6 hole Tremolo to a Hipshot Tremolo anybody done this?
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DanDeTora
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Bump... I'm very curious about this too. I have an old Ibanez RT (Ibanez's take on a Strat...) that I'm gutting and getting all new hardware.
Nobody ? That sucks....
I'm about to do it on mine, MIM Strat body with 6 holes, got my Hipshot US Contour trem with 2 pivot points.
My issue is not so much in drilling for the posts, as this can be measured quite easily with the guitar scale and stuff but for the routing. At first sight, it seems like the rounded-corner routing of the Strat limits the movement of the hipshot block. I'll probably rerout the bridge cavity for a more square-corner finish to help the block's travel in there and open the possibilities a bit more.
But I'll see when I get my neck and make measurement, maybe it won't be necessary....
anyone can chime in ?
I'm about to do it on mine, MIM Strat body with 6 holes, got my Hipshot US Contour trem with 2 pivot points.
My issue is not so much in drilling for the posts, as this can be measured quite easily with the guitar scale and stuff but for the routing. At first sight, it seems like the rounded-corner routing of the Strat limits the movement of the hipshot block. I'll probably rerout the bridge cavity for a more square-corner finish to help the block's travel in there and open the possibilities a bit more.
But I'll see when I get my neck and make measurement, maybe it won't be necessary....
anyone can chime in ?
Well I'll comment on myself.
Took my measurements yesterday and filled in the 6 holes so I can redrill for the 2 Hipshot posts.
The Strat bridge cavity opening on the top of the guitar has too big of a radius corners, they keep the Hipshot bridge from sitting back toward the tail enough to clear the 25.5inches scale confortably. I'll have to dremel those corners a bit to get the bridge a little farther back (like a 1/16'' or 1/8 at the worst). That's should be a breeze as the opening on the top piece of wood is smaller than the cavity itself, so I only have to machine that 3/8'' thick piece of wood, the cavity itself is already large enough. I'll post some pictures in my building thread later.
Took my measurements yesterday and filled in the 6 holes so I can redrill for the 2 Hipshot posts.
The Strat bridge cavity opening on the top of the guitar has too big of a radius corners, they keep the Hipshot bridge from sitting back toward the tail enough to clear the 25.5inches scale confortably. I'll have to dremel those corners a bit to get the bridge a little farther back (like a 1/16'' or 1/8 at the worst). That's should be a breeze as the opening on the top piece of wood is smaller than the cavity itself, so I only have to machine that 3/8'' thick piece of wood, the cavity itself is already large enough. I'll post some pictures in my building thread later.
Hey, me again (it's nice talking to myself... a credit to dementia [Megadeth])
Allright, here are the details, I finally got my hipshot bridge installed where a 6point regular Fender bridge was so I thought I'd finish what I started here for anybody who'd follow in my steps.
What has to be done and what is 'nice to do while you're at it':
1) Plug the 6 holes (with wood putty or whatever you see fit, I used saw dust and wood glue) (you could also get away with plugging only the inside 4 of them if you're lazy, see below).
I know I'll have to find so kind of paint or tint or whatever to get a better color match but it doesn't matter that much to me for now, I'll get back to this later.
2) Make the opening in the maple veneer 'squarer'. The opening has round corners that will limit the position of the Hipshot bridge, you don't want that, make the tail-side corners as square (must be a better word for that, sorry english is not my native tongue) as possible.
Before
After
3) Place the low e string saddle as far away as possible from the guitar's tail but leave about 1/16-1/8 of screw threads visible inside the saddle.
4) Test-fit the bridge placement inside the newly opened cavity and measure your (25.5'') scale from the nut to the breaking point on the low e string saddle. Make sure it's possible now (it wasn't before I opened the tail-side corners).
5) Use the template that comes with your Hipshot bridge and position it over the opening, that will give you the position to drill for the pivot inserts. This being said, see below about that as well for lazy-asses
6) Before center-punching for the insert holes, make sure the 2 holes will be 90 degrees from the nut, carefully measure the distance from the nut to each hole in a straight line (DUH!) to make sure you placed the template correctly.
7) Center-punch for the holes. You will see that you center-punches land very close to the outside two OEM screw holes but not quite on the same axis.
*** For the lame ones out there ***
DISCLAIMER: this is an educated guess I make from what I observed and measured, I haven't tested it nor is my install done that way so I can't guarantee it would work but I'll come back to this once the guitar is properly intonated to tell you if it would have worked for real or not.
