When I saw the photo of the old-style screw & nut on a bridge, I was reminded that well over a decade ago I had a similar great battle with the roller bridge that came on my Rose Morris Model 1996. I could not turn most screws (slotted, fortunately) easily, some just barely, but I was able to remove them all from the bridge frame. What I discovered is that the holes that each screw passes through were not in precise alignment; they should be, must be, pretty much perfect. Each screw should pass through all the holes passively. What creates the tightness problem is the saddle's screw hole: it can be a little too high in relation to its front & rear frame screw holes, requiring a little pressure and flexing of the screw to coax the end into its frame hole. This is all further complicated by the fact that the saddles can be a little too wide, requiring the screw to be flexed (or even permanently bent). A bent screw will allow relatively easy turning for a few degrees before becoming very tight. For my roller bridge, I just gave up and bought a Mastery Bridge.Hopefully you like tinkering. If I had your bridge, I'd do the following in order, making appropriate adjustments to the frame holes and/or the saddle height and/or width. Evaluating each screw and saddle individually and then assembling all of them sequentially will reveal where the problem(s) lie. Using new, non-deformed screws is pretty much mandatory.
1. With a fine permanent marker, identify each saddle's position.
2. Remove all screws, springs and saddles.
3. By itself, check to make sure the frame holes will easily accommodate the screw (e.g., begin with screw/saddle #1).
Each hole should already be large enough; just checking...
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4. Assemble screw, spring and saddle #1 into the frame. If all is well, the end of the screw should go through its frame hole passively. If not, look and see where its contacting metal at its assigned hole. To get things lined up, you can elongate (grind) the screw hole until the end of the screw slips in easily, or you can gradually sand down the bottom of the saddle until the screw end fits in.
5. Once you have saddle assembly #1 adjusted to work smoothly, do the others the same way, one at a time (precludes confusion).
6. After all six assemblies are verified to work smoothly, start adding them into the frame sequentially. Doing this will allow you to be able to see if there is a binding problem, with an adjacent saddle(s) being a little too wide, causing the end of a screw not to easily slip into its respective frame hole. If there is binding, you'll have to sand down the side(s) of the "too wide" saddle(s).
Well, you can take your time and easily do this as you watch the tele. Or you can buy a fully assembled RIC bridge that will be known to operate properly, easily.
Attached are a couple of photos of my roller bridge. One shows how I elongated a screw hole to accommodate an errant screw.
- Roller bridge
- Screw hole elongated to accommodate screw
