ns aristocrat floating bridge cure

12manyaxes

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hi all

first I am not sure this post belongs here . is the aristocrat considered chambered or hollow.,,who cares its a floating bridge thing

either way I figure I will post an easy effective easily reversed cure for the floating bridge problem many people have with the bridge sliding around during some spirited play.. throws the intonation off and can also scratch the hell out of the top of your axe..

take the bridge off under the post all you have to do is get some double sided tape .. the thinnest you can find (for the aristocrat anyway as the action on mine had to be lowered as far down as it can go for me to get the action where I wanted it)

now I would never recommend putting any tape directly to the top due to different glues in tape may actually eat the finish.
so to prevent this from happening put the tape on the bridge post the cut a balloon ( the rubber kind) and stick that on the tape so it when the post is on the guitar only the balloon will be touching the guitar, the balloon will not slide on the surface of the guitar once the string tension is on the bridge and it will be almost undetectable once trimmed .

after this upgrade you will still be able to position the bridge where you want to. just loosen the strings. and it wont slide unless you go nuts on it.. hope this helps
 

JohnW63

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Would the tape and rubber change the ability of the bridge to transfer vibrations to the top ? Or does it matter with an electric that much ?
 

txbumper57

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I don't know about the Balloon method but I have been using 3M doubled sided tape on my Floating Bridges for years and never had any problem with nitro or Poly finishes being effected buy it. If you use just the double sided tape and affix the bridge to the top of your guitar you can even remove all of the strings for Cleaning/ Maintenance purposes without the bridge having to be re positioned and Re intonated when installing new strings. If I change string size or go to a wound 3rd or unwound 3rd and have to reposition the bridge then it just pulls right off and sticks right back on with no issues.

I know a lot of folks here use the double sided tape and some use Cello Rosin and other methods instead. The Balloon is an interesting idea to try and I am glad it is working for you. Personally that is just one more step in the process for me that I can live without, with just the double sided tape I have never had an issue on dozens of floating bridge guitars over the last 16 years or so. Different Strokes for Different folks.

With the Newark Street models being finished in Poly there should be no reaction to the double sided tape at all. That is a pretty tough finish and is already fully cured before it ever gets out of the factory. Best of luck to you!

TX
 

GAD

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A latex balloon, however, will destroy lacquer.
 
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I would use the double-sided tape...IF I could ever find any. Where do you guys find super-thin double-sided tape?
On my Robelli, Gretsch and now my X160, I use cello rosin. It holds at tension, but for changing all the strings at once, it really doesn't.
 

12manyaxes

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A latex balloon, however, will destroy lacquer.

yea I've seen . the bluesbird you have is witness to it.. I had a bluesbird that the previous owner had put in the case on top of chord and it burned a snake looking mark on the back
 

marcellis

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hi all

first I am not sure this post belongs here . is the aristocrat considered chambered or hollow.,,who cares its a floating bridge thing

either way I figure I will post an easy effective easily reversed cure for the floating bridge problem many people have with the bridge sliding around during some spirited play.. throws the intonation off and can also scratch the hell out of the top of your axe..

take the bridge off under the post all you have to do is get some double sided tape .. the thinnest you can find (for the aristocrat anyway as the action on mine had to be lowered as far down as it can go for me to get the action where I wanted it)

now I would never recommend putting any tape directly to the top due to different glues in tape may actually eat the finish.
so to prevent this from happening put the tape on the bridge post the cut a balloon ( the rubber kind) and stick that on the tape so it when the post is on the guitar only the balloon will be touching the guitar, the balloon will not slide on the surface of the guitar once the string tension is on the bridge and it will be almost undetectable once trimmed .

after this upgrade you will still be able to position the bridge where you want to. just loosen the strings. and it wont slide unless you go nuts on it.. hope this helps

I have a different issue w/my NS Starfire III w/Guildsby. I have to raise the Tune-o-matic to its highest position to even get near the action I need. I have a lot of experience with floating Rosewood or Ebony bridges on my big hand-made Jazzbox.

I was living in Vietnam for a long time. It was simply a matter of having my luthier make several of varying thicknesses in advance It was cheap, fast and the work was good. I have zero experience with metal bridges perched atop wooden ones. I have zero experience with tailpieces.

Sweetwater told me the guitar came w/.11's. If so, I may need to move up to .12's: I'm back in the US now. I need a professional set-up and maybe some fret work to get it right. The action is too low even with the Tune-o-matic at max elevation.
 
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