Scotticus Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 Some might say I should've done a bit more research before diving in, and I'd be amongst them, but I didn't... So I've got a Hipshot A-style bridge for my 5 string. The original bridge appeared to have been fitted by a chimp with a drill and anger management issues, hence there was a lot of filling of half-arsed and crooked holes to be done. Thing is, if I fit the Hipshot so that the holes for stringing through the body line up, a lot of the damage to the finish is visible as the original bridge covered more surface area than the Hipshot. Asthetically, the problem can be solved by moving the Hipshot back about an inch. I'd lose the ability to string through the body then obviously, but the Hipshot can top load and I could live with that. Question is, if I change the distance from saddle to nut by that much, will that screw with the mathematics of where the frets have been placed and mean that any fretted notes will be consistently out of tune? Any oppinions? I'm also having a shot at changing the preamp. So far, I've got the battery, jack and pots wired up. However, I've just noticed that the original knobs don't fit over the shafts of the pots on my new preamp (a Delano Sonar). There's absolutely nothing written on the individual pots, so is there a way of telling which knobs will fit? Thanks heaps for any help and advice chaps... Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lettsguitars Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 You cant move the bridge. The saddles should be where the original bridge saddles were positioned (roughly) based on the scale length of the bass. A 34" scale bass is 34" from nut to saddle with enough play to compensate for the string changing length slightly as you fret. The pots are either split shaft, or solid shaft with a flat edge for a lug screw or totally round. When you buy knobs they will say for split or solid shaft. If they are split shaft and the knobs wont go on you may be able to pinch the shafts in a little or spread out if they are loose. The higher quality pots will let you bend them without breaking. The cheaper ones will simply snap off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Heeley Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 ^+1 on scale length issues. On knobs and pots I've had metric and imperial ones, some pot knobs have needed packing to fit snug, ones with grub screws are more tolerant, others have needed some careful reaming with a drill bit to widen a touch. You may have to buy a new set of knobs to fit better, but they are not an expensive item. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotticus Posted July 8, 2012 Author Share Posted July 8, 2012 Cheers chaps, both replies help a lot. Holding the original bridge back in place (using the through body string holes as a guide), from nut to saddle (right on the saddle) is actually 35'. Well I'll be jiggered, that explains why this beast drop tunes well! To get the Hipshot saddles in the same spot, I'll definitely lose the ability to string through body, but it does cover up the damage and free up more playing area over the bridge pickup. Unless anyone can think of anything obvious I'm missing, I'd say jobs a goodun and it's time to start drilling! Cheers Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icastle Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 [quote name='Scotticus' timestamp='1341694707' post='1723005'] Question is, if I change the distance from saddle to nut by that much, will that screw with the mathematics of where the frets have been placed and mean that any fretted notes will be consistently out of tune? Any oppinions? [/quote] The distance between the nut and the 12th fret needs to be the same as the distance between the 12th fret and the bridge. Vary that distance and your guitar will go out of tune as you start to move up the neck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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