Candy Apple Red Thinline Tele

[TBurst Std]

Every electric guitar/bass I have has Schaller lockers on it. Just a note to the wise, use lock tight on the nut on the strap portion of you have a thicker leather strap. 

 

[Verne Bunsen]

I usually make my own shims by cutting and layering pieces of paper to form a wedge of the desired thickness, but I decided to try out the pre-fab shims from Stew-Mac for this one. In typical Stew-Mac fashion, it was a bit spendy but it worked perfectly.

It was a bit large for the pocket and I had to do some sanding to get a proper fit, but it did the trick and got the saddles up off the deck.

Once  I got the saddles up at the proper height, I did have to go back and re-adjust the trem spring tension, cranking them down a good bit more to bring the bridge back down. Something something mechanical advantage something? I found I was getting some sympathetic vibrations from the springs, so got very technical and stuffed pieces of foam between them.....

And that is really about it! I'm still playing with pickup height and I still have the wiring mods to pursue, but this is officially a fully functional Death Star! 
arty07:

 

[Cagey]

I usually make my own shims by cutting and layering pieces of paper to form a wedge of the desired thickness, but I decided to try out the pre-fab shims from Stew-Mac for this one. In typical Stew-Mac fashion, it was a bit spendy but it worked perfectly.

I've only had to use them a couple times in the last year, but I'm over my fear of shims now. They do work great.

Once  I got the saddles up at the proper height, I did have to go back and re-adjust the trem spring tension, cranking them down a good bit more to bring the bridge back down. Something something mechanical advantage something?

It's the change in leverage. Makes it less a shear load and more a torsional load. There are arguments in both directions regarding saddle height. One is that you want the saddles higher to increase break angle on the string (pointless), the other is you want them as low as possible because it makes the trem feel "looser" (true). I suspect that as with most things, moderation is the key to happiness.

I found I was getting some sympathetic vibrations from the springs, so got very technical and stuffed pieces of foam between them.....

Another thing I've seen done if you'd rather not have loose foam bits in the spring cavity is stuffing lengths of surgical (silicone) tubing inside the springs. Not sure it applies here, as you've got a cover on the cavity.

 

[Logrinn]

Another thing I've seen done if you'd rather not have loose foam bits in the spring cavity is stuffing lengths of surgical (silicone) tubing inside the springs. Not sure it applies here, as you've got a cover on the cavity.

Or foam inside the springs:

[youtube]https://youtu.be/FX2INeaiKD4[/youtube]

 

[Verne Bunsen]

There are arguments in both directions regarding saddle height. One is that you want the saddles higher to increase break angle on the string (pointless), the other is you want them as low as possible because it makes the trem feel "looser" (true). I suspect that as with most things, moderation is the key to happiness.

The main driver for me to install the shim was that the saddles were actually bottomed out and I wasn't getting the action I wanted. That and the 12 grub screws sticking out and shredding my right hand... All good now!

A worthy side note here, the Blade Runner was intonated almost perfectly right out of the box. Very small tweak to the D and G strings, that was it. Props to Super Vee for that!

Or foam inside the springs:

Slick! I will remember that...

 

[Cagey]

If you still have issues with your saddle height adjustment screws, you can get them in different lengths that may be more suitable for your setup here.

 

[Verne Bunsen]

That will be a good option to keep in mind. I used a 0.5 degree shim which brought the saddles up from bottomed out (and not low enough) to 1/8-3/16" off the deck. If I find I need to make further adjustments I could swap it for a smaller shim and use shorter screws. Logged away for future reference...

 

[BigSteve22]

Or foam inside the springs:

Slick! I will remember that...

Another thing I've seen is, shrink tubing over the spring. Never had the need myself, but it appeared to work well. Sort of a home brewed version on these:

But a lot cheaper!  :headbang:

 

[Cagey]

I've never seen a need, either. It's an electric guitar. Plug the thing in. If you can still hear vibrato springs vibrating, look for a knob on the amp that says "volume" or "gain" or something along those lines. Turn it fully clockwise until the position indicator points at "11". That should cover up any annoying mouse farts, feather drops, cat stares or spring vibrations that might be interfering with the quality of one's playing.

 

[Sovereign_13]

Turn it fully clockwise until the position indicator points at "11".

But then you can't hear the built-in reverb that comes with your guitar.  Better put another pickup in the trem cavity and wire it into your output jack, just in case.

 

[BigSteve22]

Better put another pickup in the trem cavity and wire it into your output jack, just in case.

Now, THERE'S an idea!  :headbang:
(  :laughing11: :laughing3: :laughing7:  )

 

[stratamania]

I've never seen a need, either. It's an electric guitar. Plug the thing in. If you can still hear vibrato springs vibrating, look for a knob on the amp that says "volume" or "gain" or something along those lines. Turn it fully clockwise until the position indicator points at "11". That should cover up any annoying mouse farts, feather drops, cat stares or spring vibrations that might be interfering with the quality of one's playing.

Except that makes the unwanted noise even louder.

 

[Verne Bunsen]

We never ended up with an opportunity for my wife to direct her photographic talents toward this guitar, so I got a couple myself for use in the GOM submission. It's actually on the floor in the case in these pictures; I did some very ham-fisted copy/paste with chunks of the black case interior to eliminate undesirable things like my feet, the case frame and the tile floor from the picture. Turned out better than I expected honestly...

 

[Cagey]

Nice work! Those came out well. My Photoshop skills are pitiful at best, mainly because I don't even know what the hell they're talking about most of the time. Rowing through the menus to find targets of opportunity for accomplishing different things is for me like trying to communicate with a Japanese in their native tongue using nothing but a Japanese/English dictionary :laughing7:

 

[Verne Bunsen]

Nice work! Those came out well. My Photoshop skills are pitiful at best, mainly because I don't even know what the hell they're talking about most of the time. Rowing through the menus to find targets of opportunity for accomplishing different things is for me like trying to communicate with a Japanese in their native tongue using nothing but a Japanese/English dictionary :laughing7:

Thank you sir! I feel your pain, my skills are definitely more of the "Microsoft Paint" caliber....

 

[BigSteve22]

Boy, that looks HOT! Great job Brother, really impressive.  :icon_thumright:

 

[Verne Bunsen]

Boy, that looks HOT! Great job Brother, really impressive.  :icon_thumright:

Thank you! I really couldn't be happier with how it turned out. I'm looking forward to sharing some audio samples too, but I'm on the road for work and it'll be a spell before I get back home. In the mean time, I'm spending a lot of time looking at these pictures....  :icon_biggrin:

 

[rgand]

Enviable job on the photos. Looks great.

 

[Verne Bunsen]

Enviable job on the photos. Looks great.

Thank you!

 

[Slackjaw]

Turn it fully clockwise until the position indicator points at "11".

But then you can't hear the built-in reverb that comes with your guitar.  Better put another pickup in the trem cavity and wire it into your output jack, just in case.

Or, you can just do what I did: