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Dodging overpriced vintage parts (Strat content)


ksdaddy

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Two or three of the height adjustment screws on the saddles of my '83 Strat were stripped. Not the actual threads, just the socket heads. I wanted to keep it as original as possible, understanding that parts do wear out or break. Chinese replacement saddles are on ebay for $10 or so....no thanks. New Fender replacement saddles weren't much more but they weren't historically accurate. I know they make whiz-bang titanium and graphite saddles but I'm not one to "improve" a guitar just for the sake of improving when there's really no problem; I just wanted to make the originals function as designed. A quick look on ebay found sellers asking upwards of $200 for a 70s hardtail bridge. One was at $50 and I almost bid, then I decided to dig a little deeper. I had already rooted around in my junk saddle drawer; all were metric. I tried a 4-40 screw and it was a perfect fit. Back to ebay, I searched for 4-40 x 3/8 socket head set screws and bought a package of 12 for $1.95.

 

It's not often we can beat the vintage market people. This may never happen again but I'm happy today.

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Two or three of the height adjustment screws on the saddles of my '83 Strat were stripped. Not the actual threads' date=' just the socket heads. I wanted to keep it as original as possible, understanding that parts do wear out or break. Chinese replacement saddles are on ebay for $10 or so....no thanks. New Fender replacement saddles weren't much more but they weren't historically accurate. I know they make whiz-bang titanium and graphite saddles but I'm not one to "improve" a guitar just for the sake of improving when there's really no problem; I just wanted to make the originals function as designed. A quick look on ebay found sellers asking upwards of $200 for a 70s hardtail bridge. One was at $50 and I almost bid, then I decided to dig a little deeper. I had already rooted around in my junk saddle drawer; all were metric. I tried a 4-40 screw and it was a perfect fit. Back to ebay, I searched for 4-40 x 3/8 socket head set screws and bought a package of 12 for $1.95.

 

It's not often we can beat the vintage market people. This may never happen again but I'm happy today.[/quote']

 

congrats man!! [biggrin]

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