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new bridge for a sheri


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I recently bought a new bridge from gfs for my sheri and the web site said it was used for "almost all epiphones..." Well, like an a** I never measured the post spacings! It don't fit! I must own the "almost" one. Now I know I have a 72 mm spacing and this one (and every one I seem to find) is for 74 mm. Anybody know where I can get a bridge to fit? My sheri is a '98 Samick. Oh, and if you buy one with no grooves in the saddles are you supposed to file those in by yourself? Yes I am naieve at this and wouldn't know what to do. Help?

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I recently bought a new bridge from gfs for my sheri and the web site said it was used for "almost all epiphones..." Well' date=' like an a** I never measured the post spacings! It don't fit! I must own the "almost" one. [b']Now[/b] I know I have a 72 mm spacing and this one (and every one I seem to find) is for 74 mm. Anybody know where I can get a bridge to fit? My sheri is a '98 Samick. Oh, and if you buy one with no grooves in the saddles are you supposed to file those in by yourself? Yes I am naieve at this and wouldn't know what to do. Help?

 

 

Samick used their own bridges back then, they're a bit different than the standard TOM (as you have already found out). I have a Samick made Sherrys and a Washburn with the same bridge.

 

Bridges can come either notched or not. I really don't know if there is an after market bridge that's an exact fit.

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I recently bought a new bridge from gfs for my sheri and the web site said it was used for "almost all epiphones..." Well' date=' like an a** I never measured the post spacings! It don't fit! I must own the "almost" one. [b']Now[/b] I know I have a 72 mm spacing and this one (and every one I seem to find) is for 74 mm. Anybody know where I can get a bridge to fit? My sheri is a '98 Samick. Oh, and if you buy one with no grooves in the saddles are you supposed to file those in by yourself? Yes I am naieve at this and wouldn't know what to do. Help?

 

I encountered the same problem a while back. The next question is do you need an entirely new bridge, or are the saddles the main problem. I left my bridge as it is, but I believe you can replace the saddles only. I have thought about dong this with graphtech saddles. Otherwise, you have to plug the post holes and reconfigure it for the more standard bridge size.

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bridge parts for the sheraton are out there. I would not trust myself with finding the right pieces. I stopped in to my ever so reputable epi dealer and he found the right parts in his cataloge. I read posts all the time about guys trying to get the right parts for the dot or sheri and it aint easy. I suggest calling a private, no GC type of dedicated dealer to show you and or order the right stuff. They know. It costs about 180.00 to get a bridge and tailpiece. Cheaper for chrome. I have yet to get this last mod done.

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bridge parts for the sheraton are out there. I would not trust myself with finding the right pieces. I stopped in to my ever so reputable epi dealer and he found the right parts in his cataloge. I read posts all the time about guys trying to get the right parts for the dot or sheri and it aint easy. I suggest calling a private' date=' no GC type of dedicated dealer to show you and or order the right stuff. They know. It costs about 180.00 to get a bridge and tailpiece. Cheaper for chrome. I have yet to get this last mod done.[/quote']

 

 

The Gotoh & TonePros metric will fit the standard Epis. The original Samick made Sheratons (86 / early 90s) used their own bridge which is slightly different:

 

episheraton.jpg

 

 

You can tell the Samick bridges by the squared off corners, they're not fully rounded like typical TOM bridges.

 

You should have no problem finding good hardware for you Dot or non-Samick Sherry, just remember you want metric. And the bridge should have the wide post with the screw driver slot. The stop tailpiece studs should be M-8 thread size.

 

I've changed the hardware on most of my Epiphones and other imports, and I've never had a problem with Gotoh or TonePros fitting except for the Samick bridge on the early Sherrys. The confusion lies with dealers who don't know what they're talking about, or don't provide the info. And don't buy Gibson hardware (not even knobs) for your Epiphone import.

 

Hope that helps.

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I recently bought a new bridge from gfs for my sheri and the web site said it was used for "almost all epiphones..." Well' date=' like an a** I never measured the post spacings! It don't fit! I must own the "almost" one. [b']Now[/b] I know I have a 72 mm spacing and this one (and every one I seem to find) is for 74 mm. Anybody know where I can get a bridge to fit? My sheri is a '98 Samick. Oh, and if you buy one with no grooves in the saddles are you supposed to file those in by yourself? Yes I am naieve at this and wouldn't know what to do. Help?

 

 

Well, I'm just a guitar wood carver, but here's a suggestion for what it's worth...

If it was mine, I'd be looking at expanding the bridge holes outwards (slightly) by 1mm

at each post hole slightly outward to fit the new bridge.

Just a couple of bushings..not rocket science here. :-)

 

BTW; GFS also has a "Wilkinson style" roller bridge that is excellent for adjusting intonation and has massive 12mm wide bushings and posts that will compensate nicely for any hole displacement from 72mm to 74mm.

The compensated holes can be filled with epoxy during the time the bushings are set in.

 

Now this is a radical mod, and I would definitely attempt it on my own, faced with the same situation,

but if you are at all concerned, then you should first try to find the correct spaced bridge for your Samick.

 

No grooves?, no problem, just get a 3 cornered mini-file at your h/w store and file the grooves yourself.

