Telecaster with JM tremolo/ashtray bridge

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gjn
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Telecaster with JM tremolo/ashtray bridge

Post by gjn » Wed Jun 03, 2020 3:56 am

The picture at the bottom of this page has a telecaster with a JM tremolo. It looks to me as if its a toploader bridge with the strings coming from the trem and continuing the usual route through the hole in the side of the bridge then up and over the saddles.

http://www.telemodders.com/e_mccaul.html

It's kinda low res but is this what's happening here? Would it even work? Friction where it passes through the hole in the bridge can't be good but if it worked it would be useful to know.

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Re: Telecaster with JM tremolo/ashtray bridge

Post by Con-Tiki! » Wed Jun 03, 2020 4:03 am

that looks like a terrible solution.
if you switch to a proper 3-saddle ashtray, you can notch the lip so the strings don't contact.
the bigger problem may be the super shallow break angle. What i mentioned above works well-enough with a bigsby, but less so with a jm trem.
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Re: Telecaster with JM tremolo/ashtray bridge

Post by timtam » Wed Jun 03, 2020 4:27 am

The pics are too small to see for sure, but I suspect that the saddles are just cranked higher so that the strings clear the back of the bridge (regular not toploader ?). There's not much difference between normal saddle height on a modern tele bridge and the height of the back edge; so the saddles wouldn't need to go much higher for the strings to clear it. Possibly with a neck shim to get everything in the right ballpark with acceptable action. And/or a little ground off the back edge if necessary. I would swap to roller tele saddles too.
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Re: Telecaster with JM tremolo/ashtray bridge

Post by Gordon » Wed Jun 03, 2020 7:40 am

Teflon tubing, more often used with a Hipshot B-bender?

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Re: Telecaster with JM tremolo/ashtray bridge

Post by MattK » Thu Jun 04, 2020 5:47 am

Just get one of the bridges designed for Bigsbys, like this Gotoh one:
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Re: Telecaster with JM tremolo/ashtray bridge

Post by gjn » Thu Jun 04, 2020 9:16 am

MatthewK wrote:
Thu Jun 04, 2020 5:47 am
Just get one of the bridges designed for Bigsbys, like this Gotoh one:
Image
Thanks, I already have the vibramate version.

I was mainly interested in the possibility that fitting the strings through a top loader bridge might actually work. I didn't think it would as previous replies confirm. That b-bender though? ::)

Thanks for the replies.

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Re: Telecaster with JM tremolo/ashtray bridge

Post by andy_tchp » Thu Jun 04, 2020 4:34 pm

Gordon wrote:
Wed Jun 03, 2020 7:40 am
Teflon tubing, more often used with a Hipshot B-bender?

Image
:wtf:
Wow, that's awful. Why not just notch the back of the bridge base or use one designed for a Bigsby?
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Re: Telecaster with JM tremolo/ashtray bridge

Post by mary-christ » Fri Jun 05, 2020 7:47 am

Here’s mine! Just used a Mastery ashtray bridge.

https://imgur.com/IY9jxoF

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Re: Telecaster with JM tremolo/ashtray bridge

Post by gjn » Fri Jun 05, 2020 10:13 am

mary-christ wrote:
Fri Jun 05, 2020 7:47 am
Here’s mine! Just used a Mastery ashtray bridge.

https://imgur.com/IY9jxoF
Very nice. Hard to tell from your photo but is the string height much higher at the bridge and have you used a shim in the neck?

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Re: Telecaster with JM tremolo/ashtray bridge

Post by mary-christ » Fri Jun 05, 2020 10:45 am

Yeah, the saddle height is pretty much at its limit. But it intonates well nonetheless. Just have to be careful not to screw the post all the way through. I switched to ten gauge strings recently and haven't had any issues. No shim in the neck, relief is around .010. 14th fret on the the d string can get buzzy here and there, but I wonder if that’s a case of uneven fret leveling.

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