New/old Bridge for a Nightbird

Quantum Strummer

Senior Member
Joined
May 26, 2015
Messages
2,382
Reaction score
118
Location
Michigan
A couple evenings ago I changed strings on my Nightbird, moving from DR Pure Blues to my new favs: GHS Burnished Nickel Rockers. 11 gauge with a wound 18 G. But before I pulled the old strings I used 'em to make starter slots for a "new" bridge. I've had this gold ABR-1 for ages…don't even remember where or when I got it. The previous bridge, put on a couple years ago, was a TonePros Nashville type. A good enough unit, but it comes pre-slotted and I've never much cared for the resulting string spacing on this guitar: a touch wide and not properly centered on the fretboard.

I made the starter slots the old Gibson way: by fitting the bridge unslotted, then lining up the old strings as desired and tapping each one a few times with a small hammer. This ruins the wound strings…no matter. Then I tuned down the strings, but before removing 'em completely I used part of an old wound .018 to floss each starter slot.

After cutting off the old strings and fitting the new ones I got out my nut files and used 'em to shape each slot to taste. I ended up making the slots a little deeper than normal, due in part to radiusing the string heights to match my Nightbird's relatively flat fretboard. Then I finished up by flossing the slots again.

Last night I fine-tuned the intonation, and you can see the result of the whole shebang in the pics below. Note that the strings aren't all that well aligned with the pickup polepieces. Doesn't matter. (The p'ups are a DiMarzio PAF-alike/Dual Sound set, wound to 7.5 & 10.9 KOhms DC resistance respectively, normally not my thing but just fine in this guitar.) The Nightbird plays & sounds great, maybe better than ever.

08FA4F0A-1FE6-401C-B12F-491A232736E7_zpsspu0ljyj.jpg



7A2A3569-D255-4FE7-9705-7DCD7D14F52E_zpskilyiqxa.jpg


-Dave-
 

GAD

Reverential Morlock
Über-Morlock
Joined
Feb 11, 2009
Messages
22,583
Reaction score
17,800
Location
NJ (The nice part)
Guild Total
112
Very nice!

I see so many people obsess about pole pieces lining up with strings. I spoke with a well-known pickup winder who didn't offer F-spaced pickups because he insisted that it doesn't matter due to the pickups washing the strings in the resulting magnetic field.

Have we seen pics of the entire guitar? I'm a sucker for Nightbird pics, especially with maple tops and non-EMG/KA pickups.
 

Quantum Strummer

Senior Member
Joined
May 26, 2015
Messages
2,382
Reaction score
118
Location
Michigan
I see so many people obsess about pole pieces lining up with strings. I spoke with a well-known pickup winder who didn't offer F-spaced pickups because he insisted that it doesn't matter due to the pickups washing the strings in the resulting magnetic field.

Exactly right. With Fender style single coils the overall magnetic field will have sharper peaks due to the polepieces being the magnets, so it's good to have at least some of each magnet directly beneath its string. But with bar magnets it's no biggie.

Have we seen pics of the entire guitar? I'm a sucker for Nightbird pics, especially with maple tops and non-EMG/KA pickups.

Well, you have. :) But yes, I did post one recently in another thread. Here 'tis again (with the older TonePros bridge and strings-over-tailpiece setup, now both discarded):

C327B90B-D62D-4E1A-AE17-55B7C406C043_zpsbh3c1v6d.jpg


-Dave-
 

NEONMOONY

Member
Joined
Jun 2, 2009
Messages
874
Reaction score
5
Location
Between the Bar and the Jukebox!
While there are plenty of folks who say the strings being over the poles doesn't matter, I see it differently. I regularly use a Bluesbird when playing with my band. One week I took a Starfire III to rehearsal and looked forward to the results. I kept getting frustrated when I played notes on the 1st string because they seem to fall off considerably. I started looking the guitar over trying to figure it out. I saw the 1st string was not over the pole at all. I hadn't even noticed it before that. When I pushed the bridge towards the bass side, the 1st string improved and the 6th string, I presume because of the greater mass, seemed unaffected. Mine was off more than the one pictured above. So in my case, I initially did not discover the lineup difference visually but by ear.
 

Quantum Strummer

Senior Member
Joined
May 26, 2015
Messages
2,382
Reaction score
118
Location
Michigan
In my experience the string/polepiece geometry can have an audible impact when the pickups are set lower and the polepieces raised higher. I rarely do this, except when trying to "de-thicken" an overly dark neck p'up, and when I have the alignment hasn't been an issue. Something additional to be aware of, though.

-Dave-
 

kakerlak

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 6, 2009
Messages
2,354
Reaction score
128
Location
Oklahoma
These Nightbirds would look classy with some clear Guild knobs. (Actually, either the '50s style ones or the '60s ones would look good)
 
Top