Be careful not to make the B and E string grooves too wide and ensure that there is some slope (angled) towards

the stoppiece/tailpiece for each string..ie: do not file grooves flat.:-k :-k

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I did a tonepros system II swap on my sherry. It went into place perfectly. I love tone pros stuff. It is built like a tank. There was a 3 ounce difference in weight from the original bridge compared to the tone pros bridge. The tone pros was MUCH heavier. I also love that the tailpiece locks in.

 

Great Quality. I found the system II in gold from Guitarpartsresource on ebay. Brand new, Total was $ 90.00. That was the cheapest I found them, especially in gold.

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rpach10115, I'll bet your Sherry is not a Samick-made model. Maybe it was a SaeIn or other, probably made in the current century, right? The newer bridges are pretty 'standard,' only the Samicks are 'special.'

 

JerryMac, with a caveat to your 'never buy Gibson parts' advice, I replaced the stop tailpiece on my Samick Sherry with a Gibson TP-6 bridge with micro tuners, no problems. I did find it strange that the pickups on my Sherry were different from the pickups on my Gibson LP Smartwood. They look the same, but I bought some new brass rings and they would not fit on the SHerry (pups were just too big), but fit nicely on the LP.

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Well' date=' I'm just a guitar wood carver, but here's a suggestion for what it's worth...

If it was mine, I'd be looking at expanding the bridge holes outwards (slightly) by 1mm

at each post hole slightly outward to fit the new bridge.

Just a couple of bushings..not rocket science here. :-)[/quote']

 

Wow! I can't believe you are actually suggesting Slide-n-Bend undertake such an operation. If one has the capabilities of accurately plugging and relocating the bushing holes in the guitar body then that person most certainly has the capabilities of modifying a Gotoh Standard Post bridge to fit the hole spread. If nothing else make the post holes in the bridge larger and lock the bridge in place with setscrews in the sides of the bridge (ala TonePros). If you screwup the bridge you are out only twenty bucks but if you screwup plugging the bushing holes and improperly relocate them the guitar will be forever damaged. It would probably cost more than the guitar is worth to have a Luthier undo what you did.

 

Better yet release the tension on the strings and remove the bridge. Measure the post hole size and spread of the OEM bridge then find a machine shop that will modify the bridge according to your specifications.

 

I did exactly as I just suggested to my Dot Studio. The only difference, I did all the bridge modifications myself as I am a thirty year experience precision machinist. It took me about 1.5 hours to do a professional job.

 

The following are pics of what I did. Although they are not super sharp you can still make out what I did.

 

Good Luck to you and be leery of questionable advice.

 

DottieGotohBridge002.jpg

DottieGotohBridge001.jpg

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rpach10115' date=' I'll bet your Sherry is not a Samick-made model. Maybe it was a SaeIn or other, probably made in the current century, right? The newer bridges are pretty 'standard,' only the Samicks are 'special.'

 

JerryMac, with a caveat to your 'never buy Gibson parts' advice, I replaced the stop tailpiece on my Samick Sherry with a Gibson TP-6 bridge with micro tuners, no problems. I did find it strange that the pickups on my Sherry were different from the pickups on my Gibson LP Smartwood. They look the same, but I bought some new brass rings and they would not fit on the SHerry (pups were just too big), but fit nicely on the LP. [/quote']

 

 

Yes, that was a generality, but a lot of people assume Gibson = Epiphone and the parts should be interchangeable and I offered that as a rule of thumb. I assume you used the Samick post. I think all the modern tps are pretty standard, the difference is the threads on the studs. Some vintage stop tps are a little different and won't fit on the modern studs.

 

I've had to shave a few pickguards to accommodate different pickup rings!!!

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I did a tonepros system II swap on my sherry. It went into place perfectly. I love tone pros stuff. It is built like a tank. There was a 3 ounce difference in weight from the original bridge compared to the tone pros bridge. The tone pros was MUCH heavier. I also love that the tailpiece locks in.

 

Great Quality. I found the system II in gold from Guitarpartsresource on ebay. Brand new' date=' Total was $ 90.00. That was the cheapest I found them, especially in gold.[/quote']

 

next time email me.. I sell those. I've not had one in stock, but easy to get.

I'm assuming you have a later period Sheraton?

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Wow! I can't believe you are actually suggesting Slide-n-Bend undertake such an operation. If one has the capabilities of accurately plugging and relocating the bushing holes in the guitar body then that person most certainly has the capabilities of modifying a Gotoh Standard Post bridge to fit the hole spread. If nothing else make the post holes in the bridge larger and lock the bridge in place with setscrews in the sides of the bridge (ala TonePros). If you screwup the bridge you are out only twenty bucks but if you screwup plugging the bushing holes and improperly relocate them the guitar will be forever damaged. It would probably cost more than the guitar is worth to have a Luthier undo what you did. [endquote]

 

 

 

Well as my post indicated it is a suggestion..and certainly something that I would be willing to undertake on my own.

Relocating the bushings outwards by 1mm is no big deal. You simply cover the bushing hole with masking tape,

mark the center and then trace the circumferance of the bushing by placing it over the

center mark, and enlarging just a tiny bit of the bushing hole to move the bushings outward, then fill the gap.

No big deal, but as you mentioned..if you screw it up....

 

I retract this suggestion on previous post and suggest as others, to find the

right bridge with the correct post spacing.

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