MIM Strat Replacement Bridge

willlin · Post by **willlin** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 9:45 pm

I'm looking at replacing the bridge on my MIM strat before my acid sweat completely melts it away...

Anybody replaced one of these before and can recommend a good replacement and some hints and tips about sizing?

paul_ · Post by **paul_** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 10:30 pm

MIM Standard spacing is 2 1/16", as are older MIM Classic series (50s, 60s, 70s)
Newer MIM Classic series strats are 2 7/32" (vintage Fender spacing), not sure when the changeover occurred.

If you have an MIM Standard strat any strat trem you see that says "import" or "metric" will probably fit. Try to get one with a block included because there are two different places manufacturers tend to put the trem arm hole and you don't want to have a plate/block mismatch or you won't be able to put the arm in.

This will fit an MIM Standard and is rather cheap, I put one on a project Strat and like it fine, for 10 bucks more at GFS you could get a full steel block on the same trem.

Or you could go with Allparts, I like their Fender bits.

Mages · Post by **Mages** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 10:39 pm

paul_ wrote:This will fit an MIM Standard and is rather cheap, I put one on a project Strat and like it fine, for 10 bucks more at GFS you could get a full steel block on the same trem.

yes, I highly recommend the full steel block.

Gabriel · Post by **Gabriel** » Tue Jun 29, 2010 11:17 am

I highly recommend this bridge:

MIM Bridge With Brass Sustain Block

MikeG · Post by **MikeG** » Tue Jun 29, 2010 11:23 am

AxeRus is good, if buying in the UK.

Gabriel · Post by **Gabriel** » Tue Jun 29, 2010 11:24 am

MikeG wrote:AxeRus is good, if buying in the UK.

Got to be careful with them though, a lot of their stuff sucks but among it there are some great things. I like wilkinson hardware personally but their own bridges come with really crappy trem blocks, unless otherwise stated.

willlin · Post by **willlin** » Tue Jun 29, 2010 12:31 pm

mrperson wrote:I highly recommend this bridge:

MIM Bridge With Brass Sustain Block

This looks like it might be a winner... How is GFS in shipping to the UK? The price with shipping seems pretty reasonable.

Gabriel · Post by **Gabriel** » Tue Jun 29, 2010 8:45 pm

willlin wrote:
mrperson wrote:I highly recommend this bridge:

MIM Bridge With Brass Sustain Block
This looks like it might be a winner... How is GFS in shipping to the UK? The price with shipping seems pretty reasonable.

Its alright, go for the named shipping though otherwise it can takes over a month. I've bought a lot of stuff from them, I really like the stuff they sell.

MikeG · Post by **MikeG** » Tue Jun 29, 2010 10:45 pm

mrperson wrote:
MikeG wrote:AxeRus is good, if buying in the UK.
Got to be careful with them though, a lot of their stuff sucks but among it there are some great things. I like wilkinson hardware personally but their own bridges come with really crappy trem blocks, unless otherwise stated.

Yeah, good point. I bought the Wilkinson bridge for my Jagmaster. Had to do a lot of research for string spacing etc; Axesrus didn't have much to say.

Plus, the supplied screws were too small, and got stuck in the holes. Had to use the old stock ones.

JJLipton · Post by **JJLipton** » Tue Jun 29, 2010 11:32 pm

"Upgrade" to an original floyd rose...

onedaycloser · Post by **onedaycloser** » Sun Jul 04, 2010 3:03 am

Wilkinson makes some very nice replacement bridges, I recently put one of their 5+1 bridges on my Strat and it was a good improvement all around. I especially like the push in arm and the 5+1 models will fit both MIA and MIM Strat spacing.

Just keep an eye out for SB in the model designation, as those are the only ones with the steel block. I almost bought a non SB model because I saw it was cheaper but happened to notice the difference at the last moment.

Tricked Out Guitar on Ebay was very quick to ship and has reasonable pricing (not affiliated just a happy customer).

http://cgi.ebay.com/WILKINSON-WV6SB-BRI ... 56376a8eef