Hi everyone, how's it going? I have a MIM Classic Series '70s reissue set with the bridge to be decked (I occasionally use the bar for vibrato or diving) which is how I prefer. Problem is the side of the back edge where you would insert the whammy bar is raising up a little bit but the rest is flush to the body. I've loosened the strings and loosened the six screws and tightened until they just touched the top of bridge plate but no luck. I'm wondering if it's the bride plate itself that could be uneven or what. Is it that serious of an issue that it could affect playability or should I buy a new bridge plate?

I'm not sure that I understand your entire situation, but I've blocked many a Strat and the way I do it is to get a small piece of wood and brace between the bridge block and the body. I realize that you occationally use the vibrato, but this will make sure that you deck the bridge plate properly.

Here's a link I found to give you a better picture.

http://acapella.harmony-central.com/sho ... he-tremolo

Sorry I don't have a digital camera at the moment. What I'm trying to explain is, although I have my bridge (mostly) resting on the body since I like it to be decked/dive-only, one side (where the whammy bar hole is) is stall standing up a little bit enough to slide a piece of paper through. I guess it's a crooked bridge plate or something.

EDIT: I forgot to add, I have five springs pulling the bridge down and that can't even set it all the way flush.

Is it lifted up just a tiny little bit?

The MIM Classic/Deluxe bridges often have raised burrs and/or waviness on the bottom of the bridgeplate, where the rear lip (where the intonation screws anchor) transitions to the flat area (near the trem arm). Often the burrs will dig into the finish enough to let the bridge go all the way down, but sometimes they're big enough to create a very tiny gap. Try slipping a piece of paper into the gap -- you'll probably find the paper moves around freely everywhere except where the rear lip ends.

I had to hit the bottom of my MIM Classic bridge with a file to flatten it out -- it just took a couple of strokes. It's best to remove the bridge before filing. I wiped some Johnson's paste wax on the filed areas before reassembling.

The US reissue bridges don't have that problem. They leave the lip full length until after they bend it, then grind it down flush near the trem arm -- you can see the rough surface on the top/face of the bridgeplate. But that leaves a perfectly smooth radius all the way across on the bottom rear edge. On the MIM Classics, the lip is cut to length while the bridgeplate is still flat, then bent up. So there are always some burrs and distortions, and Fender really should true them up before they chrome plate the bridgeplate.

But most of the time the burrs are small enough that they don't cause problems. (And the slight gap they can cause when the bridge is decked might not be a real problem -- there's still solid contact between the bottom of the bridgeplate and the top of the body/finish, it's just that the contact is concentrated into a very small area. I didn't have any problems with tuning stability before I filed the bottom of my bridgeplate, and there wasn't any improvement in stability or tone after I filed the bottom. I'm just obsessive and the existence of a gap that shouldn't be there bothered me.

If you put a MIM Classic/Deluxe bridge on a nitro-finished body, big burrs could possibly cause finish cracking if you deck/block the bridge, or if you just yank up on the arm really hard with the trem floating.

Thank you! Man I was really making a mountain out of a mole hill about this. So it was something to do with the bridge plate. I'm glad you said it's not a big deal, either I'll stick with it, file it like you said or buy a new bridge plate sometime down the road. What type of file did you use by the way? Thanks again!

EDIT: To answer your first question, yeah it's a very small gap.

Don't worry! If the look doesn't bother you it won't matter!
I've got all trems locked down to the body most of the time. I generally don't use the trems on my strats but I prefer the sound over hard tails. So I simply screw all the screws tight and that's it.
If your lower end of the trem plate stands up a tiny bit, then it's probably bent a tiny bit. It will still have enough body contact for sustain.
I often experienced tiny failures like that in MiM hardware. As long as you're satisfied with the guitar, the sustain and sound, there's no need for any action as long as the bigger part of the trem plate has tight body contact.

Maybe(!!) it helps the issue to turn THAT screw of the spring claw further in which holds the springs that go to the lower end of the trem (means: increasing the pull of the spring), where the trem arm sits. Generally the spring claw should be parallel to the edges of the back trem routing. Sometimes you gotta divert from this standard when you use springs with different tensions.

Hope this helps.

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"What type of file did you use by the way?"

I used a fine-cut rectangular mill file about 6" long x 1/2" wide. It's not too critical though -- you could true the surface with a nail file or sandpaper and a sanding block.

I really wouldn't obsess about this.

Your bridge is clamped down hard and mostly flat by the strength of 5 springs. Even if there is a slight distortion (or burr) on the bridge plate sufficient to allow a ciggie paper through, to all intents and purposes you're now flat to the top. Half a mm here and there is not going to make any audible difference at all. But I would just check that the 6 tone block screws aren't impeding the bridge in anyway. Slacken them right off and see if the gap closes up. If not, don't worry (and re-tighten those screws).

It might even be that the gap is caused not by the bridge plate, but by a slight dip in the guitar's top. Whatever, I'd leave well alone friend.

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