Saddle Retainer Wire

[woody.Prm]

Hello Guys

 

got another problem

 

one side of my saddle retainer wire on my ES-355 bridge is move and came out from it hole

 

i try to put it back but at the 6th string position the wire not attach to the bridge like another position does

 

 

i try to find a replace one but i'm in THAILAND and couldn't find it easily

 

and do i need this wire on my bridge ?

 

or i could remove it , , and would it effect my guitar sound and setting ?

[RaSTuS]

Unless the wire is actually broken, it should be able to be inserted back into the hole, it's much easier to do this with the bridge removed from the guitar rather than still in place.

 

You can't buy the wire separately AFAIK.

 

The bridge won't work properly without it, the wire is meant as a retainer for the intonation screws, if it's removed the intonation of your guitar won't be stable.

[woody.Prm]

Thank Rastus

 

i've try to fix it myself and it's ok now.

 

i found one here

 

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bridges,_tailpieces/Electric_guitar,_Tune-o-matic_bridges/ABR-1_Tune-o-matic_Bridges_and_Parts/Saddle_Retainer_Wire_for_ABR-1_Tune-o-matic_Bridges.html

 

but the shipping price is 27 time of the wire price . . . damn

[RaSTuS]

Thank Rastus

 

i've try to fix it myself and it's ok now.

 

i found one here

 

http://www.stewmac.c...ic_Bridges.html

 

but the shipping price is 27 time of the wire price . . . damn

Glad to hear it's fixed.

 

That's interesting about the wires being sold separately, I've never seen them before, you learn something new every day.

[Pete B]

I made one once from an old guitar string and a pair of pliers

[hilm3]

The wire has several purposes, but the principal one is to keep the screw from moving when you set the intonation. Without the wire, there is enough pressure from the strings so that the screw, if you turn it counter clockwise, would back out of the bridge while the saddle stays in place, thus not changing the intonation. Turning the screw clockwise, the body of the bridge keeps the screw in place as the saddle moves closer to the pickups.

 

The wire has other purposes: One is to keep the screws and saddles from falling out of the bridge should the strings be removed and the guitar tipped from laying flat. The other purpose a lot of us are familiar with - to create buzzing should the wire not be properly tensioned or trapped by the screws and saddle body.

 

When setting intonation, if you make sure that the screw is pushed firmly toward the wire and body of the bridge, you eliminate buzzing. Without the wire, make sure that you make intonation adjustments by turning the screw clockwise and pushing the screw against the bridge. It is usually better to move the saddle as far toward the heel of the guitar as possible and adjust intonation clockwise from there. This lets you take up the slack in the screw and thread and keep everything from rattling.

 

The wire serves the same purpose as the "E" rings in wireless bridges. These can rattle and buzz also if not trapped against the body of the bridge. Since the E-ring is on the inside of the bridge (usually) the way to trap the ring is opposite as the wire - counter clockwise to finish rather than clockwise, and start with the saddles closest to the pickups.

 

The wire is not really necessary - just a convenience mostly. There are issues if you take it off, and issues if you leave it on and all of these can be worked around.

[RaSTuS]

Granted once the intonation is set the wire isn't as important, but it's still needed, tuning the guitar or doing bends also moves the strings across the saddles, so without a retention system (wire or E rings) the saddles would be free to move back and forth putting it out of intonation. Your descriptions also assume the screw heads are on the pickup side of the bridge, that's not always the case, there's plenty guitars out there where they face the stopbar, whether intentionally or not, check THIS thread.