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Building a 1963 Vintage Lake Placid Blue Telecaster - Bridge Assembly

Click on each image below for a larger view.

This section presents the steps I used to mount the bridge pickup to the bridge, prepare the body for mounting the bridge and then installing the bridge.

Mounting the bridge pickup to the bridge is fairly straightforward - slide the two screws that came with the pickup through the holes in the bridge, slide on the rubber spacers and then attach the pickup. Height adjustments are made during the set-up process.

Attaching the bridge to the body was not difficult as long as you apply some patience. I hand tested the bridge mounting screws to find that the pre-drilled holes on the body were far to small in diameter due to the build up of paint and finish. So I taped off the body to protect against scratches and used a very fine small diameter file to widen the holes. I was careful to work the file around the entire hole and to file in small increments - testing the fit of the screws as I went along.

A tip to inserting the screws - you can see that I placed the screws on some wax paper then placed a few drops of dish soap on each screw. Additionally, I rubbed each screw on an old bar of soap - this lubrication makes setting the screw quite easy. A note: I used a very low clutch setting on my cordless screw driver - I did not want it to slip and damage the heads of the screws or scratch the bridge.


Building a 1963 Lake Placid Telecaster - Home
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Fender Vintage 3-Saddle Bridge

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Fender Vintage 3-Saddle Bridge

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Bridge and neck pickup.

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The bridge with pickup mounting screws in place.

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The underside of the bridge with the bridge pickup mounted.

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Side view of the bridge with the bridge pickup mounted.

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Preparing the screw holes to mount the bridge.

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Another view of the hole reaming.

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Another view of the hole reaming.

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Bridge mounting screws.

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Two mounting screws inserted.

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Two mounting screws inserted.

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The bridge installed.

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Another view of the test stringing.

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Another picture of the 3-saddle bridge.

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All Photos (unless otherwise noted) Copyright © 2006, HiggyDude and Bobby Jean Enterprises
Website - Copyright © 2006, HiggyDude and Bobby Jean Enterprises