I noticed the Hipshot bridge has quite a bit or margin on its pivot. On the low E string side, the bearing is fixed, it has to sit against the pivot, no discussion here. But on the low e string side, the small 'rail' or 'pipe' is larger that the pivot post itself which would allow you to move and adjust the bridge to sit in it's proper position even if the inserts we're not drilled exactly like the template dictates. There may be about 1/8'' of play here.
That being said, remember I said you might not have to plug all of the 6 holes... you might be able to get away with enlarging the outside 2 to put the inserts in those, I'm pretty sure that play would allow you to do that. That would bring the bridge about 1/16'' closer to the nut than where the template locates it. This can probably be compensated by the saddles as well during intonation.
I went the whole nine yard this time but I will probably not do it again on my next build (planning to use the same bridge again if it proves reliable).
8) Drill the 3/8'' holes for the inserts (you don't have to do the whole 1'' like they say, the inserts are only 3/4'' long and they fit kind of loosely a bit in there anyway so you want them to 'drop' to the bottom of that 1'' hole).
9) Put the inserts in there, screw the claw on the back of the guitar and strap the bridge in place, ready for the next step!
I'll put pictures up soon. DONE :rock-on:
Allright, here are the details, I finally got my hipshot bridge installed where a 6point regular Fender bridge was so I thought I'd finish what I started here for anybody who'd follow in my steps.
What has to be done and what is 'nice to do while you're at it':
1) Plug the 6 holes (with wood putty or whatever you see fit, I used saw dust and wood glue) (you could also get away with plugging only the inside 4 of them if you're lazy, see below).
I know I'll have to find so kind of paint or tint or whatever to get a better color match but it doesn't matter that much to me for now, I'll get back to this later.
2) Make the opening in the maple veneer 'squarer'. The opening has round corners that will limit the position of the Hipshot bridge, you don't want that, make the tail-side corners as square (must be a better word for that, sorry english is not my native tongue) as possible.
Before
After
3) Place the low e string saddle as far away as possible from the guitar's tail but leave about 1/16-1/8 of screw threads visible inside the saddle.
4) Test-fit the bridge placement inside the newly opened cavity and measure your (25.5'') scale from the nut to the breaking point on the low e string saddle. Make sure it's possible now (it wasn't before I opened the tail-side corners).
5) Use the template that comes with your Hipshot bridge and position it over the opening, that will give you the position to drill for the pivot inserts. This being said, see below about that as well for lazy-asses
6) Before center-punching for the insert holes, make sure the 2 holes will be 90 degrees from the nut, carefully measure the distance from the nut to each hole in a straight line (DUH!) to make sure you placed the template correctly.
7) Center-punch for the holes. You will see that you center-punches land very close to the outside two OEM screw holes but not quite on the same axis.
*** For the lame ones out there ***
DISCLAIMER: this is an educated guess I make from what I observed and measured, I haven't tested it nor is my install done that way so I can't guarantee it would work but I'll come back to this once the guitar is properly intonated to tell you if it would have worked for real or not.
I noticed the Hipshot bridge has quite a bit or margin on its pivot. On the low E string side, the bearing is fixed, it has to sit against the pivot, no discussion here. But on the low e string side, the small 'rail' or 'pipe' is larger that the pivot post itself which would allow you to move and adjust the bridge to sit in it's proper position even if the inserts we're not drilled exactly like the template dictates. There may be about 1/8'' of play here.
That being said, remember I said you might not have to plug all of the 6 holes... you might be able to get away with enlarging the outside 2 to put the inserts in those, I'm pretty sure that play would allow you to do that. That would bring the bridge about 1/16'' closer to the nut than where the template locates it. This can probably be compensated by the saddles as well during intonation.
I went the whole nine yard this time but I will probably not do it again on my next build (planning to use the same bridge again if it proves reliable).
8) Drill the 3/8'' holes for the inserts (you don't have to do the whole 1'' like they say, the inserts are only 3/4'' long and they fit kind of loosely a bit in there anyway so you want them to 'drop' to the bottom of that 1'' hole).
9) Put the inserts in there, screw the claw on the back of the guitar and strap the bridge in place, ready for the next step!
I'll put pictures up soon. DONE :rock-on:
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