Removing bridge wire from Epiphone Casino...consequences?

[gibsunLPgoldtop]

Ok, so I learned something great from the internet. The buzzing on my Casino is actually coming from a wire in the bridge that goes across the saddles.

 

It was recommended to push down on the wire and the buzzing did go away but then came back on a different string.

 

So what are the consequences of removing the wire and having a buzz free Casino?

 

 

 

 

[Mr.Grumpy]

Your bridge saddles might fall out when you change your strings.

[gibsunLPgoldtop]

Someone said putting nail polish down there will also help and that if you need to the polish cracks up easliy.

 

should you put the nail polish over the wire which would hopefully stop the vibration/buzzing?

[WRGKMC]

Take the wire off, reform it so it puts more pressure on the saddles, then reinstall it. By putting pressure on the wire you're putting pressure on the saddles. I doubt the buzz is the wire itself unless its really loose. Its more likely the saddles not resting flat on the base or screws are loose. They made those casted bridges so poorly the saddles rarely set flat on the base.

 

Some times you can help them if they are too tight by filing the u shaped holes where the screw rests but normal wear and tear can wind up making them too loose and having the intonation drift. You may want to try a micro tweak on the intonation screws and find the one that's buzzing, then swap that saddle with another. There's no one fix for all situations besides switching to something like a Gotoh bridge which has a much better quality bridge.

 

The key there is, those thin Nashville TOMs have good vintage tone. If you went to a fat stud bridge you gain allot of metallic sound and loose wood tone. I'm thinking of getting some conversion studs and converting the larger stud TOM that came with my Paul to a vintage TOM. Its just the quality of those thin ones are pretty awful and all seem to have the same issues like you've come across. I may try the Gotoh though. I use the larger ones on a bunch of builds and they are super quality bridges for the price.

 

In any case I wouldn't remove it the wire. If you break a string playing live you'll be on your hands and knees on stage looking for the saddle when the falls out.

[gibsunLPgoldtop]

Take the wire off, reform it so it puts more pressure on the saddles, then reinstall it. By putting pressure on the wire you're putting pressure on the saddles. I doubt the buzz is the wire itself unless its really loose. Its more likely the saddles not resting flat on the base or screws are loose. They made those casted bridges so poorly the saddles rarely set flat on the base. Some times you can help them if they are too tight by filing the u shaped holes where the screw rests but normal wear and tear can wind up making them too loose. You may want to try a micro tweak on the intonation screws and find the one that's buzzing, then swap that saddle with another. There's no one fix for all situations however besides switching to something like a Gotoh bridge which has a much better quality bridge.

The key there is those thin Nashville TOM,s have good vintage tone. If you went to a fat stud bridge you gain allot of metallic sound and loose wood tone. I'm thinking of getting some conversion studs and converting the larger stud TOM that came with my Paul to a vintage TOM. Its just the quality of the bridge is pretty awful and has issues like you've come across. I may try the Gotoh though. I use the larger ones on a bunch of builds and they are supper quality bridges for the price.

In any case I wouldn't remove it the wire. If you break a string playing live you'll be on your hands and knees on stage looking for the saddle when the falls out.

 

Thanks, that's a lot of good info.