Making 4 string hard tail bridges

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Permalink Reply by Tim on October 26, 2009 at 8:19pm

are you talking about a fender style hardtail if so no biggie just buy some brass find a drill press and a metal break and your on the way.

i was also thinking about buying a cheap fender styl tremol and cutting it down to use as a hard tail.

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Permalink Reply by Lou on October 26, 2009 at 8:45pm

From my own experience and I'm not just talking guitar parts here, working with metal can be a daunting task unless you have some machinist knowledge and know how.

Soft metals like brass, Aluminum and copper can be worked fairly easily by hand but when you get into steel it's a whole different anamal to deal with, I've carved in steel and I've learned that it's a medium I would rather avoid.

Stick with the soft metals, you can do alot with them if you have the time,especially if your wallet is thin. (:>}

Lou.

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Permalink Reply by Josh Gayou (SmokehouseGuitars) on October 26, 2009 at 10:50pm

Thanks for the insight, you guys. I'll look into that metal break. I think I already know what it is just based on the name and the fact that you chuck it into a press.

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Permalink Reply by Tim on October 27, 2009 at 12:17am

well i may have been miss leading the drill press isnt nessasary it would just be for drilling out mounting holes. the metal break would be to make the 90 degree bend. it can be done other ways but i cant think of a faster cleaner way of doing it.

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Permalink Reply by Josh Gayou (SmokehouseGuitars) on October 27, 2009 at 12:22am

Ah, okay. I thought they made a specialty bit for a drill press for lower gauge metals. I have a drill press, no problem there. Just don't have the money or the cash for a full sized break.

Tim said:

well i may have been miss leading the drill press isnt nessasary it would just be for drilling out mounting holes. the metal break would be to make the 90 degree bend. it can be done other ways but i cant think of a faster cleaner way of doing it.

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Permalink Reply by Mortimer Snerd on October 27, 2009 at 12:44am

Chrome finishing, Black Oxide, gold plating ( not real gold) can be done at any metal finishing business, there are plenty of them around the larger city's. Most will process even a hand full of parts for you, and run your parts with other customers parts getting the same coating. Not real expensive, they may charge you a flat rate or by the piece if you have bulk. A metal job shop in this economy, will almost do any fab work you want. You would need a print or they could work with you if you have zero metallurgy knowledge. If any metal shop did any fab work for you, they would outsource the plating to a metal finishing vendor anyway. Metal finishing is a mess that most metal shops do not care to have in sight.
A soft steel can be bent, then heat treated for strength, you cant bend brass unless it has the right alloy, so check into that, just any old brass will not do.

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Permalink Reply by Josh Gayou (SmokehouseGuitars) on October 27, 2009 at 1:01am

Thanks for the info, boss.

Mortimer Snerd said:

Chrome finishing, Black Oxide, gold plating ( not real gold) can be done at any metal finishing business, there are plenty of them around the larger city's. Most will process even a hand full of parts for you, and run your parts with other customers parts getting the same coating. Not real expensive, they may charge you a flat rate or by the piece if you have bulk. A metal job shop in this economy, will almost do any fab work you want. You would need a print or they could work with you if you have zero metallurgy knowledge. If any metal shop did any fab work for you, they would outsource the plating to a metal finishing vendor anyway. Metal finishing is a mess that most metal shops do not care to have in sight.
A soft steel can be bent, then heat treated for strength, you cant bend brass unless it has the right alloy, so check into that, just any old brass will not do.

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Permalink Reply by Skeesix on October 27, 2009 at 3:58am

You can make your own brass tailpieces with a minimum of tools. I make mine more similar to Gibson style with slots. I cut it out with the bandsaw using a metal cutting blade. Sand the edges on the bench belt sander. I bend it by putting in a vice and whacking on it with a hammer. Of course, the jaws and hammer padded with wood so you don't have obvious marks on the metal. Fine sanding can be done with progressively finer sandpapers.

I've looking into plating; it's very expensive (couple hundred bucks) unless you have a large load so the price per piece is spread over the whole charge. There is a home plating kit you can get from Caswell Plating, about $60. Another alternative is to clean the metal with Prepsol, then spray on a clear finish. If you don't use Prepsol, then fingerprints and other dark marks will show up later under the finish.

If you don't use a clear coat, then the brass will oxidise into a nice brown color, which is what I do with it.

Here are a few pics of some metal working I've done with the above method. #1 is a nut end string holder for a headless bass. #2 is a jack plate. #3 is a guitar tailpiece.

Attachments:

• nut.jpg, 104 KB
• jack.jpg, 407 KB
• MVC-002X.JPG, 206 KB

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Permalink Reply by HOGS GRUNT on October 27, 2009 at 5:01am

All you need is a bench vice and a little patience.
Don't need to spend money on tooling.

Tim said:

well i may have been miss leading the drill press isnt nessasary it would just be for drilling out mounting holes. the metal break would be to make the 90 degree bend. it can be done other ways but i cant think of a faster cleaner way of doing it.

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Permalink Reply by JUJU on October 27, 2009 at 8:57am

as Skeesix said Caswell plating has a extensive range of at home plating kits the initial outlay is around $200 but once you have it it's only a case of replacing the chemicals when you get low
heres a Copy Chrome kit
http://www.caswellplating.com/kits/copychrome.htm

i have used Caswell produts for years for my Aluminium Anodizing and they are the world leaders in all aspects of metal finishing

check them out

juju.

Skeesix said:

You can make your own brass tailpieces with a minimum of tools. I make mine more similar to Gibson style with slots. I cut it out with the bandsaw using a metal cutting blade. Sand the edges on the bench belt sander. I bend it by putting in a vice and whacking on it with a hammer. Of course, the jaws and hammer padded with wood so you don't have obvious marks on the metal. Fine sanding can be done with progressively finer sandpapers.

I've looking into plating; it's very expensive (couple hundred bucks) unless you have a large load so the price per piece is spread over the whole charge. There is a home plating kit you can get from Caswell Plating, about $60. Another alternative is to clean the metal with Prepsol, then spray on a clear finish. If you don't use Prepsol, then fingerprints and other dark marks will show up later under the finish.

If you don't use a clear coat, then the brass will oxidise into a nice brown color, which is what I do with it.

Here are a few pics of some metal working I've done with the above method. #1 is a nut end string holder for a headless bass. #2 is a jack plate. #3 is a guitar tailpiece.

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Permalink Reply by Tim on October 27, 2009 at 3:19pm

heres a though buy a bridge plate off ebay for a few bucks and cut it down to size. that should be easy enough to do with a dremel. you will still have to get it rechromed but it will make the fabbing a lot less stressful.

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Permalink Reply by Roger Martin on October 27, 2009 at 7:03pm

I think I'd go in another direction and just go down to the hardware store and buy a couple of piece of hard channel and build my own break.Shouldnt be too hard.Then I could fashion what I want at low cost.

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