The Guitar Gallery Forums - The Guitar Legacy of Matsumoku

Likely not. There isn't much room to play with there.
I may just end up replacing the whole darn thing. I did some checking and it turns out the Telecaster bridge is the same spacing, however the only one that fits off the shelf is the G E Smith modified (cut down) version and it's way too expensive for this guitar.

But, I have located an el cheapo ($25) adjustable bridge with 2-1/8" (54mm) E to E which should do fine. Very simple and lots cheaper than the "official" Dano replacement bridge with much better adjustment: http://www.guitarpartscanada.com/product_info.php?cPath=27_22_62&products_id=237&osCsid=8d21f6286453577fb2637d5e18dea9ab

The reason I'm now considering it is because after 4 neck adjustments and 5 or 6 bridge removals and replacements, and re-strings(!) I STILL have one and a half buzzing notes just above the 12th fret on the D string!! And the action is still a tad too high for me.

What I haven't figured out yet is if the saddle height will be enough to clear the pups.

_________________
"A little song, a little dance. A little seltzer down your pants." -Chuckles the Clown
Guitars: https://legend.barryeames.com
Music/Pix/Videos: https://getback.barryeames.com

How about just removing the whole danged Dano bridge & replacing it with a floating archtop style bridge--a metal bridge with adjustable saddles on a wooden block with a flat bottom?

After that, I give up. I haven't a clue what to do with it. Good luck, Barry.

As for the Talmans, thanks for posting that pic, Barry. As it turns out, mine doesn't have the "swimming pool" pickup rout--it's routed just like the one in the ad pic ("universal" HSH). The swimming pool rout is on the lower versions--the 630, which is a veneer flame top on an alder body (DHL destroyed one of those for me, & an Eboink power-seller SNADed me on one--he's since been kicked off Eboink), & the 430, which is "resincast" (think G__son Sonex except all resin--no wood core). There's also a 730, which is an exceedingly rare beast--it's a "thinline" version with an f-hole.

In Talmans, the first number signifies the "quality band", the last two numbers the pickup configuration ("20" being two P-90ish pups, & I can't remember all the other combinations). They used covered humbuckers, covered mini-humbuckers, covered p-90s, lipstick tubes, & several combinations. The "heppest" version is an 800 series, but I can't remember the pickup configuration--it has top-mounted pickups (no guard), metal-flake paint, & a Bigsby.

The MIJ solidbodies are considered to be much better than their Korean counterparts--& there are all kinds of semi-hollows & acoustics, none of which I've been impressed with (mostly Korean, as far as I know). There was an MIJ solidbody with a Chet-style acoustic bridge on Eboink a long time ago which intrigued me, but I've never "experienced" one.

Thanks for that idea, I'll have a look see, but I have a hunch it too may be too pricey for such a cheap guitar.

Maybe I'll just have to walk away from this one for awhile, it's driving me crazy now. I should have just left it alone I guess, but I couldn't live with a dead note at the third fret 'cuz I play a lot in first position.

_________________
"A little song, a little dance. A little seltzer down your pants." -Chuckles the Clown
Guitars: https://legend.barryeames.com
Music/Pix/Videos: https://getback.barryeames.com

A late idea but are you dealing with a twist in the neck? If you can't get rid of the buzz I would check for that, aslo for a loose fret.

"Twisted"? No, I don't think so Nevin, but maybe a slight bit "uneven" neck to heel. Just enough to not get a consistent movement down the neck on adjustment. However, the buzz has migrated from the third to the twelfth fret, and it's always on the G string so that indicates to me that the problem lay in the lack of saddle height adjustment which would solve the problem with the turn of a hex wrench.

Perhaps it could be adjusted out, given enough time, but life's too darn short to be continuously removing the bloody neck and fiddling with it, ya know? I could also file the "high" fret but that seems a bit desperate and is irreversible.

Slo, I checked out the acoustic saddle idea. The pricing was actually quite good, but two problems:
1) I would also need a tailpiece or stop tail, neither of which I want on the guitar, and;
2) The string spread is slightly smaller at 2-3/64". I need 2-1/8".

I could likely live with that, I don't think it would make much of a difference. But i don't want to see a trapeze on the bottom.
Otherwise it's a very nice solution.
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bridges,_tailpieces/Archtop_guitar_bridges/Tune-o-matic_Bridge_For_Archtop_Guitar.html
They have them in solid ebony or rosewood as well but those are compensated for a wound G which I don't use, and the saddles need to be slotted, and I haven't the right tools.

_________________
"A little song, a little dance. A little seltzer down your pants." -Chuckles the Clown
Guitars: https://legend.barryeames.com
Music/Pix/Videos: https://getback.barryeames.com

Addendum:
I did get a reply from dear "Marcy" at Danelectro and as predicted, she had diddley-squat to add to the solution:


If you read the thread on that link above, it does confirm what I experienced in my recent comparison between mine and the newer bridge...the rosewood saddle version does sound better.
Which is why I don't really wish to remove it. (sigh)

_________________
"A little song, a little dance. A little seltzer down your pants." -Chuckles the Clown
Guitars: https://legend.barryeames.com
Music/Pix/Videos: https://getback.barryeames.com

One more idea:

How about loosening the truss rod a hair & putting just a little bit of forward bow in the neck--from about the nut to somewhere along the 5th & 7th fret?

My first electric (an Ibanez RS 525) is set up that way (a little forward bow to about the 5th fret), & it plays quite nicely.

A straight neck can be a formidable enemy to a cheap guitar.

Addendum to all this discussion:
I was browsing FleaBay and looking at some vintage Dano's from the 50's and guess what? None of the original bridges show this darn sagging nonsense...after 50 years!
So, that would seem to indicate that the problem is not with the design but rather the material used in the MIK reissue. My guess is that they used chromed brass?? Too soft, obviously.

_________________
"A little song, a little dance. A little seltzer down your pants." -Chuckles the Clown
Guitars: https://legend.barryeames.com
Music/Pix/Videos: https://getback.barryeames.com

My guess would be polished aluminum or some kind of cheap podge metal (what my dad used to call "monkey metal"). When they're cutting corners on steel, they'll include all kinds of semi-corroded manganese & silicates (which actually form a very thin layer of plastic when they oxidize--very weak stuff to make "alloys" with).

Whatever it is, it's very malleable...and it shouldn't be!

_________________
"A little song, a little dance. A little seltzer down your pants." -Chuckles the Clown
Guitars: https://legend.barryeames.com
Music/Pix/Videos: https://getback.barryeames.com