MIJ San Dimas on the way, bridge and radius Qs - reposting this!

[darkshark]

I posted this yesterday, but something weird happened to my other post. Sorry if I screwed something up, but I'm posting again here:

I've got a MIJ San Dimas 1HH on the way. I'm excited and have read a lot of opinions on the Ping bridge. I'm going to give it a shot before I order a replacement, but can anyone confirm that this German OFR from MF is a drop-in replacement?

Also, the FR 1984 is a drop-in replacement too?


Do I need to remove any wood to fit the big block?

I am assuming the saddles need shims to get the radius correct according to this thread on unofficialwarmoth


Looks like I’ll need 2 shims (.2mm) under the E strings, and 1 under the A and B to get the bridge up to 16"


Finally, MF says the R3 is a 10", but Floyd's site says it's a 12" - MF is probably just wong?

[Bionic]

It's not a "Ping" Bridge if it's the Production Model Series from a few years ago. It is the OFR. It's the same bridge that many other custom builders use... very tight tolerances. However, if you find you don't like it, going to the German bridge is a direct drop. Same specs. I have modded many of these for artists with bigger blocks, no issues... however, not sure what you are going too... you may have to use a file. Happy hunting!

[darkshark]

Thanks for that info.


I got the guitar and immediately loved the neck and sound but was not blown away by the FR 1000 bridge. It was satisfactory, def not as smooth as my only other Floyd family bridge, an Ibanez Edge Pro.


I'd have kept it for a while, but a local shop had an open box German OFR on sale for $150. (a couple of the fine tuners were scuffed up, so I quickly buffed the black finish off all of them. I'll polish them up eventually.)


I was initially almost a bit disappointed to find that the two bridges feel practically identical in the hand - same weight and are visually almost indistinguishable, apart from minor differences in finish. (I expected the German model to be noticeably heavier or obviously more high quality, so job well done by FR on keeping quality high.)


Installed, I do notice a difference. While the sound is identical to my ears, the motion of the German unit feels smoother and more positive. It detunes more musically (chords sound relatively in-tune when pushed down a half step), and interestingly, I couldn't get the 1000 to do a "flutter", the German OFR flutters perfectly.


The 1000 factory setup was not radiused properly. It had the factory shim installed for a 12" radius (too round for the 12-16" CR). I spent a couple hours shimming the German OFR's saddles, up to approx 17-18" and it feels great.


While I had it apart, I also installed a set of Hipshot Grip Lock staggered tuners (getting rid of the string tree in the process). I swapped the pot, switch, and jack for CST/Switchcraft stuff I had in the parts box, and installed a brass switch tip and knob (stock stuff seemed weird and cheap).


So far, I love this thing!

[kmanick]

Nice I have the exact same guitar myself.

question though, doesn't the string tree keep the strings from going sharp when you lock down the nut?
I love the neck on mine , I almost sold it around thanksgiving but decided to drop it off with my tech for a full set up first
and changed the pot toe 250K and replaced the JB with a Timmons AT-1
now it plays like butter and sounds a bit smoother. (I like the pot and switch you put on there I may do the same)
I liked it so much I grabbed a 2nd one . I'm going to turn this one into a H/S/S leaving the tonezone for now(but adding a push pull pot to split it)
area 51 in the middle/Virtual heavy blues in the neck
(music zoo pic when I bought it)

the necks on these two are very consistent and total shred machines