and New Orleans

Post by s00p3rm4n » Sat Nov 26, 2005 4:46 pm

I don't have a metric ruler. I'm an American, goddamnit!

The screw spacing and the string spacing (from center of one screw to center of last screw, and first string hole to last string hole, respectively) are the same - 2-1/16". In other words - it is a 10.5mm guitar. I've found a few bridges on Ebay that have this spacing, so I'll check out that import website or hit up Ebay.

Thanks SO much for getting me to check the spacing. That would've been a headache and a half.

Of course, Guitar Satan charged me $10 for a replacement whammy bar that didn't fit. The inside of this thing is striped and has to be replaced, so off I go.
"He just wants to see boys' Linuses."
-- <i>Arrested Development</i>

UXB
steve albini likes it
Posts: 353
Joined: Mon Oct 20, 2003 9:56 am

Post by UXB » Sat Nov 26, 2005 5:44 pm

There are many options for this, and the best one might require a bit of work. You may want to get a Fender replacement bridge, the vintage style used on the reissues. I was never impressed with the aftermarket options and have found the metal used leaves much desired.
Your guitar will most likely require all mounting hole to be dowelled and the body cavity routed to accomodate the fender bridge. Before doing this, make sure width from high to low e is not too wide. If you have deep fret wear, the spacing of a different bridge may require a fret level.

If this is too detailed, I apologize-I understand what it is like when you have a guitar you like and need to keep it working.

Again, I don't dig most aftermarket vintage strat style bridges due to poor work and burrs on the string chamfers, etc...

PM me if I can help.

Best,
H

User avatar
inverseroom
on a wing and a prayer
Posts: 5031
Joined: Wed May 07, 2003 8:37 am
Location: Ithaca, NY
Contact:

Post by inverseroom » Sat Nov 26, 2005 5:57 pm

www.callahamguitars.com

The Callaham bridge CHANGED MY LIFE. It is the best Strat bridge ever made, including all the ones Fender made. It is BEAUTIFUL, looks COMPLETELY STOCK, and increases sustain...the tone is lovely. I have it in two guitars. I recommend it unreservedly.

s00p3rm4n
alignin' 24-trk
Posts: 71
Joined: Wed Nov 02, 2005 1:13 am
Location: Los Angeles and New Orleans

Post by s00p3rm4n » Sun Nov 27, 2005 2:29 am

inverseroom wrote:www.callahamguitars.com

The Callaham bridge CHANGED MY LIFE. It is the best Strat bridge ever made, including all the ones Fender made. It is BEAUTIFUL, looks COMPLETELY STOCK, and increases sustain...the tone is lovely. I have it in two guitars. I recommend it unreservedly.
It depends on the spacing. Most of the legit "Fender" strat spacing is slightly larger than the Squiers.

I'll take a gander.
"He just wants to see boys' Linuses."
-- <i>Arrested Development</i>

s00p3rm4n
alignin' 24-trk
Posts: 71
Joined: Wed Nov 02, 2005 1:13 am
Location: Los Angeles and New Orleans

Post by s00p3rm4n » Sun Nov 27, 2005 2:35 am

Good point on watching out for burrs/imperfections on the string chambers. I'm not rerouting the strings on my guitar, though. lol Because no.

I'm just going to buy one of these aftermarkets on Ebay. My dad has a diamond Dremel tool back home in case the string chambers need smoothing.

inverseroom - It's a nice bridge, but it's definitely NOT spaced properly for my guitar unless I want to spend a bajillion dollars on other hardware I don't need. I'll just drop $30 or so on the sure thing, and beat this thing up until I can afford a real strat to drop this pickguard into.

Thanks everyone!
"He just wants to see boys' Linuses."
-- <i>Arrested Development</i>

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 51 guests