Bridge placement

[JackStraw_1969]

Ok, I've searched all of this site, and I can't seem to find and hard, fast rules on bridge placement. I am changing strings tonight and want to make sure I get the bridge set back right.

Any tips?

[Hondo]

If the placement's good now, just mark it with painter's tape, or better yet, just take one string off, replace it, and go on down the line till you're done. Then you shouldn't have a problem with the bridge moving.

[JackStraw_1969]

If the placement's good now, just mark it with painter's tape, or better yet, just take one string off, replace it, and go on down the line till you're done. Then you shouldn't have a problem with the bridge moving.
That's what I was thinking, marking it with tape. I wanna smooth out a couple frets, so I need to take all the strings off at once.

Thanks for confiriming the tape thought!

[mzbanjo]

I'm really bad at putting the bridge back in the right place too. What I do is take of four strings, then clean that half of the neck. Then put the new strings on that side. Then do the same thing with the other strings. The bridge never moves and I don't have to think about it.

p.s. when you put the new strings on make sure they're down tight enough so that when you take off the second half of the old strings the bridge stays put (I hope that just made sense).

piece
matt

[ourgang]

The easy way for correct placement of the bridge after re-stringing is to reattach all the strings leaving them slack enough to fit the bridge under them. Put the bridge in "about the right spot" and tune the "G" strings to "F" and the "E" strings to "D". This leaves the bridge loose enough to move. With the G strings tuned to F check the intonation at the 12th fret. If it is sharp move the bridg back towards the tailpiece, if flat, move bridge towards the headstock. Do the same with the E strings tuned to D. Once the G tuned to F and the E tuned to D stings' intonation is exact, tune mandolin to standard. Job complete.

[JackStraw_1969]

Thanks for all the suggestions! I did the tape deal, and it worked out wonderfully. Took a little longer than I expected, but I was taking my time and I'm sure the more I change the strings the easier it will become.

One thing, the some of the tuners were REALLY hard to turn, and because they are so close this made it rather difficult. A I'd say 3 of the 8 turned very easy and the other 5 were tight and 2 of those 5 were REALLY tight. Is there any way to adjust those?

[Hondo]

Take an anvil, a hammer, and a hacksaw...oh, wait a minute. You didn't say banjo, did you?

[duuuude]

The easy way for correct placement ...
Thanks ourgang, tried that trick last night & it really helped, left the strings just loose enough to move the bridge around without forcing it.
http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif

[Tom C]

If you change 2 strings at a time, the bridge will not move.

[JackStraw_1969]

If you change 2 strings at a time, the bridge will not move.
I would have done that, but I needed to file down 3 or 4 frets.......

[JackStraw_1969]

One thing, the some of the tuners were REALLY hard to turn, and because they are so close this made it rather difficult. A I'd say 3 of the 8 turned very easy and the other 5 were tight and 2 of those 5 were REALLY tight. Is there any way to adjust those?
2nd try on this question......

[Chris Baird]

Make sure your string wraps go under the initial wrap as this can make turning the tuners difficult. Also a bit of oil can help. As far as bridge placement goes it is easy to adjust youself as was stated above by ourgang but it shouldn't be done on brand new strings as the intonation will change dramatically over the course of a few days of playing. Get a few hours of playing time in then tune the intonation in perfectly. Being able to adjust intonation is one of the big benifits of a floating bridge. Check out Frets.com for all this information presented with pictures etc..

[sunburst]

One thing, the some of the tuners were REALLY hard to turn, and because they are so close this made it rather difficult. A I'd say 3 of the 8 turned very easy and the other 5 were tight and 2 of those 5 were REALLY tight. Is there any way to adjust those?
2nd try on this question......
Those Schaller's ya got on there?...just a guess.

What's probably wrong, regardless of the tuner manufacturer, is imperfect positioning of the holes in the headstock for the tuners. That can cause the shafts to be forced to one side and tighten the mesh of the gears in the tuners making them generally hard to turn. The reason for the variation in resistance as you turn the knob is the imperfect machining of the gears in the tuner. The gear on the string post shaft could be drilled slightly off center, for example, so that the mesh of the gears gets alternately tighter and looser. It would probably not be noticable if the string post had perfect alignment from the tuner plate through the bushing in the peghead.

What to do?
Oil, as mentioned before, different tuners perhaps, or re-drill the holes in the peghead as a drastic last resort if the problem is really bad.

[ourgang]

I've had new strings stretch and drop in pitch, but, the bridge goes where the bridge goes. I don't understand how the intonation can chang??

[JackStraw_1969]

One thing, the some of the tuners were REALLY hard to turn, and because they are so close this made it rather difficult. A I'd say 3 of the 8 turned very easy and the other 5 were tight and 2 of those 5 were REALLY tight. Is there any way to adjust those?
2nd try on this question......
Those Schaller's ya got on there?...just a guess.

What's probably wrong, regardless of the tuner manufacturer, is imperfect positioning of the holes in the headstock for the tuners. That can cause the shafts to be forced to one side and tighten the mesh of the gears in the tuners making them generally hard to turn. The reason for the variation in resistance as you turn the knob is the imperfect machining of the gears in the tuner. The gear on the string post shaft could be drilled slightly off center, for example, so that the mesh of the gears gets alternately tighter and looser. It would probably not be noticable if the string post had perfect alignment from the tuner plate through the bushing in the peghead.

What to do?
Oil, as mentioned before, different tuners perhaps, or re-drill the holes in the peghead as a drastic last resort if the problem is really bad.
I don't know, are these Schaller's?

[sunburst]

Don't think those are Schallers, but I've had Schallers act like yours. That's the reason for that guess.
That's still the best answer I can come up with.