nervous first time builder

[smasher2000]

Hi guys,

Ive been a long time viewer of these forums as ive always wanted to try and make my own guitar but never had the time or money to waste, but now the time has come to start my project.

Ive just got a few questions tho and i'm wondering if peeps could give me a little advice or tips?

Ive bought a jem body, fairly cheap but it'll do for my first go and ive got a neck which i'm pretty sure i can make fit. I'm a little worried about the trem side of things mostly. I obviously want some kind of floating floyd style system but i dont particularly want to pay a lot of money for a part that i might not fit properly or totally mess up. but on the other hand, i dont want to perfectly fit something that is cheap and breakable. what did you all do with your first trems?

[guitvai1]

Just went for it and stuck a Floyd in there. There's no such thing as half doing it, it either works or it doesn't. Spend some time learning how to properly install it and then "Just do It". That being said, it is much easier to install a non-floating bridge. People seem to think there is some magic in guitar building but it really is just careful attention to detail and nohow that will make a playable instrument.

The first guitar I built was a bit of a hack job but it still worked. I think you have to expect to mess up a few at the beginning until you become familar and confident with your woodworking tools.

[GuitarBizarre]

To be honest, it doesn't get much simpler than fitting an edge. Its an expensive bridge, but having taken one apart only yesterday, its dirt simple in terms of routing and fittings. All the complicated stuff happens in the trem itself.

If you measure 3 times and make sure to only cut once, you'll be perfectly fine installing almost any type of bridge, but edges are probably the way to go if you really want a floating bridge with minimal install hassle.

[smasher2000]

many thanks guys,

my woodworking skills should be fine although the body i've bought already has the routing done, only without the holes drilled for the posts etc so i'm just going to try and get a bridge that fits the dimensions of the routed section.

what makes an edge easier to fit than any other type of floyd?

Could you also advise on the neck setup? ive bought a 24 fret 25 1/2 scale neck that fits nice and snug to the body. Am I right in thinking that once i get the bridge set up and start fitting the neck that the distance between nut and 12th fret is exactly the same as 12th fret to "string saddle entry"?

I'm a little cautious about the little things i have to remember and the order in which i need to do things

[GuitarBizarre]

Originally Posted by smasher2000

many thanks guys,

my woodworking skills should be fine although the body i've bought already has the routing done, only without the holes drilled for the posts etc so i'm just going to try and get a bridge that fits the dimensions of the routed section.

what makes an edge easier to fit than any other type of floyd?

Could you also advise on the neck setup? ive bought a 24 fret 25 1/2 scale neck that fits nice and snug to the body. Am I right in thinking that once i get the bridge set up and start fitting the neck that the distance between nut and 12th fret is exactly the same as 12th fret to "string saddle entry"?

I'm a little cautious about the little things i have to remember and the order in which i need to do things

Nothing makes it easier to fit than any other type of floyd as such, its just the shape of the unit and the way its built makes it really easy to look at it and say 'this does this, it goes there'

As opposed to some other bridges that are cosmetically awesome but have lots of parts that are easy to confuse.

Intonation is generally the distance from nut to 12th fret, times 2, and then with a little bit added on to allow for the string stretching when you press it down. Its a good starting point, but there are scale length calculators you can use if you google them.