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Hard-Tail Bridge Saddles have VERY LOOSE adjustment screws -- how to tighten?

I have two of these 3-string bridges now, and on both, the saddle height screws are WAY too loose. Even with the strings under tension, they will vibrate loose on their own and FALL OUT (one screw will hold the saddle in place while the other comes out. They fit VERY loosely in their screw holes.

I experimented with Loc-Tite thread tightener and it was no help at all: it is very messy and hard to apply with precision, and because the screws are to loose in their screw holes, it cannot grip anything anyway

I also tried plumbers tape around the screws to make them tighter, but it is very hard to apply neatly and just bunches up above the screw hole, and also looks messy.

How else can I make these tighter? I don't know any place to buy better quality components for 3 or 4 strings, and even if I did, I need to remedy the two I already have installed.

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Permalink Reply by the anonymous pick on July 26, 2015 at 5:18pm

just paint the screws with clear nail polish .

tada . works a treat .

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Permalink Reply by Richey Kay on July 26, 2015 at 6:36pm

You could just order some spares. They are just flat bottom grub screws. The gauge is M3 and they're usually 10mm. I'm not sure what that is in imperial...

I had some like that when I ordered some saddles, the threads were just knackered so I replaced them. Hope this helps!

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Permalink Reply by Mark Jeghers on July 26, 2015 at 7:27pm

Where can replacements be ordered? Any specific part nbr?

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Permalink Reply by Richey Kay on July 26, 2015 at 7:34pm

I ordered mine from eBay. They cost very little. I just searched for M3 grub screws.

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on July 26, 2015 at 7:38pm

If you ordered them from Gitty, he'll make it right.

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Permalink Reply by Clark Rowden on July 26, 2015 at 9:52pm

Looks to me like you could use a little neck angle so the saddles can rise to the proper height.

Here are a few CBN discussions about neck angle...

The Phrygian Kid is spot on in his description here: http://www.cigarboxnation.com/group/superclass/forum/topics/neck-angle

Another discussion: http://www.cigarboxnation.com/forum/topics/neck-angles

There are probably others - do a search.

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Permalink Reply by Tom T on July 26, 2015 at 11:45pm

You should be able to treat these screws like those you see in electronic components and similar items. That is, after you have the screws adjusted like you want, use a small paint brush to apply a dab of thicker oil-based paint to the screws where they come into contact with the body. Once dry, this should lock the screws in place just as it does on other components subject to vibration. Worth a try.

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Permalink Reply by Mark Jeghers on July 27, 2015 at 11:13am

But we would still want to be able to adjust the screws, just not have them so crazy loose like they are now.

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Permalink Reply by Tom T on July 27, 2015 at 1:01pm

Makes perfect sense, Mark. But once you get the adjustment right, future adjustments should be few and far between. After each adjustment, a new dab of paint would be needed. On the other hand, you may be able to find some small nuts that you can install on the existing screws and use them as lock nuts or "double-nuts" to lock the screws in place.

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Permalink Reply by Cause the Blue rat on July 27, 2015 at 2:05pm

I'd have to agree with Clark. It looks like you've had to loosen then to compensate for the neck hight. There may not be a simple fix for this on this guitar. Perhaps try a simple bridge for this build. For your next build try measuring the bridge hight. Then add that to the hight of your neck from the box top. Or you could even drop the bridge into the box.

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Permalink Reply by Mark Jeghers on July 28, 2015 at 7:26am

I might drop the bridge into the box. But other than that, the current build needs to stay as it is. Lessons learned can then be applied to future builds.