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HNGD Sort of Epi related ...............


sledge57

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I got me a new toy yesterday, I call it a Tele-Phone...........

 

Mid 80's Epi Strat type body loaded with Lace Sensor pups and a relic'd maple Telecaster neck. Not a fan of relicing in general but this neck just feels good [thumbup]

 

Needs a little work but it's pretty kool, it has the FATTEST neck I've ever seen (All Parts)

 

The only thing I really don't like is the truss rod adjustment in the heel, gotta pull the neck to adj truss rod, seems dumb to me....

 

Needs a good bridge, everything else is good, any suggestions for the bridge (I want it complete and good quality, no krap)

 

 

PICS:

 

 

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Looks cool. Is there a hole for a hex key to adjust the truss rod near the nut ? or is that an illusion ?

 

Just an illusion unfortunately, neck has to come off to adjust. A major pain, but the Sperzal tuners help make it a bit quicker, otherwise it'd have to go........

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That guitar has a purty mouth. Er sorry, got carried away by the pearloid, which I do like.

 

How does the neck fit, are the dimensions and screw hole placements of the neck pocket standard Fender?

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Very nice!

 

I like fat necks too. I've never found them a problem playing-wise (my hands are medium/normal sized) and they always seem to add something sonically.

 

Sound-wise, I'd be prepared to bet it's pretty close to my '88 Strat Plus - also in cream but it's gone very yellow over the years. I swapped out the Wilkinson nut for the same LSR model you have on yours. Great for those Jeff Beck impersonations! (Not that my Jeff Beck impersonations are all that great [biggrin] )

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From what I understand the only fitment issue is a Tele neck has a square heel and the Strats neck pocket is rounded so he had to square the corners on the body.

 

It looks like a great fit, like it belongs there.

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Sledge, just re-read your original post, sorry missed the request for bridge suggestions. It may depend on the 6-screws positions: hopefully it will be either 2 1/16" like most Squier and most other imports or 2 7/32" like most Fender.

 

Guitarfetish and Wilkinson do a full replacement in either size with steel trem block for about $40 ( see Guitarfetish), as do Gotoh (see Stewmac).

 

Then there's second hand Fender from Reliablefender on ebay (shop name, the Stratosphere) or Squier if the screws are 2 1/16th. Squier bridges work OK in my experience.

 

I have no idea what the 6-screw position measurement is on these Epis. I have a Hondo which is neither and is a total POS. If you're unlucky, it would be a matter of filling & drilling.

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Sledge, just re-read your original post, sorry missed the request for bridge suggestions. It may depend on the 6-screws positions: hopefully it will be either 2 1/16" like most Squier and most other imports or 2 7/32" like most Fender.

 

Guitarfetish and Wilkinson do a full replacement in either size with steel trem block for about $40 ( see Guitarfetish), as do Gotoh (see Stewmac).

 

Then there's second hand Fender from Reliablefender on ebay (shop name, the Stratosphere) or Squier if the screws are 2 1/16th. Squier bridges work OK in my experience.

 

I have no idea what the 6-screw position measurement is on these Epis. I have a Hondo which is neither and is a total POS. If you're unlucky, it would be a matter of filling & drilling.

 

 

Thanks, I may go the "fill and drill" regardless. Having a problem with the intonation, I have to measure but I think the bridge is set to close to the nut.

 

I move the saddles all the way back and it's still sharp at the 12th fret, the weird thing is the intonation is perfect when I play the harmonic on the 12th but when fretting it's sharp, just a little still though, it sounds pretty good but also goes out of tune fairly easy.

 

Going to mess with it some this weekend I hope, everything else on the guitar is pretty nice so I figure I'll put a bridge on that is as good as the rest of the hardware while I'm working on it.

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I'm going to take a guess and say the the intonation problem is due to the different heel types, screw hole alignment and neck pocket modifications combo. In actuality, the bridge isnt to close to the nut...the nut is too close to the bridge [tongue]

 

I wonder how far off it is...

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I'm going to take a guess and say the the intonation problem is due to the different heel types, screw hole alignment and neck pocket modifications combo. In actuality, the bridge isnt to close to the nut...the nut is too close to the bridge [tongue]

 

I wonder how far off it is...

 

+1 i wonder if it would be tricky to shift the neck forward a wee tad ... would have to fill the existing screw holes in the back of the neck and re-drill some new ones, and probably fit a shim. .. lot of fiddling.. perhaps a new bridge will offer more travel on the saddles?

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+1 i wonder if it would be tricky to shift the neck forward a wee tad ... would have to fill the existing screw holes in the back of the neck and re-drill some new ones, and probably fit a shim. .. lot of fiddling.. perhaps a new bridge will offer more travel on the saddles?

 

Yeah, that seems like a lot more work than installing a new bridge - which would be the easiest route. I dont really know anything about different bridges and saddle screw lengths though. I wonder if moving the bridge would change the sound of the bridge pickup. If so, probably not much, but I wonder if it would be noticable.

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Yeah, that seems like a lot more work than installing a new bridge - which would be the easiest route. I dont really know anything about different bridges and saddle screw lengths though. I wonder if moving the bridge would change the sound of the bridge pickup. If so, probably not much, but I wonder if it would be noticable.

 

That's what I'm thinking too and it doesn't need much, I'm guessing 1/4" would do it....

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i just had a thought, could the saddles on the bridge be replaced with shorter ones? do such things even exist?

 

I've never come across them, but the springs may be different sizes, so shorter ones can be used or longer ones can be cut down to gain 2-3 millimetres travel in the saddles.

 

 

 

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I thought about the springs too, I could cut them down, I have 2 extra sets of saddles and springs so I'm not worried about messing up a set of springs.

 

Also are the saddles going to move without the springs? I thought of trying just removing them and a bit of locktite on the threads or maybe nail polish (we use nail polish at work all the time on small bolts, it keeps them in place but is very easy to break loose without stripping the threads)

 

What do you guys think?

 

Still haven't fooled with it yet though I can't keep my hands off the new LP JR [drool]

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I've been messin with this thing for a couple days now and I've decided to build another guitar out of the bits I like, namely everything but the body and bridge.

 

So I ordered a new Warmoth Strat body with a proper Telecaster routed neck pocket.

 

This ought to be a sweet guitar when done, then I can look for a Strat neck for the Epi body.

 

Ordered a new Wilkinson/Gotoh bridge also and had the "swimming pool" route done for the pups so I can play with pickups combinations when the mood hits.

 

Also getting it finished from them, finally gonna get me that "Redhead" :rolleyes:

 

Here's what the body will look like, pics of the real deal as soon as it gets here.

 

Thanks for the help.

 

New-strat-body-1.jpg

 

New-strat-body-2.jpg

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