Saddle upgrade for Squire 51

[HockeyRocker]

Hey guys. I could use some direction, please. Based on numerous positive comments here, a meager bank balance and a bad case of gas, I ordered a blonde w/black '51 from MF a few days back. It arrived yesterday and I've been messing with it for a few hours since.

 

I like the guitar. The neck is sweet. Nice wood. The frets seem substantial and the fret ends are smooth except for a couple up around the 19th fret. The action was crazy high, but the intonation was okay. I lost the strings right away and tightened all the screws. The tuner nuts were way loose and easily secured. The neck bolts were tight, but the bridge screws were stripped as if they had been machined in with an electric driver. Oops. I can fix that with either some pipe dope or new screws. I threw on some EB 10's, lowered the action and reset the intonation. It's a fun guitar and I can't wait to plug in when everyone wakes up.

 

Here's my question. I see that you guys often modify your saddles. I've never done that and would like to for this axe. The saddles on this thing seem to be the weakest link. Should I leave the bridge? I think I can, right? But what about the saddles? What saddles fit? Will Graph Tech import work or do I need the Tele or the Standard Strat version?

 

Thanks for your help.

[HEPNOTIC]

Is anything wrong with the saddles?

[jrfan]

I would replace the entire bridge.

My son has a Squier mini that uses the same bridge and it's horrible.

I replaced his with a used Carvin ft6 hardtail bridge I had.

It fit perfectly and all the mounting holes lined up.

The ft6 is string thru so I had to drill holes and mount the string ferrules.

Guitarfetish is another option.

I have never ordered from them but a ton of other forum members have and most are very satisfied.

http://store.guitarfetish.com/topmohabrfit.html

Carvin bridge link.

http://www.carvin.com/products/single.php?ItemNumber=FT6C&CID=GTR/K

[citizens_X]

You could get a nice replacement bridge from Guiter Fetish and it would be less expensive than a set of Graph Tech import saddles.

[Saint Frank]

Replace the whole bridge. Jay at GuitarFetish just got in a new supply of the replacement bridges but I couldn't wait for them. I bought the Allparts version. A little more expensive ($20 vs. $12) but it's the same bridge.

[HockeyRocker]

 

Originally posted by HEPNOTIC Is anything wrong with the saddles?

 

 

Good question. Is there anything wrong with Cheez Whiz?

 

After messing with the saddles to lower the action, I realized how crappy they were. Plus the screws securing the bridge to the body were pulling out of their over-drilled holes due to the the tension of my new 10's. The rest of the guitar seems cool. The saddles bring me down when I pick up the '51. I don't need a downer from picking up my guitar. However, you do make a good point, in that I'm not sure how the upgrade will effect the overall playability, but what the hell. I think the tuners will hold, but I'm not sure about the bridge. I know it's a $99 guitar, but I think this minimal upgrade is just the ticket for complete satisfaction from this nifty little axe.

 

So, thanks everyone for the suggestions. I will surf your links for a bridge/saddle combo. I appreciate the advice and I'll let you know how I make out.

[go cat go]

http://store.guitarfetish.com/topmohabrfit1.html

 

http://store.guitarfetish.com/wiklstbltusi.html

 

http://store.guitarfetish.com/vitucobu.html

 

I upgraded mine with the above and it plays great now. I agree with you, the original bridge and saddles are garbage. I also upgraded the pups to a big mouth at the neck and a dream 180 at the bridge. I'm loving this guitar now.

[mfergel]

For one, I used the Guitar Fetish bridge, for the other I used a MightyMite bridge (string through). The best reson to replace the bridge is because of the way the strings bind on the stock bridge.

 

The second best replacement would be the nut. The plastic nut is horrible.

 

As for the tuners, I was surprised to find that they were exactly the same ones used on some of the Ibanez RG models. I replaced my chrome ones with black ones that I had laying around.

[lowbrow]

Really, with a little tweaking, the stock saddles are just fine. But, if your perception is they suck, than nothing is going to change that. However, if you want to give the following a try, the end result is perfectly fine saddles with no extra $$.

 

[axegrinder]

Dang, Lowbrow that's quite impressive and informative.

 

But yeah like the others have said the GFS toploader is your best bet...Why? Because it comes with a set of saddles that contact the string only once as shown above.

[HockeyRocker]

Thanks guys. I like the Low Brow conversion idea, but the man is right, the saddles have some negative stigma with me that won't shake. Thanks for the links to Guitar Fetish and advice from all.

 

I ordered a black bridge from GF, but passed on the Go Cat Go's tuners. They were out of the Chrome and I didn't want to go the extra bucks for the black tuners when the stock chrome ones seem perfectly functional. I did take Mfergel's advice and order a Graph Tech nut for $8.99 from MF. Hopefully that will go in easily enough. Might as well go for it while I have the strings off.

 

In the week before I get this stuff, the neck may settle in a bit. Then I can tweak that, file down the fret ends and make my little mods. I'm looking forward to it. Hopefully it will look okay with the black bridge and chrome tuners. Mostly I just want it to play okay. I think it will be a fun axe to have around. It's different, that's for sure. Thanks for the help and the guidance to GF from JR Fan, CX and Saint Frank. I appreciate it.