24 July 2013

A bridge too far (Guitar bridge and string ferules issues)











This might interest all Dean guitar owner with similar string through ferule arrangement.Its a known fact that the conventional bridge and tail piece found on LP's would eventual suffer to what we would call "The warp bridge.","Collapsing bridge",Bent Bridge" etc.
I fondly call it the "Tuesday & Wednesday Issues"

Of course the severity of it would depend on the string gauge,tuning used,bridge metallurgy and time factor.I have confronted similar and frequent happening in the past.Click Here.

They however failed to read or look or understood what's the post was all about,and now we have Dean Guitars following their dumb footsteps.Who ever that designed this first I congratulate you for a very dumb job.In my honest and humble opinion you sir must be a person that doesn't keep such guitar nor play one to even realize it but rather spending time in front of the PC playing CAD from 9 to 5.Hey look Boss I have a new string through design,you'll like it..bla,bla..

Having said that,I took it upon myself to do something about it.Frequent Tech visits cost money you know particularly if its a repeating problem that jeopardize a guitar setup in short time.Plus I don't want to see this client again in the near future.He is a good chap and directed many of his friend to me.He he.

Okay..You need a piece of wood with the top cut and radius sanded to the under part of the bridge.In this case its a 14" I think...I used a Radius Sanding Block for this work then bottom sanded (flat or arch accordingly to your the guitar top).Its sweaty to make with a lot of elbow grease and cussing but its easily removable.

A genius solution that I don't have time to try is to drill and insert a Stud/Bushing under and center to the bridge.Makes adjusting easy for any height but then again that's quiet a concern to some.I know some people can afford frequent trips to a Tech.Kudos.

Browsing through Dean's Website reveals many models using the above mentioned string through design including those Made in USA Sig.Model.Well I hope they used Titanium steel in them.Ha ha.

Thank you and enjoy.


2 comments:

Ijau D. Koceng said...

years ago, i have dean VMNTx with this TOM kinda bridge and V-type string thru body

tapi dah jual, hehehe...

Unknown said...

Thank you for your article. I have a Dean Vendetta XM, a cheap guitar that played better than any guitar I have ever had. (I've had alot including Gibsons, Fender, etc). It collapsed, I posted it on a guitar site: ( http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/other-guitars/213521-dean-guitar-bridge-collapse.html )and was told to put a better bridge in. I did and it happened again. It takes about a full year for the full impact to happen. I will never by a guitar with a TOM bridge again. I know that leaves out a lot, but it's safest. Dean gives good customer service, but I will never buy a dean. In the future, I may try installing an Epiphone bridge and tail piece, which is what my original post was about, but the jerks gave their worthless advice.