Bridge Width on 24" neck

[ezas]

I'm building a 7/8ths S-type 24" guitar from Warmoth. It will be a simple living room guitar to pick up and play when the mood strikes. It's also a practice build for a nicer one that I am building.

It is going to have 1 5/8ths neck. That would not have been my first choice but I wanted something from the Showroom.

I know all the for's and against for narrow and wide bridge spacing. But is there anything about the 7/8th/24" neck design that might favor one over the other?

About me. I played acoustic on and off for years (mostly fingerstyle) and never got very good. Now I'm starting over on the guitar with the goal of learning lead guitar. No goals of being a shredder/ripper. Think living room blues jamming with friends.

I know it's about preference I just don't have enough experience with electrics to have a preference yet. Does the short scales and narrow nut favor one bridge width over the other?

 

[tfarny]

I would just get the bridge that you like that will fit - but many, many people do not like the wide Fender spacing on the vintage trem and hardtail bridges.
I think the 7/8 are 24.75, not 24" - a crucial difference. Did you order a 24" mustang neck by mistake?

 

[Cagey]

About me. I played acoustic on and off for years (mostly fingerstyle) and never got very good. Now I'm starting over on the guitar with the goal of learning lead guitar. No goals of being a shredder/ripper. Think living room blues jamming with friends.

I know it's about preference I just don't have enough experience with electrics to have a preference yet. Does the short scales and narrow nut favor one bridge width over the other?

In your case, I seriously doubt that it matters much. If you didn't develop any advanced skills on your previous guitar, there's little fine muscle memory to carry over. You could start with anything. Familiarity and comfort are developed by playing a particular instrument over an extended period of time.

Surprisingly small differences in various dimensions on an instrument can make huge differences in playability for a particular player. Your perfect instrument may be unplayable by someone else, and vice-versa. So, to say one dimension or another is preferable or advantageous is pointless as long as the instrument is properly adjusted.

For instance, a guitar with a 1 5/8" nut is only 1/16" narrower overall than one with a 1 11/16" nut. Spread over 5 strings (5 spaces), you're only talking about .0125" difference in spacing. You wouldn't think you could feel that, but I know I can, and I know many others can as well, and it affects playability.

So, when you start putting in lotsa hours and get familiar with the instrument, you'll develop a familiarity that will become a preference. Won't be able to call it right or wrong, except for you.

Long story short, put the bridge that fits on there, and get used to it.

 

[ezas]

I have checked multiple times with Warmoth that the 24" neck can be used on the 7/8ths bodies.

I'm guessing the 12th fret lands in the same position as it would with a 7/8ths neck.

I agree with the above post that you get used to just about anything, and/or develop a preference for something else as your skill/playing style matures.

Still on the fence about hardtail vs trem and how to ask Warmoth to route the body if I have them route it all. I have the option of just have them route for the trem hole but not for the bridge and I can then drop just about any Trem, narrow or wide in the body. Or leave it unrouted and decide later or mount a hardtail. But those are all decisions that I just need to make. Since this is going to be kind of a budget beater guitar I probably shouldn't stress about it much.

I think if I go hardtail I will go Narrow but if I go Trem I will go Vintage. Not sure why I see it that way but it's a good a way to see it as any.

 

[ezas]

I changed my mind and went with the 2 hole fender standard route.

I have my eye on a two hole tremolo at Guitar Fetish. I have an email into them asking what the string spread is. Now what I'm confused about is bridge inserts for 2 hole tremolos.

I ordered by body today with Spike and somewhere in the conversation we skipped talking about the bridge inserts. About all I know about them is that when you order a body you have the option of having the studs put in from the bridge on order, or sending in the studs for a bridge you have. About all else I know is that the standard modern Tremolo route is holes .375 (9.53mm) in size.

Do inserts typically come with a 2 hole tremolo? When I look at the pictures of Tremolos on GF I do not see inserts. Do you buy them separate? I see on the Warmoth site that they have Floyd Rose and Gotoh inserts. Warmoth does not have a modern Tremolo in my price range, so the easiest solution is not on the table. I do not see Tremolo inserts on the GF site.

How standard are the sizes and the screwed inserts?  Inserting inserts does not seem like rocket science (if the hole and insert are a good match), should I be taking advantage of the Warmoth service to insert them?

In other words I need bridge inserts 101.

Sorry for all the questions. I am doing my research but with planning two builds pretty much in parallel and both being my first builds some of the 'details' are falling through cracks. I have Erlewine's repair book and have read through it once reading topics of interest but lately with trying to get items with long lead time ordered, reading has fallen behind the changing of what are the topics of interest.

So thanks in advance for advice.

Fyi I am building (assembling really) two guitars. One is going to be basic 7/8th guitar to kind of practice on and give me a 24" scale guitar and the 2nd guitar is a much nicer strat for a friend. The basic guitar will be my 'practice' build before I do the nice one.

Update: Now I see that the trem i'm interested in does have inserts in the picture (many do not). I have written GF to ask the size of the inserts. I will circle around with Warmoth in the morning - I ordered they body very late in the day today - and will talk to them about this.  But any other info about sizes and installation would be appreciated very much.

 

[ezas]

The bridge I have ordered from Guitar Fetish uses 9.9mm tremolo inserts (according to the email I got). The Warmoth body was routed/drilled for 9.52 inserts.

Will I need to drill bigger holes or is it the infamous 'close enough'

 

[Cagey]

Depends on what the bushing measurements are based on. There's usually .2mm to .3mm difference between the barrel of the bushing and the OD of the knurls. You're talking about .4mm difference between something and the holes. Might be somewhere between a bit too tight and way too tight, and if it is, you stand a good chance of splitting the body when you press those in. That will wreck your day. If it was me, I'd be waiting on the those bushings with a caliper, and triple-check them before you try to install them. If it's as wide as it sounds, you'll want to drill the holes out.

 

[ezas]

Not what I was hoping to hear, but good advice. I'll measure with digital calipers once they are here.

 

[ezas]

I did a little mathamacating on drill sizes

9.9mm works out to .39" or 25/64ths (this is the given size of the bushings for the GF tremolo)
9.5mm works out to .375" or 3/8 (the size given for the Amer Stand tremolo)

In equivalent fractions it's 24/64ths vs 25/64ths or the thickness of a business card.