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If not an original Sustain Block bridge, what?


Drew816

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For clarification: My adjustment was on the hole alignment, to better center the saddle over the string (where it comes thru the body). The saddle width itself was the same as my '81. There are at least 3 different saddle designs that Hamer used.

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2 hours ago, Dave Scepter said:

If it was my guitar and did not want to spend the money on the Sustain block Bridge, I would look for a Sustain block trem & remove the trem block and cut the arm portion off... perhaps something to look into? MGWil0B.png

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Coolness factor: 100%

Uselessness: 10000000% —unless you want to restore an original

You do the math.

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3 hours ago, Joe G said:

It's worth giving John at Mannmade a call. A couple of years ago John was provided a sustain block bridge by another HFC'er and was working up a replacement.

http://www.mannmadeusa.com/

Edited to add: I just had a call with John at Mann-Made. He did machine a sustain-block bridge a couple of years ago for another HFC'er. He would like an order for 5 or more sustain block bridges. 20 or more brings the price lower. Pricing has not changed, with an order for 20 units s/b approx. $175 each.   He can deliver by late Feb. or early March.

I'd be in for at least one if someone is overseeing the correctness of things and if they had saddles included.  

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Do I need to get on the list here? Please put me in for 2 if possible. I wouldn't want to find out I was number 21 and you were only able to order 20.

Don't laugh. It's happened before.

 

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8 minutes ago, Hbom said:

Do I need to get on the list here? Please put me in for 2 if possible. I wouldn't want to find out I was number 21 and you were only able to order 20. Don't laugh. It's happened before.

 

We're not there yet. I haven't sent the sustain block bridge and am only forwarding the CAD files now.

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1 hour ago, Never2Late said:

I was the one who worked with John to make new SustainBlocks, and went as far as buying a TLE from a HFC member for John to reverse-engineer.  He has the measurements....first I heard that he actually built something.  He kept giving me the run-around regarding his 'plater', I assumed he just didn't want to build something.

You may just need to send him your CAD, and if the numbers match, he should be all-set.

 

On 20th Sept. 2018 you(Never2Late) posted this:

"I tried, and failed, to have John Mann at MannMade make Sustainblock replicas......he has the machine-shop, the tooling, the expertise (original bridge designer/manufacturer to PRS who made bridges for them for 30 years), and the specs.  I sent him an original USA Hamer TLE for a few months to dis-assemble and take all the measurements and make a prototype......then I got excuses/delays/run-around.  For months.  I gave-up working with him - he wants to sell his designs/products, when he's darned-good-and-ready to make them.  I told him there was a LINE of people who would pay for them if he made them...to no avail....back to square one.  I still need a Sustainblock for a Blitz project Stike is finishing-up, if anyone has a line...."

Has something changed since then? I have also sent various emails to John Mann- never heard a thing back from him!!

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2 hours ago, Joe G said:

I also saw these a few months ago! These are NOT old, they are brand new, READ THE DESCRIPTION CAREFULLY: these are made of ZINC (cast/moulded, NOT machined) Mighty Mite is now owned by SAMICK which is a Korean company so the description about being so much better than "the cheap Chinese stuff that wears off and loses colour" is perhaps a bit disingenuous. The common consensus in the the guitar industry is that Bridges/Saddles made from Zinc sound like sh*t!! :rolleyes: again, just saying!!

ps The prices quoted in the text should alone be enough to make anyone suspicious (i.e. you get what you pay for!)

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5 minutes ago, scottcald said:

I don't have a sustainblock, but I wonder how close the PRS trem saddles are to the sustainblock saddles?

They look similar but are in fact quite different, the circular hole, when seen from underneath, is actually a round cornered rectangular form with ledges that when viewed from above form the circle shape with a slot for the string (so probably less mass than the originals) (by the way I have been doing quite a lot of research on sustain block bridges/saddles recently for an article that I am writing!!)

