Just for the sake of discussion, has anyone every used small bushings/ferrules for the top of the string holes? They would sit below the surface of the front of the body and under the bridge. Thinking about a metal string moving against wood might create a small groove in the neck-end of the hole and whether it would be better to have metal-to-metal contact there. I have small string ferrules (not nearly as large as the ones in the back, and I wonder if I should give it a try. Pluses/minuses/indifference/ridicule? I'll take 'em all.




Surf Green Strat-build '57 ver./maple/aged pg, knobs, and covers
Black Squier '96 MIC, Affinity/Bullet (1.75") '57 style/rosewood/aged white pg, knobs, and covers
Cream Tele-build/maple/black pg
And lots o' leftover parts

Well sitting here looking at my Tele, the strings are pretty well touching the edge of the METAL hole in the bridge plate as they are bending over to the saddle so I doubt there'd be any string on wood contact.

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MIM Std Tele, MIM HSS Strat, Homemade Mongrel Tele, Blues Jr, Champ600, coupla pedals...sweeeet!

That's interesting painter33,

It looks like the bridge plate contacts the string before the string could touch the wood. If the bridge plate holes were larger than the body holes, allowing the string to contact the wood, then that might be a good idea.

http://www.fender.com/community/forums/viewforum.php?f=7

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---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

+1

Similar observations with my hardtail Strats.

IMO, I think this is a solution that lacks a problem.

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

I think the holes on the bridge are a larger diameter than the body holes, by how much I'd have to measure. The reasons I posed the questions are two: 1) I have the ferrules (like the Monty Python skit with the guy who wanted to be a lion tamer - he had the hat), and 2) even if the holes in the bridge and body were the same size, the string would contact the bridge at the top (toward pickup) and then angle down to the center of the rear ferrule creating possible contact at the very top of the body hole. This contact, if any, would be minimal but still might cause some string fatigue and premature breaking. My thinking is if the string travels in as much of a vertical direction as possible - instead of the middle of the back ferrule to the front edge of the bridge hole, it's just, well, better. I appreciate everyone's attention to this trivial matter. And yes, I may be looking for a solution without a problem.