NBD - Mastery Bridge

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Re: NBD - Mastery Bridge

Post by kdawg2a »

MattH wrote:Here you go, Mike:

Image
Image

It needed a little readjustment last night. I played it a little more and noticed that it was buzzing a little on the dusty frets, so I raised the action a little more (not much) and it came right. The funny thing is - no intonation adjustment whatsoever. I know that sounds like BS, but I checked against a pretty decent tuner to make sure.

I was really surprised by that. It's like black magic!

Anyway, your hybrid's got me wondering about my pickups. I would love to put a Charlie Christian in there, but I'm a bit scared about body routing.

Also, the biggest change to my sound would be one of your amps, I fear... oh, and a lot more practice!
Oooooo...... Charlie Christian pup in the neck position would be killer as!
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Re: NBD - Mastery Bridge

Post by rickenbackerkid »

Might look into one of these things for my ric

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Re: NBD - Mastery Bridge

Post by MattH »

rickenbackerkid wrote:Might look into one of these things for my ric
Does it give you grief?
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Re: NBD - Mastery Bridge

Post by MikeC »

Very nice looking Tele and that Mastery bridge looks "Masterious"! I was gonna ask you about intonation adjustment, from your pics it looks like there are 2 saddles with each being for 3 strings. Could you screw/unscrew the 2 intonation screws (per saddle) and angle the saddle to achieve the best "compromise" intonation?

Re pickups, would that be a Bridge or Neck Charlie Christian (and are they from Lollar)?

Re amps, the Tweed Princeton I built is still pretty loud at 5W. I added a 10dB L-pad power attenuator to make it quieter, activated by a toggle switch. It only works on the 3.2 ohm OT tap (that's used for the 4 ohm internal speaker). But I think the best option for volume control is Power Scaling - I have it on my 5E3 Tweed Deluxe as well as 2 others I built. I can build a Power Scaling module into any cathode biased amps up to about 40W.
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Re: NBD - Mastery Bridge

Post by rickenbackerkid »

MattH wrote:
rickenbackerkid wrote:Might look into one of these things for my ric
Does it give you grief?
Not particularly, but the Ric essentially has a floating bridge, and I've heard the Mastery bridge dramatically increases tone and sustain.

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Re: NBD - Mastery Bridge

Post by MattH »

Mike Clayton wrote:Very nice looking Tele and that Mastery bridge looks "Masterious"! I was gonna ask you about intonation adjustment, from your pics it looks like there are 2 saddles with each being for 3 strings. Could you screw/unscrew the 2 intonation screws (per saddle) and angle the saddle to achieve the best "compromise" intonation?
Yep - that's pretty much how it works. Ingenious really! From what I read in my research, the idea behind the three strings per saddle design is that there is more downward string tension on each saddle, which translates to more string to body energy, allowing for more, like, sustain maaaan. I was a bit dubious, but there is a marked difference. The thing is solid as.

The most annoying thing was the unnecessary packaging. It was packed in straw in a custom made tin. I mean - wtf - it's a bridge! They did send the three little allen keys for adjustment though - which was a nice touch.
Mike Clayton wrote:Re pickups, would that be a Bridge or Neck Charlie Christian (and are they from Lollar)?
Neck. I'm pretty happy with the bridge. Lollar do do one. They're pricey though. Also big and potentially quite noisy, but I do like the sound of them. Dreaming at this stage!
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Re: NBD - Mastery Bridge

Post by Terexgeek »

MattH wrote:I'm pretty happy with the bridge. Lollar do do one. They're pricey though. Also big and potentially quite noisy, but I do like the sound of them. Dreaming at this stage!
Heh, you typed "do do".
Tin arse!!

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Re: NBD - Mastery Bridge

Post by MattH »

Ok folks.

This is mildly interesting.

After a few days, I noticed that the higher E and B strings were fretting out on string bends (7.25" radius) on the dusty end of the fretboard, so I had to raise the action a little higher on those strings. Simple job, but it affected the intonation. "Too easy", I thought, "I'll just adjust the intonation screws."

Then I run into this:

Image

This is actually the hex key that came with it, so I might email Mastery and give them some feedback on this.

Anyway, my father in law and I modded the hex key with a gas burner and a set of pliers. Job done!

Image

Honestly, the hours fly by around my house...
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Re: NBD - Mastery Bridge

Post by codedog »

I had a similar problem with a truss rod adjustment. I already had strings off by that stage so it was quicker to just take the neck off. Otherwise I would've had to take a hacksaw to the allen key.

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Re: NBD - Mastery Bridge

Post by MikeC »

Could the bridge be turned round 180 degrees so that the intonation Allen screw heads face forward? Like Tune-O-Matic bridges are often setup.
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Re: NBD - Mastery Bridge

Post by MattH »

Mike Clayton wrote:Could the bridge be turned round 180 degrees so that the intonation Allen screw heads face forward? Like Tune-O-Matic bridges are often setup.
I did wonder that! Not sure.
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Re: NBD - Mastery Bridge

Post by Bg »

I made a good tele bigsby bridge with a wilkinson and a file.... everything else is just too costly ;)
So, is that low alcohol or no alcohol at all? mmmm, no alcohol, do you want to try it? Noooooooooo.

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Re: NBD - Mastery Bridge

Post by MattH »

Mike Clayton wrote:Could the bridge be turned round 180 degrees so that the intonation Allen screw heads face forward? Like Tune-O-Matic bridges are often setup.
In answer to your question, no. The front lip of the bridge is too high. Also, the saddles kind of lean back, allowing for a shallower string angle, which I would imagine works better with the Bigsby. Reversing it would bring them forward and facing the wrong way. It wouldn't really work.
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Re: NBD - Mastery Bridge

Post by MattH »

Bg wrote:I made a good tele bigsby bridge with a wilkinson and a file.... everything else is just too costly ;)
Good work! Would love to see a picture.
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Re: NBD - Mastery Bridge

Post by MikeC »

MattH wrote:
Mike Clayton wrote:Could the bridge be turned round 180 degrees so that the intonation Allen screw heads face forward? Like Tune-O-Matic bridges are often setup.
In answer to your question, no. The front lip of the bridge is too high. Also, the saddles kind of lean back, allowing for a shallower string angle, which I would imagine works better with the Bigsby. Reversing it would bring them forward and facing the wrong way. It wouldn't really work.
Oh well, worth a shot!
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