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quick question...

upon reattaching my bridge, can I just use the existing pinholes for placement?

I double check the bridge location to make sure it was correctly located for intonation, and then use the bridge pin holes along with the original footprint to locate the bridge for regluing. I make a border out of masking tape and use bridge bolts from Stew Mac to quickly locate the bridge when the hot hide glue is wet, then clamp.

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It will probably be alright.

What Greg said. Holes are probably ok for helping to do the initial relocation but the saddle position needs to be checked (it's not that unusual for it to be off a bit). I have not found the holes in older guitars to be that useful when I glue an clamp the bridge. Instead, after I have checked the saddle position, I put several layers of masking tape around the bridge. The tape performs two functions; obviously it will help with glue squeeze out but also makes it easy to locate the bridge when you glue and clamp it.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I measure 65cm from front edge of nut to middle of the saddle.

Start with the distance from the nut to the center of the 12th fret - measured as accurately as you can (I measure to the 100th of an inch). Double that distance and then add the saddle compensation to that to get the total nut to saddle distance.

If that sounds confusing then a good place to start would be to look at StewMac's fret calculator.http://www.stewmac.com/FretCalculator

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

And this is where my straightedge lands


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I can't tell from the photo but I assume that means you're measuring the correct distance to the middle of the saddle in which case I would say you're good to go. I also didn't know if you knew how to calculate saddle position so sorry if too much information.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

its ok....yea im a bit confused...its been so long that I'm a little foggy on all the calculations of neck set. lol

the most accurate straightedge I have at the moment is in 8ths. on the centimeter side, from nut to the middle of the 12th fret is a scosh under 324 millimeters

...so im looking at approximately 648? that's without adding saddle compensation

now here's the thing...I had pretty darn high string action before pulling her apart. I thought for sure I was going to have to adjust the neck angle but by the looks of where the straightedge lands at the bridge (at a relaxed state obviously) It doesn't look like I have to. the neck is completely centered as well by measuring the side of the fretboard on each side down to the butt of the body and splitting it in half. am I missing something here?

If you plug a scale length of 648mm into the StewMac calculator then you get the following (which I copied from the calculator)

"Distance indicated is from the fretboard edge of the nut, to the break-angle of the string at the peak of the saddle.

Treble "E" or 1st string: 650.259mm (± 0.5mm)
Bass "E" or 6th string: 653.453mm (± 0.5mm)"

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

So basically this where the treble E and bass E should land on the saddle? Or am I misinterpreting?

Treble E 650.259
Bass E 653.453




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ok well that's good news lol

You have it right. If you have measured your scale to within a mm you should be ok.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

That looks a little high to me. It depends on how much it pulls under string tension, but if it's more than 1/16", the action will be pretty high. I'm assuming the bridge isn't glued down, since the back edge is lifting. With no tension, and the neck adjusted straight (no relief), the straightedge should at least touch the bridge.

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A man hears what he wants to hear, and disreguards the rest. Paul Simon

That's what I was thinking too. I was always under the impression the straightedge should nick the top of the bridge ever so little. Upon watching John Halls video this morning, he said it should clear the bridge.


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I was so focused on the scale length question I didn't think about the neck angle. If the neck is straight and it's no more than the height of the frets above the bridge then some would say it's ok.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"