stewmac.com
bridge and you want to achieve a smooth transition where
the bone and wood meet . Switching to higher and higher
grits of sand paper as you get closer to the final shape helps
with this process . When the fit is perfect hand polishing the
bridge and ends of the saddle with micromesh will give the
bridge a nice shine and smooth feel .
You’ll adjust the bridge height later during setup .
The slot in the bridge runs completely through the top of
the bridge and is 3/32" wide . The saddle must be thinned
and ends trimmed to fit .
Thickness sand (pictured): Attach two pieces of adhesive
backed sandpaper, 100-grit and 220-grit, to a hard flat sur-
face . Sand the flat sides of the saddle blank back and forth
on the papers .
Check the saddle thickness frequently by attempting to slide
it into the slot . Work slowly and test often . It’s important to
try to sand evenly so one end doesn’t get thinner than the
other . It’s helpful to rotate the piece every few strokes and
flip it over occasionally so you don’t accidentally apply too
much pressure in any one spot . Go slow . You can always
remove a little more material, but once you’ve gone too far,
it’s impossible to add it back on!
The fit should be tight and difficult to remove with just fin-
ger pressure, and you want to make sure the bottom of the
saddle makes contact with the bottom of the slot . When you
get the thickness right, you’ll feel the saddle “click” into the
slot when it reaches the bottom . Remember, the taller side
of the saddle radius is for the bass strings .
Now it’s time to trim the saddle to length and shape the
ends: Fit the saddle into slot . Lightly mark the curve of the
bridge onto the protruding saddle with a pencil and cut
it 1/32" oversize to the line . Then using a round file or a
dowel wrapped in sandpaper shape the ends of the saddle
to blend them with the contour of the bridge (illustrated) .
Again, go slow . You don’t want to remove wood from the
Fitting the bridge saddle
With the tuners in place on the peghead, mark the mounting
holes with a scribe or an awl through the small holes on the
baseplate . Remove the tuners, and drill the holes with the
correct size drill bit . The tuning machines and screws can
now be mounted .
Lightly twist your reamer in the bushing holes on the
peghead face, just enough to clean the lacquer and polishing
residue from the edges . Carefully press the tuner bushings
into the holes . Take care not to crack the lacquer finish (heat-
ing the bushings with a soldering iron can help if needed) .
Installing the tuning machines
slightly deeper than the diameter of the string wrap near
the ball end . The slot widths should match the diameters
of the strings with the wrap, use a string of each gauge and
install the string and bridge pin to check the fit and adjust
the slot depth until the bridge pin is fully seated at the proper
height . Clean the saw marks with a needle file, and file a slight
“ramp” at the upper edge of each bridge pin hole to soften
the angle of the string (see the blueprint) .
41
