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Epi EBM bridge saddles - Suggestions?


RobinTheHood

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I recently took my EBM bridge to the local bass repair shop (yes, we have a bass-only repair shop) because two of my saddle height screws are corroded to the saddles. The tech told me that the odds of getting them out were not good and that the saddles are unique to the bass - meaning I'd have to buy a whole new bridge. I cant really afford to buy a new bridge and have it installed...and aside from the two saddle screws, the bridge is fine. Does anyone have any suggestions on finding replacement saddles or possibly drilling out the screws and replacing them? I've looked on ebay, but nothing.

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Robin,

you might want to PM jerrymac,he might just know where to get the replacemnet parts you seek.

Or, you could take the saddles out and use a power wire wheel to clean the threads up and spray them down with WD-40 and leave it sit for a day then try to rock the screws back and forth to break them loose,

If that doen`t work ,sense they kinda of shot the way they are now,stop at a local car repair place and ask if one of the guys would heat the screws up with his torch ,leave it get cold and see if you can get them to turn out now ..

Ya been doin things like this for many years. Like i said they not doin ya any good this way,,

worth a try for sure

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Or, you could take the saddles out and use a power wire wheel to clean the threads up and spray them down with WD-40 and leave it sit for a day then try to rock the screws back and forth to break them loose,

 

Yeah, that was the first thing I did. I let them soak for about 48 hours. They wouldnt budge. I found some generic saddles online that have the same millimeter spacing, so I ordered them. They are cheap, so if they dont work, I'm only out about $10. If that doesnt pan out, I'll look at taking it to a car repair place or a machine shop. Come to think of it, we have a guy that we subcontract metal work to at our shop for press repairs and the like. He's really good and a nice guy. He would most definately do it for me. Your "car repair place" suggestion just made that click. Thanks.

 

Also, thanks for the responses. This bass forum is like a ghost town.

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My saddles came in the other day. Yay! They were about .5mm too wide, so I shaved a bit off of each side with a grinder...verrrry carefully. They fit and work great. Exactly 16mm between strings and ready to rock. I eyeballed the intonation and its pretty close. I'm going to tweak it the next time I feel like ponying up $30 for new strings.

 

I dont know if I'm going to bother trying to get OEM saddles for it. I've been playing this bass as my main axe for 15 years and it has plenty of battle scars. Looking at it with a couple of oddball saddles is just another reminder of everything we've been through together and makes me love it that much more. I'm a sentimental fool.

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  • 5 years later...

I know this is six years late, but...

 

You got my PM, right? Okay, so just for everyone's benefit, here's how I got my corroded set screws out. This will help with many types of bridges, though I have never seen anything rust like these things. Same problem, and I am still hoping to replace the bridge, but I managed to get all of the screws out by soaking the saddles in PB Blaster for several weeks. (I have 11 other basses to play with so time is on my side.) The screws need to be gently manhandled. Intonation screws are easy: Put the saddle in a padded vice, lock a pair of Vice Grips around them, and just wiggle back and forth, turning one way and then the other, back and forth until the crud breaks loose with each motion. Eventually, you'll get past the stuck spot and when it starts to move beyond that, you can probably get it the rest of the way out. It might also help to use a die and chase the threads all the way to the saddle, so that once you get past the corroded part the rest of the threads will be nice and loose. The screws are 3mm, two threads per millimeter (or M3x0.5) so you know what die to use and what to replace them with. I suggest 40-50mm replacement intonation screws. The action screws are a little harder, because you're dealing with short stubs. If you grab the top end with Vice Grips, you'll probably crush that end with the hex inside. And chances are, you might not be able to grab the bottom end because it's too short. So with these buggers, I have the luxury of using an ultrasonic cleaner at work. But if you don't have access to one, here's whatcha do:

 

1. Go into the basement and turn off the breaker to the outlet your practice amp is in.

2. Tip your practice amp onto its back and remove the speaker grill.

3. Place the saddles in the speaker cone and fill it with enough PB blaster to cover the saddles.

4. Turn your EQ settings to nothing but treble, turn up all your gains and volumes.

5. Pipe in a cellphone or computer and go to YouTube. Search for "Pink Noise" and put it on loop.

6. Turn on the amp, go into the basement, and flip the breaker. (Note: you don't want to go back in there.)

7. While your amp is cleaning your screws, run down to your local music shop and pick up another amp, because yours is going to be fried by the time your saddles are clean.

8. Upon returning, make sure you shut your breaker off first.

9. Your amp should be reduced to a smoltering pile of synthetic wood, burnt resistors, and molten plastic. (Note: if you had aluminum cones, the screws and saddles are probably permanently encased in foil by now. Don't use aluminum drivers to clean screws.)

10. Talk to my lawyer, who will probably tell you that you can't sue someone for telling you how to do something via the internet.

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Hey, this thread IS old! :P

 

So this was from when I was living in a rental house with no basement, no garage and no money and no tools at my disposal. I could probably just drill those suckers out now. For the record, I didnt have quite enough of the saddle screw sticking out of the tops of the saddles to grab on to it...at least not the ones that were stuck. This problem would probably be much less of a problem for me these days. I have the room, the tools and quite a bit more experience now. lol.

 

Thanks for adding the method to remove the screws. It all seems like a no-brainer now, but at the time I was pretty dumbfounded and technically inept. One can learn a whole lot in six years. :)

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