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4 hours ago, Joe G said:

It's worth giving John at Mannmade a call. A couple of years ago John was provided a sustain block bridge by another HFC'er and was working up a replacement.

http://www.mannmadeusa.com/

Edited to add: I just had a call with John at Mann-Made. He did machine a sustain-block bridge a couple of years ago for another HFC'er. He would like an order for 5 or more sustain block bridges. 20 or more brings the price lower. Pricing has not changed, with an order for 20 units s/b approx. $175 each.   He can deliver by late Feb. or early March.

Do these prices include saddles/screws/springs as well or is the price of $175 just for the baseplate? whichever, it would still be that someone would have to front $3,500 for 20 pieces. The saddles are the most difficult/complicated part to produce with around 12 production steps BEFORE they are ready to be polished and then Nickel and/or Chrome plated (Chrome plated parts first have to be Copper plated then Nickel plated then Chrome plated!)...

...to be continued...

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The verbal quote on pricing I received is for a complete sustain block bridge. I sent the files he requested to compare with his own and now I plan on sitting tight until he contacts me. I will report back when there is something to report.

At this point, I would ask that I be trusted to be the point person on this and not have John get flooded with calls and emails with questions. We came close a couple of times over the last couple of years and I am cautiously optimistic that this time there is going to be another run of sustainblock bridges. Given his vast experience, I also am excited about what improvements John may come up with to the sustainblock bridge design.  

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3 hours ago, bruce919 said:

current_sustain_block.jpg

 

Last era Sustain Block

It might be period-correct, but THAT'S the alignment issue that just bugged the shit out of me......

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Thanks. The thought of loading hundreds of them little f***ers one at a time really sucked. I got 14 to a bar (7 on a side, then flipped, in a 4" vise), and was able to drill and tap the end holes 7 at a time in the next op. It burns up more material but the time and headache saved was worth it.

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17 hours ago, DaveX said:

On 20th Sept. 2018 you(Never2Late) posted this:

"I tried, and failed, to have John Mann at MannMade make Sustainblock replicas......he has the machine-shop, the tooling, the expertise (original bridge designer/manufacturer to PRS who made bridges for them for 30 years), and the specs.  I sent him an original USA Hamer TLE for a few months to dis-assemble and take all the measurements and make a prototype......then I got excuses/delays/run-around.  For months.  I gave-up working with him - he wants to sell his designs/products, when he's darned-good-and-ready to make them.  I told him there was a LINE of people who would pay for them if he made them...to no avail....back to square one.  I still need a Sustainblock for a Blitz project Stike is finishing-up, if anyone has a line...."

Has something changed since then? I have also sent various emails to John Mann- never heard a thing back from him!!

I dunno......John "talked" a good game to me.  Unless someone has a recent photo of this "prototype" he built, I'm reserving judgment for now.  I made several visits to his shop personally, since I'm only one hour away by car.  I saw HIS bridges in the shop - I did not see a Sustain Block prototype, nor was I promised that he would make them or that he had made anything at-all.

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2 hours ago, hamerhead said:

Thanks. The thought of loading hundreds of them little f***ers one at a time really sucked. I got 14 to a bar (7 on a side, then flipped, in a 4" vise), and was able to drill and tap the end holes 7 at a time in the next op. It burns up more material but the time and headache saved was worth it.

I had a drill jig with bushings to drill one base at a time, and a different drill jig to drill 6 saddles as a strip but then you had to cut them off the strip. Had a separate fixture for milling the string ramp (blew up a ton of really small ball-radius end mills).  Now for the kicker:

I tapped every f'ng thread by hand (didn't have a machine to do that).  That's three per saddle, or eighteen per complete bridge, all by hand.  Still have saddles in a box in the basement with broken taps sticking out of them.  At least that work could be done inside the house, and not in a 50-degree garage in the winter like all the other steps.

Glad I only made two dozen bridges. That was more than enough.

 

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  • 9 months later...

Hi Hamer guys,

I am going to give this project a second try... I finally have some open time to squeeze these into my cnc production!
I have enough stock on had to make 20 hardtail bridge assemblies. Is that enough to cover existing demand?
I have a new local source for plating (Mass), as well Advanced Plating (Nashville, TN - the plant that burnt down to the ground)

These should be completed in January 2020.
I will put up a link to purchase them in mid - December

Joe G. - Thanks for the CAD files!

~ John Mann

 

 

 

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