12-String Strat Kit

[grinter]

just out of curiosity, i took the bent rod with the flat on one side and the 2 small screw holes
down to my music store. the tech (20+ yrs service) said he's never seen a part like it on
any strat he's ever worked on. since it's included in the kit, one has to wonder just what it is...
got the bridge grounded now, and am attempting to adjust it all in to being playable. i'll go and
buy string keepers for the headstock next time i'm out. so the mystery continues.....
Happy Thanksgiving to all.

[porterhaus]

just out of curiosity, i took the bent rod with the flat on one side and the 2 small screw holes
down to my music store. the tech (20+ yrs service) said he's never seen a part like it on
any strat he's ever worked on. since it's included in the kit, one has to wonder just what it is...
got the bridge grounded now, and am attempting to adjust it all in to being playable. i'll go and
buy string keepers for the headstock next time i'm out. so the mystery continues.....
Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Chances are that you could have taken the part off of the Fender headstock shown above and the guitar tech would have given a similar answer. There just aren't that many 12-string strats around. And he probably has not seen one.

I was planning to wait until I finished my fret dressing and take a picture with the strings installed. This design is flimsy (as I stated above). But there is no doubt in my mind this is the intended use for this part.




If you come up with another use for it please let us know...

Edit: I don't know why the photo will not display in this post. Please let me know if anyone knows the solution to this problem.

[grinter]

i went back on ebay and found 3 or 4 12 stringers, and zoomed in on the headstocks.
sure enough, that's the kit's version of a string keeper. so, maybe in the interest of
longevity, i'll see if i have some beefier screws for it. maybe i'll purchase some different ones.
anyway, the kit has been fun to do and i've learned a few things.
Now, if the chord fingers would only communicate better with the strumming fingers... :-}

[porterhaus]

The screw size is limited by the size of the holes in the bar. I used a 1/16" bit to drill the holes in the hard maple headstock. It is holding so far. However, I do keep it tuned to standard D tuning (instead of standard E tuning). This puts less string tension on the bar.