Next idea

[beerbelly]

Yes, a Buzzstop may be part of this plan, along with some type of roller bridge and locking tuners.
Here's an SG-type with a Jazz trem and an ABR or Nashville bridge. I think the Jazz trem shape works way better on the Maestro than on this one; it looks like it was made for the Maestro. There's a lot of open real estate down there on a single pickup SG with no stop tail.

 

[beerbelly]

Looks like I'm out of luck for a roller wraparound bridge; nobody seems to make one.

"You'll have to buy a locking wrap around bridge or swap to a tune-o-matic. There won't be enough down pressure to keep the existing bridge where you want it."

There are locking studs available to solve that problem, with US or metric threads:

 

[Juan Tumani]

Looks like I'm out of luck for a roller wraparound bridge; nobody seems to make one.

"You'll have to buy a locking wrap around bridge or swap to a tune-o-matic. There won't be enough down pressure to keep the existing bridge where you want it."

There are locking studs available to solve that problem, with US or metric threads:

View attachment 49125

Looks like a plan coming together to me.

 

[beerbelly]

My internet was down for a few days, but got lots of work done on the Maestro. Routed for the Jazzmaster trem, and only went 1-1/4" deep, so I know it will work on a 1-3/8" thick Gibson or Epiphone; the Maestro is 1-5/8" thick, and plywood.
I patched, sanded, primed & painted the body a Fiat 500 green, what I thoght was kind of a 'surfy' color. Then I tinted the neck amber and painted the headstock black. Body & neck then got several coats of clear, and should be ready for sanding & polishing in a week or so.

 

[beerbelly]

Parts ordered today:
GFS Surf 90 bridge pickup
locking tuners
Switchcraft jack
new speed knobs
blank pickguard sheet

I have a couple 500k Alpha pots and a spare set of D'Addarrio wound G 10's for my '64 SG Junior.

 

[smitty_p]

I have a couple 500k Alpha pots and a spare set of D'Addarrio wound G 10's for my '64 SG Junior.

Interesting project.

I'll just say I'm a big fan of wound 3rd strings, myself. I have a wound G on all my guitars.

 

[beerbelly]

Nitro lacquer on body & neck wet sanded & polished today:

 

[beerbelly]

Here's a new pickguard being made; the old one had some deep scratches that would'nt polish out:

 

[beerbelly]

Almost done. Still need to wire the controls, install a spare TUSQ XL nut, string it with wound Gs, and set it up. The locking studs needed a little modification; the bridge ears were a tad thin for a tight grip.

 

[beerbelly]

Cool; no neck dive.
Maestro uses one of the neck screws as an anchor for a strap button. I had to enlarge the hole in my Schaller button to accept the screw, and ground down the screw head by chucking it in a drill and running it against a file.

 

[Colnago]

Nitro lacquer on body & neck wet sanded & polished today:

View attachment 49245 View attachment 49246

Did you polish by hand or did you use a machine? Looks great!

 

[beerbelly]

Thanks. I wet sand 800 to 2000, then polish with this Griot's Garage tool and Meguiar's on an orange pad.

 

[beerbelly]

The frets were in horrible shape; I decided to level, crown & polish them before I put strings on. Also glued in the TUSQ XL nut.

 

[beerbelly]

This one is gonna fit right in. But see what I mean about all that real estate in the lower bout of a wraptail SG? It was kinda calling to me to put a trem there, and that Jazz trem looks like it was made for it.

 

[beerbelly]

Done.
Break angle is about the same as a Jazz/Jag, and action is good. Kinda heavy for an SG, but it has the added trem and a thicker 1-5/8" plywood body. No fret buzzes after level, crown & polish, and the the trem is smooth as butter, my favorite part about a Jazzmaster.

 

[beerbelly]

ooks like the lightning bar bridge isn't gonna work too well; something I was concerned about from the start. Too much friction to stay in tune consistently.
I've decided to DIY a roller stoptail bridge, using the removable rollers on this Wilkinson bridge and mounting them on a 1/4" thick aluminum plate, drilled & tapped to accept them, and shaped to fit around the studs.

 

[beerbelly]

Well, I've given it some thought, and the new plan is to go ahead and plug the stud holes and re-drill for the narrower roller bridge. I could modify the bridge like I first thought, but the path of least resistance is calling to me. I'll need to do a little spot touchup on the paint, but that's easy.

 

[beerbelly]

Roller bridge will be here today, so I plugged the the stud holes & drilled for the bridge ground. These dowels were a tad too large for the metric holes, so I chucked them in a drill and ran them against a sanding block before glueing:

 

[Go Nigel Go]

This is an extremely interesting project to me, the Fender Jazzmaster type vibrato unit is one of the "must have" tools in my arsenal. The amount of control and subtlety it is capable of is a joy to play. Mine is on a Luthier built Jazzmaster copy (built from reproduction body, neck, and parts) with humbucking pickups. Putting this in an SG build is a cool concept and should work really well. Can't wait to see how you like it when it is done.

 

[beerbelly]

Thanks.
I agree with you about the Jazzmaster vibrato; I've had Bigsbys, Strats, Vibrolas, Jags and Jazzmasters, and by far, the Jazz/Jag is the velvety-smoothest and easiest to control. I found the Jags & Jazzmasters just too heavy to enjoy playing, so the idea of a lightweight SG with this unit called to me. I can tell you this only needs a better bridge to be perfect, and a roller seems the obvious choice. The most important finding for me was only needing a 1-1/4" deep route, so it will work on a 1-3/8" SG body.
After this experiment is done, my goal is to be brave enough to do this on a real Gibson, but I may chicken out and do an Epiphone instead, as it would be more budget-friendly.