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Vintage threads from the first ten years

Re: You're getting warm...

2/11/2001 8:12 AM
Brett	Re: You're getting warm... I had the same problem on my Strat copy, the screws were twice as high as they needed to be and were sharp from screw drivers slipping out. I just bought some new set screws at the local hardware store. I got allen sockets so they would sit below the surface. It gives it a smooth feel and makes muting the strings real easy. Unfortunately they were $.50 a piece and I could only get black.

2/11/2001 8:12 AM

Brett

Re: You're getting warm...

I had the same problem on my Strat copy, the screws were twice as high as they needed to be and were sharp from screw drivers slipping out. I just bought some new set screws at the local hardware store. I got allen sockets so they would sit below the surface. It gives it a smooth feel and makes muting the strings real easy. Unfortunately they were $.50 a piece and I could only get black.

2/11/2001 7:05 PM
Steve A.	Re: Stew - Mac Compensated Saddles for Tele DB: So do they make chromed steel set screws? I got the black ones in various lengths but was wondering if there is any difference in tone, etc. --Thanks! Steve Ahola P.S. BTW these set screws are 6/32.

2/12/2001 7:16 PM
Doc	I haven't seen chromed set screws, but cadmium plated ones are common. Modern ones have socket heads, not slots. If you want slotted versions, they can be fashioned out of brass #6-32 screws with heads cut off. Measure up from the threaded end and cut off using a fiberglas or carbide cutoff wheel on a Dremel. After the "setscrew" portion is retrieved from across the room, hold it in a pair of hex nuts (jammed to match up flats) in a vise and crosscut the screw slot in the end with the cutoff wheel. Since these babies aren't really being cinched against a shaft for the purpose of preventing rotation when they're in a Tele bridge saddle, brass (or nickel plated brass) works fine as a height adjuster. My most recent parts order to StewMac included three sets of their new compensated brass barrel saddles. They will probably work ok, but the quality control isn't so good. Compensation angle varies all over the place among the nine saddles, and they look like they weren't held in an engineered alignment jig for drilling. Intonation screw and height screw angles vary. They really don't look any better than the ones I made in the basement by sawing up 3/8" rod stock and using a bench vise, hand drill motor, and hand taps. Out of the three sets, I can probably mix saddles to get a better all around match per set. All screw threads (on vintage brass saddles) are #6-32. For a '52 Tele look using slot screws, the fillister head nickel plated brass meter case screws from a Simpson 260 VOM are ideal for the intonation adjusters. If you cut the height screws down, at least grind a chamfer all around the tip to reduce its diameter. A larger OD flat end will wander, and not set well at an angle on the flat bridgeplate surface. Holding the tiny screw so that you can grind it is a bitch. If you grind very slowly, so as to not generate much frictional heat, the end of a metal rod can be used as a tool to hold the short screw. Drill & tap the rod for a short distance. The setscrew can be held in by a few threads with super glue. After grinding, heat or acetone will break the bond. Doc

2/12/2001 7:16 PM

Doc

I haven't seen chromed set screws, but cadmium plated ones are common. Modern ones have socket heads, not slots. If you want slotted versions, they can be fashioned out of brass #6-32 screws with heads cut off. Measure up from the threaded end and cut off using a fiberglas or carbide cutoff wheel on a Dremel. After the "setscrew" portion is retrieved from across the room, hold it in a pair of hex nuts (jammed to match up flats) in a vise and crosscut the screw slot in the end with the cutoff wheel. Since these babies aren't really being cinched against a shaft for the purpose of preventing rotation when they're in a Tele bridge saddle, brass (or nickel plated brass) works fine as a height adjuster.

My most recent parts order to StewMac included three sets of their new compensated brass barrel saddles. They will probably work ok, but the quality control isn't so good. Compensation angle varies all over the place among the nine saddles, and they look like they weren't held in an engineered alignment jig for drilling. Intonation screw and height screw angles vary. They really don't look any better than the ones I made in the basement by sawing up 3/8" rod stock and using a bench vise, hand drill motor, and hand taps. Out of the three sets, I can probably mix saddles to get a better all around match per set.

All screw threads (on vintage brass saddles) are #6-32. For a '52 Tele look using slot screws, the fillister head nickel plated brass meter case screws from a Simpson 260 VOM are ideal for the intonation adjusters.

If you cut the height screws down, at least grind a chamfer all around the tip to reduce its diameter. A larger OD flat end will wander, and not set well at an angle on the flat bridgeplate surface. Holding the tiny screw so that you can grind it is a bitch. If you grind very slowly, so as to not generate much frictional heat, the end of a metal rod can be used as a tool to hold the short screw. Drill & tap the rod for a short distance. The setscrew can be held in by a few threads with super glue. After grinding, heat or acetone will break the bond.

Doc

2/12/2001 8:21 PM
Dave B.	Not sure about chromed steel but I'm sure they've got stainless steel, probably allen head. Doubt if there's an audible difference in tone. DB

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