The Guitar Gallery Forums - The Guitar Legacy of Matsumoku

Hi everyone,

Been lurking around this forum for awhile. Long time Aria Pro II player here (since 1981). I am in need of a replacement bridge saddle-you know the tall, short ones. I realize the slim chance of finding one, so I also am wondering is it possible to weld or solder it back together? Super Glue didn't hold. One of the arms broke at the set screw shaft. Thanks for any help, and I'll keep looking!

Steve

try JBweld?

it's hard to solder or weld pot metal, if that's what it is. Otherwise you might check the stew-mac or mighty mite sites, they provide dimensions so you can get close. or post a pic, maybe someone here has a parts bridge that will match.

Thanks for responding X189player,

Never heard of JBweld, but I will research it. The stewmac and other saddles are too long. You can't adjust the string flat(pitchwise) enough without the takeoff point riding over the thru hole. I guess you could file and cut the replacement to fit, but I'd rather fix the original. Time to get a digital camera!

Thanks,
Steve

JBweld is a metal-impregnated epoxy. it comes in two tubes like epoxy but it has metal powder in it- it's famous for welds to engine blocks and the like. It's usually stronger than what you're repairing.

Hmm... come to think of it, I have a couple of bridges I wonder if I could repair this way? But I don't know if it will bear the tension of springs vs. strings... hmm, I'm going to take a second look at it.

Hello once again,

Thanks for your tip!. Went to the JBweld website. Looks like a good possibility. I also thought of drilling a tiny hole and connecting the broken pieces via a tiny screw(too delicate?). I don't care about the set screw at this point. This is the low E saddle, outside adjustment. As long as the JBweld stuff will hold the saddle together, I can set the intonation and leave it be.

Thanks,
Steve

Let us know how it goes!

I agree on the small hole- might be hard to drill without breaking the saddle further.

I'm not familiar with the earlier TS series, but the 1981 on used the Ray bridge which is the same as the CS series. The saddles on those bridges are cast and probably not the best design in the world. These saddles have two legs with a very tall crown and the leg with the into screw tends to break off.

I have tried a number of methods of repairing these, including JB Weld with only moderate success (nothing long lived).

Which bridge does your TS have on it?

Hello Crusty and X189player,

Thanks for the responses to my posts.

My bridge is also the Ray bridge (1979). So far only the low E has broken-the others are solid. I tried the JB weld but it didn't hold. I then used a graph tech strat-type saddle (the black polymer ones) and cut about 2/3 of the length off so it would clear the string hole and intonate. This works and I'm back in business. The only other replacement saddles I saw that might work are the Graph Tech barrel type saddles-you can flip the string slot in the barrel right or left.

I refiled the crowns of the bridges so that I could make new saddle slots-on mine there were several grooves, it sounds better!. (I bought this ax used by the way). I think I'll go with my temporary Graph Tech fix until some other fix presents itself-I hate to route the body for a replacement bridge(Hipshot maybe?).

Sorry for the long post,
Steve