Saddle adjustment screws question

Nuul · Apr 1, 2018

Hello everyone.

I just purchased my first Gibson LP (2010 studio) and I'm giving it a good cleaning and going over before she gets new stings. Having only ever owned Epihone LPs before, I noticed that the saddle adjustment screws are much, much smaller and have a lot more "give" from side to side than what I'm used to. Is this normal? It feels like there should be a spring or something under the thumb screw to keep them tighter (though I prefer the beefier screw on the Epiphone if I'm being honest here). If this is normal, is there a common mod to fix it? I'm sure that once the saddle is on and the stings are putting tension on them it's fine, in fact I didn't notice anything out of place playing it other than the strings being dead. Just one of those "that seems off" moments so double checking.

Nuul · Apr 1, 2018

Gah, the more I look over this thing the more I start to wonder if I bought a Chibson on Reverb. The 2010 silverbursts were rosewood fingerboard weren't they? Google has some results saying ebony, some roasted maple, some rosewood. If this is is anything other than ebony it's darkest I've ever seen.

0 2339 · Apr 2, 2018

hi there, and welcome to the forum!

could you post some mor pictures of your LP please? especially headstock, control cavity, truss rod cavity, fretboard and 1 or 2 pictures of the whole guitar.... i'm sure someone with more knowledge will chime in ; )

cheers

Nuul · Apr 2, 2018

I'll take some better pics when I'm at home. Here's what I have available:

Full guitar:

Headstock:

MeHereNow · Apr 2, 2018

http://www.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/Les-Paul/Gibson-USA/Les-Paul-Studio-Silverburst.aspx

Gibson says baked maple, but staining fretboards especially ebony is a common practise even done by "big name" manufacturers.
Hard to distinguish because the back of the guitar is black, but check the fretboard edges, is it clear laquer on the edges or opaque?

Nuul · Apr 3, 2018

MeHereNow said:
http://www.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/Les-Paul/Gibson-USA/Les-Paul-Studio-Silverburst.aspx

Hard to distinguish because the back of the guitar is black, but check the fretboard edges, is it clear laquer on the edges or opaque?

I would have said painted the same black as the neck if you hadn't pointed it out. I have to shine my phone's flash right up against the side to see it but it's clear.

MeHereNow · Apr 3, 2018

Any distinguishable woodgrain showin true the laquer on the fretboard edges, and if so, is it an other color than the fretboard itself?

Nuul · Apr 3, 2018

MeHereNow said:
Any distinguishable woodgrain showin true the laquer on the fretboard edges, and if so, is it an other color than the fretboard itself?

I think there is woodgrain showing through, yes. I'm not sure about the color being different, they are both much darker than I'm used to - all of my other guitars are rosewood and I'd call those a light brown whereas this is much much darker - almost to the point of being black if you don't have a lot of light shining on it.

Nuul · Apr 3, 2018

0 2339 said:
hi there, and welcome to the forum!

Thank you

0 2339 said:
could you post some more pictures of your LP please? especially headstock, control cavity, truss rod cavity, fretboard and 1 or 2 pictures of the whole guitar.... i'm sure someone with more knowledge will chime in ; )

cheers

Here you go, hopefully these have enough detail.

0 2339 · Apr 3, 2018

i'm no expert by any means, but to me it looks legit... tailpiece position, bridge mounting, gibson style trussrod nut, headstock shape, logo placements, inlays, cavity routing... two things you can check by yourself is if the "made in usa" & serial number are in the correct spot.

but wait until someone steps in with more experience ; )

btw. do you enjoy playing her?

Nuul · Apr 3, 2018

Thanks for the update. The fretboard is what freaked me out the most, the play in the screws i could chalk up to a design issue they fixed in the Epis in later model years. As for the playing, what little I've done I enjoyed. I don't see myself ever selling it.

0 2339 · Apr 3, 2018

Nuul said:
... As for the playing, what little I've done I enjoyed. I don't see myself ever selling it.

...and by the end of the day that's all that really matters : )

enjoy her!!

P.Walker · Apr 4, 2018

That’s a proper gibson alright. No need to worry. Looks like a fun guitar.

Yours is a nashville bridge, and for what it’s worth, the old abr-1s used to have bigger problems that eventually a wire was added to keep those saddles from falling out.

Some have used half a drop of super glue or clear nail polish on the saddle screws to keep them from moving but in your case, as you say the string keeps them in place, so don’t go fixing what doesn’t need fixing.

The truss rod on the other hand looks great, no threads pokin out or none of that. Probably has a solid and stout neck as all les pauls should have (but unfortunately not all do!)

Looks like a set of strings is all you need

Nuul · Apr 5, 2018

P.Walker said:
That’s a proper gibson alright. No need to worry. Looks like a fun guitar.

Yours is a nashville bridge, and for what it’s worth, the old abr-1s used to have bigger problems that eventually a wire was added to keep those saddles from falling out.

Some have used half a drop of super glue or clear nail polish on the saddle screws to keep them from moving but in your case, as you say the string keeps them in place, so don’t go fixing what doesn’t need fixing.

The truss rod on the other hand looks great, no threads pokin out or none of that. Probably has a solid and stout neck as all les pauls should have (but unfortunately not all do!)

Looks like a set of strings is all you need

I love it so far, thank you. I said saddle screws but I was talking about the bridge height adjustment screws...thinking one thing and typed another. I've found an after market replacement that looks pretty good, I may give them a try.

Uncle Gary · Apr 6, 2018

Everything looks legit to me. Back in those days, Gibson would sometimes use rosewood, and sometimes ebony on the LP Studios. It depended on what they had in stock at the time. If they had an excess of ebony,maybe wood that wasn't quite nice enough for a LP Custom or 355, they would use it up on the Studio and other guitars where the specifications were a bit more "flexible". At least that's what I've read and observed.

Saddle adjustment screws question

Nuul

New member

Nuul

New member

0 2339

Member

Nuul

New member

MeHereNow

Member

Nuul

New member

MeHereNow

Member

Nuul

New member

Nuul

New member

0 2339

Member

Nuul

New member

0 2339

Member

P.Walker

New member

Nuul

New member

Uncle Gary

Active member