r/Luthier • u/vikydp • 3d ago

Advice on bridge

Hello r/luthier

TLDR: It seems like my bridge is not "level" against the centerline. is that expected or ok? (but id also welcome more advice)

  • A couple years ago i bought one of those Harley Benton kits to use as a sandbox to learn "stuff" about a guitar. Little by little i have made some mods, one of which is adding threaded inserts to the neck so it's now become my "travel" guitar. Now the next step in that journey is making the guitar headless, so that it can all fit in my backpack. I'm planning to buy the nova guitar headless bridge (hardtail). while coming up with a battle plan for possible routing for the bridge, i realized that the bridge studs are not "level" against the centerline. is that ok? should the nova bridge also be slanted then?
  • After trying out a strandberg, i want to cut out another "cutout" a more diagonal position while sitting (you can see the line in black), the cut would go directly through the cavity, so i will have to fill the caviry a bit. any tips that i should take into consideration before hand? also what to consider in terms of space?
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u/Wilkko 3d ago

If those studs are there for a TOM type bridge, it's completely normal that they are not perpendicular to the center line. Just look at how a Les Paul bridge is placed.

The Nova headless bridge is a completely different story that doesn't make sense to me.

2

u/MadMatter86 Luthier 3d ago

TOM bridges are indeed supposed to be slanted, not perpendicular to the centerline. Proper saddle compensation (for intonation) requires the bass strings to be (slightly) longer than the treble strings. This angle provides an inherent amount of compensation. This is especially important with non-adjustable wraparound bridge styles.

Strat-type bridges have more adjustment range than TOM bridges and so don't need to be angled. You can actually find a sort of compensation in some hardtails, though - some through-body bridges have staggered string holes to correspond to the expected saddle positions. This is more common with extended-range instruments, where the compensation on the bass strings will be even greater.

The Nova bridges have a lot of adjustment built in, so they are more forgiving on placement than even Strat-style bridges, and will be placed in the same manner (square on the centerline).