Mosrite bridge with uneven radius

[Hydra19]

The bridge on my 1963 reissue by Fillmore is either a joke or faulty. It's much flatter than on my vintage 1966, and the radius of the strings is all over the place, the A string is higher than both the D and E strings, while on the treble side, things aren't so bad, probably due to thinner strings so I can't see.

I've starred at it for a while, and notice the rollers on each saddle is different, so this was my clue to setting it up as it should. I'm not talking about the depth of the rollers, I'm talking about how much of the roller you can see from top of the saddle and there are 3 different heights, I placed the flatter ones on the outside, E strings, and the ones with a higher roller wheel in the middle, but the D string is still lower than the A, which is still higher than the E.

What I have really tried is to look at the saddle depths, and I cannot figure out which are for the treble and which are for the bass strings. I have a real Mosrite for reference, but that one is good. YOu can see a proper radius, and you can tell the saddle depths. But not on this one!

I wouldn't believe such a fault could come with such an expensive guitar, leading me to believe I that it may just have been setup wrong.

Anyone have any experience? I guess posting pics of the bridge would help, I'll post it when I take it off the guitar tonight, the guitar has been a real dog, I've been wanting to play it but am just trying to set it up every night instead

[panther]

If you could post a photo of the set up you have it would help greatly.
Dan

[Bob Shade]

It could be a slightly bent bridge deck. That happens on old Mosrite bridges too. Guys would bang the bottom of the sheet metal bridge with a hammer ( according to Artie this was the way Mosrite fixed them too) to keep the bridge saddles from buzzing. see here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/1960s-Mosrite-b ... 3cde148514
This can make the bridge deck out of whack and the saddles can appear to be higher or lower than one another.

This was one of the several things I set out to improve on our Hallmark Guitars. My roller bridges are milled from a solid piece of brass stock and will not bend from string tension. I also have employed different heights for the saddles for a perfect bridge to fingerboard radius. I also created saddles that lock down tight to the bridge deck for buzz free performance and better sustain quality. All in all, I think I have made a better mousetrap with the same vintage look and vibe.

Get the buzz out!

Bob

[Hydra19]

Yeah, the bridge on the modern Mosrite is flatter than the vintage one, it does seem like it could have flattend out, this guitar is not new, so it could have had heavy strings on it. I've got some pics to post, hopefully someone can help me with the saddles, otherwise I'll just buy a new bridge, better than all the hassle, thanks

[Hydra19]

Here are some pics, I can't tell the depth and the heights of the saddles, they all look pretty much the same to me, very different than the vintage bridge



notice the bearings sticking out, it's the same on the other side

[rcblair]

Someone may have taken the saddles off at some point and didn't keep track of where they belonged on the bridge (ask me how I know this )

It takes a little trial and error but swap saddles around until the strings are at equal height with the bridge set parallel to the body.

Rick B.

[mark1]

I agree with rcblair . One time I thought it would be great to take the bridge off & apart to clean . When I put it togeather ,as I THOUGHT it should be, it ended up like your's . If one is not right you have to take one off & swap it with another that is also not right . It takes time but it works .Don't worry about the saddle depth ,just that the radius is right.

[Hydra19]

thanks. I think that's exactly what happened with the saddles. As I said, it is not the saddle depth but the roller size that is different in the saddles so I tried a patter lowest to highest, didn't work, highest to lowest didn't wokr, so now I mixed it up with the higher rollers being on the A and B the lowest ones on the GB and the middle ones on the outer E's.

This shouldn't work but it does. I always assume things are set to a pattern, but this actually feels most comfortable for the radius although the D and B is just a little off.

Will probably get a Mosrite NOS bridge from Bob, this guitar deserves a better radius on the bridge.

Apart from all of that, it is actually a joy to play

[panther]

From what I see the saddles don't look improperly set. The two center posts appear highest, then the next two slightly lower, then the outside two lower yet. To match the radius of the neck.
Dan

[GuyaGuy]

Aren't there just 2 saddle types--one for bass strings and one for treble strings? I had to swap 2 on my Combo because of height issues. It seemed like there was only a difference between the E-D saddles and G-E saddles. Otherwise the height is determined by the curvature of the bridge.

@Hydra18: Are all 6 rollers of the same width? On vintage models the treble strings rollers are narrower and bass ones wider to accommodate the string gauges.