[Pawn Weasel]

I just picked up a Ibanez 321 MH guitar. I'm just wondering what I should set the radius for the bridge at I believe its 400mm/15.74" neck radius. So would I use a 16 radius gauge to set the radius? I have had many Ibanez guitars but they've had tramolos so I never encountered this until now. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Cheers!

 

[LonePhantom]

Non-MIJ is typically 400mm radius, so yeah, around 16mm

 

[Pawn Weasel]

Yeah it's made in Indonesia. Thanks for the reply.

 

[ruscio]

Yes, probably 400mm, or about 15.75". Why do you need to set the bridge radius at all, though? Is it set incorrectly now?

 

[Pawn Weasel]

I changed the gauge of strings. So guitar needs a setup.

 

[ruscio]

Gotcha. That shouldn't affect the radius, though. I wouldn't mess with it unless there's a playability problem that necessitates it. With a change in string gauge, with a fixed bridge, you may only need to check intonation. The nut slots may or may not accommodate the new gauge well, and if you went from smaller to larger they may need to be cut a little wider. Also possible to need to raise or lower all the saddles a bit, depending on how you like your action, but if you do this you should be able to adjust them all by about the same amount to retain the radius (if it's already been set up for the 15.75"). Good luck!

 

[Pawn Weasel]

Thanks so much man for your reply. Yeah I'm going from 10 to 42 to 10-52.

 

[3bolt79]

Yeah man, just adjust each string height individually and then add a little extra height to the last two if it’s a 7 stringer. But if you are going to use a radius gauge to quickly set your saddles, use it from the top for string heights. I only use them to tell me what radius the fretboard actually is. The ones you get from stew Mac aren’t metric so there really is no point using them on a guitar set up in millimeters. They do make them In metric though.