Bridge Template ~ Luthiery Laboratories

Bridge Template

Here's a little gadget that I finally got around to finishing, that should save me a lot of bother in the future. It is a template for laying out screw holes for various bridges, both guitar and bass.

To use this template, assemble the neck to the body and align it to the centerline, or align the centerline to the neck, whatever works. Measure from the inside of the nut and mark the exact scale length on the centerline, no compensation. Lay the template on the body and line up all the marks, the large holes are for sighting. Then mark the bridge holes with a sharp pencil or a push pin. The bridge will install in exactly the right place. The measurements are taken off real hardware.

I am surprised StewMac does not offer something like this. They are welcome to take the idea, as long as they don't screw it up like their awful neck pocket template. I can't figure out what their Precision bass pickup template is for either, but that's about it, the rest of their tools are great, and Dan Erlewine is the Bob Vila of guitars.

It might be better to make this from clear Lexan, but that would cost money and break my heart, so I used a scrap of my favorite tonewood, masonite.

Featured Lab Tech,

Templates & Jigs

These are guides that you can buy or make yourself to accurately and easily make tricky cuts and routs.

More: Templates & Jigs ...

Building Bodies

My take on bodies

An electric guitar body serves several purposes. It provides a place to attach (and hide) hardware and electronics, and provides a counterweight for the neck, specifically the tuners out there at the end. It also provides enough weight and bulk to stabilize the instrument while it is played, either sitting or standing, while at the same time being not too heavy or interfering with natural playing motions and access to the strings. And needless to say, it must be strong enough to resist the effects of string tension, which can be 100-200 pounds or more.

More: Building Bodies ...

Comments on Bridge Template

Questions or Inquiries?

Just want to say Hello? Sign the .

Submit a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

RetroBrite

"RetroBrite" is a name for a process that restores old yellowed plastics to new. Many plastics yellow or darken over time. RetroBriting can reverse this aging, but with a number of caveats that, in my opinion, make it pretty useless. While the process actually does work - it reverses the discoloration - the effect is temporary. After a few months, the plastic will return to its yellowed state. When this happens, you can repeat the treatment, but at some point the chemicals involved are going to start to degrade the plastic.

My first experiment was whitening some yellowed tuner knobs, and it did work. With nothing more than sunshine and hydrogen peroxide, the knobs lightened considerably. That was several years ago, and today the knobs are as yellow as ever.

What causes this yellowing? It is variously attributed to sunlight, oxygen, bromine content, and other causes. While all of these things can contribute to it, none of them are necessary. Some plastics simply turn yellow with age, and nothing will stop it. In my experience, the real culprit is simply bad plastic, and the only real solution is replacement.

More: RetroBrite ...