Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Slow Blues Dani & Ol' Grey Bear on February 20, 2017 at 8:47pm

You know what, Don, I've never thought of it like that before. I don't know either. My instinct is that you should still get some semblance of volume out of it but I can't say for sure. My own personal experience of hardtail bridges haven't been good ones. I tend to avoid them like the plague on my own builds. I'm still really inexperienced at making guitars with many builds and less than a handful of successes under my belt but give me a threaded rod or bone bridge any day!

Hope someone comes along with the answer you asked for. Oh, and best of luck with your build!

Permalink Reply by darryl kernaghan on March 1, 2017 at 9:35pm

Don, just my 2c, but if your hard tail is a top loader, it is also the string anchor, meaning it has to be mounted pretty soundly to withstand string tension, so generally they are mounted well to the rear of the box, reducing the amount of string vibration transfer to the soundboard, meaning they are made for, and better suited to a solid body electric. Having said all that, with a bit of design/engineering skill, the box top can be beefed up from the bridge to the tail enough to withstand the string tension, and still get good soundboard flex, just a matter of balancing how much minimum extra you need to be secure and maintain soundboard flex