bordonbert
New member
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2019
- Messages
- 2
Hi guys. This question must have been addressed before but I can't find my answer anywhere.
I have a 2015 Nashville/Memphis LP Jnr which I use only for slide work. I want to fit a not too expensive (remember that later!) wraparound which I can comfortably hack into to flatten the radius a tad without breaching the terms of its mortgage. Yes I can play on a normal radius but remember that's a personal thing. The idea was to not alter the original Gibson so it could be changed back to stock in the event of having to sell the guitar.
The problem I have is that, it's the 21st century, I'm in the UK in the 20th century and the guitar is still in the 19th century with its American imperial hardware. (It's only a lighthearted joke. Please, no Defcon 1 is needed.
eace2) Every damned thing I find at a fair price seems to be metric. I kind of like the look of the Wilkinson GTB wraparound. I've read some good things about it and it is priced right about where I would be happy but it may be difficult to alter the string heights, (I mean by filing not adjusting). I can pull the inserts easily but I cannot even seem to find a part with a M8 thread with inserts that will go into the 0.5" holes in the body. The current Gibson original inserts actually mic out at 0.515" but that extra 15thou could be the teeth and most inserts seem to be 11mm. (For anyone who is metrically challenged that's about 1.5mm too small.) I would even stick to the original posts as long as I knew that the new bridge would fit snug onto them. The original Gibson wraparound is actually 7mm thick at the posts with slots of 8mm. That is pretty much exact with a micrometer so even Gibson seem to be coming forward in that way. Wilkinson do not seem to give sizes of their GTB's slot width and depth.
The other option I considered is the Gotoh 510UB which I have fitted to a PRS Bernie Marsden I own. (Black is pretty damned sexy!) I really liked it and the extra adjustment would be useful. It uses separate saddles so a bit of string levelling is easy. Guess what, it absolutely must use its own studs as it they are the slotted locating type and they are only available as - - - - - M8. And the inserts are - - - - 11.3mm.
The other options, £100+, are a no no for me. I don't see the sense of paying around 25%+ of the price of the whole guitar for a single piece of hardware. I'm an engineer myself and I'm not enamoured of what are, if we're honest, very expensive parts to do fairly mundane jobs. I really have never found too much difference between a good design and an over the top design in sound terms on a mundane workhorse of a guitar. (So I'm a tightwad to some, but I do find that often some others are actually relieved to find someone who will openly admit that they think parts can be a ripoff and not just toe the prevailing mojo line that you're an also ran if you don't bankrupt the family to build a Slash level axe.) Yes, I could peg and redrill the holes but I would much rather not have to take that sort of drastic action. If I can I would much prefer to keep the basic guitar as standard as I have said.
Assuming I haven't alienated the entire board with these confessions :##, has anyone experience of the Wilkinson bridge on a Junior or can you advise on the sizing to know whether it will fit on the original Gibson posts? Or is there another reasonably priced option out there I haven't found?
I have a 2015 Nashville/Memphis LP Jnr which I use only for slide work. I want to fit a not too expensive (remember that later!) wraparound which I can comfortably hack into to flatten the radius a tad without breaching the terms of its mortgage. Yes I can play on a normal radius but remember that's a personal thing. The idea was to not alter the original Gibson so it could be changed back to stock in the event of having to sell the guitar.
The problem I have is that, it's the 21st century, I'm in the UK in the 20th century and the guitar is still in the 19th century with its American imperial hardware. (It's only a lighthearted joke. Please, no Defcon 1 is needed.
eace2) Every damned thing I find at a fair price seems to be metric. I kind of like the look of the Wilkinson GTB wraparound. I've read some good things about it and it is priced right about where I would be happy but it may be difficult to alter the string heights, (I mean by filing not adjusting). I can pull the inserts easily but I cannot even seem to find a part with a M8 thread with inserts that will go into the 0.5" holes in the body. The current Gibson original inserts actually mic out at 0.515" but that extra 15thou could be the teeth and most inserts seem to be 11mm. (For anyone who is metrically challenged that's about 1.5mm too small.) I would even stick to the original posts as long as I knew that the new bridge would fit snug onto them. The original Gibson wraparound is actually 7mm thick at the posts with slots of 8mm. That is pretty much exact with a micrometer so even Gibson seem to be coming forward in that way. Wilkinson do not seem to give sizes of their GTB's slot width and depth.The other option I considered is the Gotoh 510UB which I have fitted to a PRS Bernie Marsden I own. (Black is pretty damned sexy!) I really liked it and the extra adjustment would be useful. It uses separate saddles so a bit of string levelling is easy. Guess what, it absolutely must use its own studs as it they are the slotted locating type and they are only available as - - - - - M8. And the inserts are - - - - 11.3mm.
The other options, £100+, are a no no for me. I don't see the sense of paying around 25%+ of the price of the whole guitar for a single piece of hardware. I'm an engineer myself and I'm not enamoured of what are, if we're honest, very expensive parts to do fairly mundane jobs. I really have never found too much difference between a good design and an over the top design in sound terms on a mundane workhorse of a guitar. (So I'm a tightwad to some, but I do find that often some others are actually relieved to find someone who will openly admit that they think parts can be a ripoff and not just toe the prevailing mojo line that you're an also ran if you don't bankrupt the family to build a Slash level axe.) Yes, I could peg and redrill the holes but I would much rather not have to take that sort of drastic action. If I can I would much prefer to keep the basic guitar as standard as I have said.
Assuming I haven't alienated the entire board with these confessions :##, has anyone experience of the Wilkinson bridge on a Junior or can you advise on the sizing to know whether it will fit on the original Gibson posts? Or is there another reasonably priced option out there I haven't found?