Just venting...

[whitebison66]

Ideally the internet is a way to get information. Or so they would have us believe.

Its supposed to be child's play to find, for instance, the specs on tremolo block mounting screws for a Floyd Rose.

Sadly, this has not been my experience.

You'd like to think that one of the many people selling them would have the decency to list the thread size or some other spec.

Searching for 'thread size' is not good, because the word thread has more than one meaning, especially on the internet.

All I wanted to know was was the screws are called in machinist terms, so I can go to the screw store in Mong Kok and show the guy the specs.

See, he speaks no English. Though that's not his fault.

Don't believe Lonely Planet or anyone else; English in Hong Kong has become a rare commodity outside of the business district and tourist centers.

I will say he has an astounding memory for locating screws in a vast array of them.

Its like that old man in the lawn chair at the front gate of every car parts graveyard you go to, who knows where there's an 85 LTD with the distributor cap intact: "Just go past the '72 Dart, take a left at that 83 Civic, and you'll see it." Odd since you never see him anywhere but in the chair.

But I digress.

I just wish it wasn't such an exercise in hair pulling to find out what I would like to think is fairly plain, straightforward technical information about something I'd like to think is not arcane.

And I am equally sure that I have simply failed to look the right way.

I found a spare, so I will bring it to the store. As the man has done before, he'll look at it, then go get me the exact ones.

I wish I spoke enough Cantonese to ask him just how in the [expletive] he does it.

Thank you for listening,


Sean

 

[Cagey]

I feel for you. I've had the same problem numerous times.

One of the reasons it exists is there are few standards. Instument OEMs chase down parts from the lowest bidder, and sometimes things are only similar, not the same. I mean, who thinks Gibson, Fender, PRS, et al makes hardware or pickups? Do I see any hands raised? Yeah, talk to me later, I've got this bridge in Brooklyn...

Then, once some pacific rim company wins a supplier contract, they build a bajillion [widgets] to get the unit price down, then the production over-runs end up on the street. So, what looks very much like a Wilkie, Floyd, Gibson, Schaller, Sperzel or Fender part is only similar, not identical. Places like Guitar Fetish and Guitar Parts Resource, among others, are full of stuff like that. Great prices, but you''re liable to get bit if you're trying to replace what you think is the same thing, even if it's the whole thing. But, because it's so similar, they'll charge some low-ball price and make you feel like you're getting a deal, when you're actually getting an oddball. They never tell you specs, often because they'll have metric fasteners vs. SAE/imperial, physical dimensions that are different for the same reason, or materials differences like zinc vs. stainless steel. If you knew any of that, you'd never buy it. At least, not for what they're asking. If you could buy Floyd Rose bridges for $8 instead of $239, you can bet a lot of people would jump regardless of the difference in design/quality.

What's worse is some companies will build a pile of guitars using those parts, and worse still, some will use one batch of parts for one run, and another for the next. Quick - whose bridge did Fender use on a 1998 Strat? LOL! Are you kidding? There were 49 models of Strat that year, built all over hell's creation using parts and materials from who knows where. All anybody who bought one cared about was the decal on the headstock. That's why there's such a booming market in decals.

Your savior, more often than not, is still on the internet, but you have to spend a little money. Buy a dial caliper. Even a cheapie is better than nothing by a long shot. Then, you can measure screw diameters, thread pitches, and all sorts of widths, lengths and depths. Take that information, and go In Search Of...

There's tons of information about fasteners on the 'net. A quick Google search for "thread sizes" turns up 67 million+ hits. But, you gotta know what you have/need before you can use it effectively. That's where measuring devices like dial calipers come in. The digital calipers we can get here are accurate to within .0001" and only cost $20, and they come from where you are. I gotta think you can get one there for around that price.

 

[whitebison66]

I need the screw because I'm having some Big Blocks made up and I want to be sure the (non-English-speaking) machinist taps the holes correctly.

Two blocks will be for Gotoh Floyds, and I have the original block and screws to give him. no problem there.

The block in question will be going on an ESP w/original (i.e. REAL) Floyd Rose with the 37mm block. Ideally, the customer would bring it to me and I could disassemble it and bring the old block and the 3 screws to the machinist. I'm having trouble making this happen.

I do have a spare 37mm FR block, but the screws are in one of my own guitars (with a big block).

In theory (!) the machinist can figure out the thread from the existing holes, but I find that its better to give him too much information rather than just enough.

Wish me luck, and thanks,


Sean

 

[Cagey]

Yes, well, certainly "good luck". But, you know you really only need to know what kind of head is on the screw. Since it's custom, it's not up to you to make its parts interchangeable with other bridges. If you know the centers on the holes of the part that you want to mate to, and you know it needs to be a flush-head phillips machine screw, you can have any reasonable dimension and thread pitch you'd like. As long as it works, you're golden.

It's poor practice, but it's nothing the OEMs don't do daily so don't feel like an outlaw.

 

[Velcro]

I have just noticed that the grey circles beside the sub-forum bits fade to a darker grey when there is no new activity on the threads. 

 

[mayfly]

Yes, well, certainly "good luck". But, you know you really only need to know what kind of head is on the screw. Since it's custom, it's not up to you to make its parts interchangeable with other bridges. If you know the centers on the holes of the part that you want to mate to, and you know it needs to be a flush-head phillips machine screw, you can have any reasonable dimension and thread pitch you'd like. As long as it works, you're golden.

It's poor practice, but it's nothing the OEMs don't do daily so don't feel like an outlaw.

+1 on this.  This is exactly what I would do.  I would also return the original screws in the original block and tell them that the upgraded SS (or whatever) screws are no charge.

 

[whitebison66]

Well, the problems I am having all stem from not having the actual OFR in hand.

I wanted to know the specs of the OFR block screws so I could get matching examples to give the guy. Others that are the same size would work, but I don't have a spare OFR bridge plate to be sure of the screws being flush. So my thought was that by getting something interchangeable with the OFR, I could be assured of compatibility.

Hopefully the customer  will just bring me the guitar, and then he and I can go to the machinists together; he's bilingual.

 

[whitebison66]

Got the blocks, and they work:

http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=17261.0

(Didn't want to double-post photos)

 

[bagman67]

Got the blocks, and they work:

http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=17261.0

(Didn't want to double-post photos)

Good thing - we all know how much this forum hates photos....

*(ducking and running now)*

Glad you got your blocks machined, WB.