Bridging the SG

Installing a WrapAround Tailpiece on an SG 

On the bench today we have a DIY (almost) bolt neck SG clone belonging to Mike from the band, Romance for Ransom. He's planning on doing most of the work himself, but chose wisely to have a pro install the bridge. Here's how it looked before I got started:

 

SG's always  have a special place in my heart because I was a huge Angus Young fan when I was a kid and still haven't heard anyone heavier than Tony Iommi, so I had pretty high hopes when I saw the antique natural finish on Mike's axe.  Here's hoping it turns out like this when he's done:

 

When I flipped it over to remove the strap button, I noticed something was a little off with the neck set.  If you check out the left picture, you can see that the bass side screw isn't completely set like the treble side screw on the right.  All four screws seemed to be tight and since resetting the neck wasn't something I had been contracted to do, I left well enough alone.  Bolt neck construction is certainly easier than set neck, but it still takes a little practice and finesse to get everything just right.

 

Despite the depth issues, the neck was aligned properly with the body, and after masking off the top I used a straight edge to make some reference marks on the body. (Tough to do with one hand!)

Now it's time to mark a line parallel to the nut.  On a 22 fret guitar with a 24.75" scale, Stew Mac's fret calculator says drill the holes at 24.81 inches from the nut.  I measured it out with my straight edge, laid it out along the neck, and came up with this:

 

From there, it was just a matter of finding center and then carefully marking out the 82 mm centers for the posts.  

 

Here's a shot of my spacing dry run.  Dig that grain on that Spruce Topped 2x6!! (lol)

Can't tell you how much my new lighted optivisor helps out in these kinds of close tolerance situations.  Now... all marked out and ready to drill.

Very happy with lack of chipping on these holes.  Masking tape helps, but nothing beats a good sharp bit!

The tricky thing about installing a bridge from scratch is that the posts which accept the height adjustment screws are both tapered and knurled so that they fit snug and can't back themselves out.  These are drilled just big enough to receive the thinner section, but the rest of the insert needs a little persuasion.

No customer wants to hear that you needed to use a 22 oz. hammer on their guitar, but with a few gentle taps, the studs fit nice and tight.

 

Once these are set, it's all down hill from here.  Just slide the bridge in place and tighten things down.  Looks pretty sharp!