Fan fret build bridge placement

[col]

My first fanned build so I'm kind of curious how the bridge placement is usually done. On a regular build I place the high e to the scale length point and call it a day, but on my 28-26" build, when I place the high string saddle to 26", the 28" saddle is at around 27.75" when all maxed out without the spring.

Do you think this will become a problem? I have an idea if need be I can swap the high strings screws for longer ones to get more reach.

Bridge is a 26 degree Hipshot.

EDIT: I was *just* able to get it to 26" on high e and 28" to the low string without the spring. Now the problem is that the low string won't be able to fit through unless I modify the saddle somewhat, but I guess I'll take it.

 

[ChAoZ]

I think that you are going to run into issues, Unfortunately you haven't considered the extra length for intonation which will add around another 8mm, maybe more if running large strings and low tunings
Would help to know how many strings and the perpendicular fret

 

[Rubbishplayer]

My first fanned build so I'm kind of curious how the bridge placement is usually done. On a regular build I place the high e to the scale length point and call it a day, but on my 28-26" build, when I place the high string saddle to 26", the 28" saddle is at around 27.75" when all maxed out without the spring.

Do you think this will become a problem? I have an idea if need be I can swap the high strings screws for longer ones to get more reach.

Bridge is a 26 degree Hipshot.

EDIT: I was *just* able to get it to 26" on high e and 28" to the low string without the spring. Now the problem is that the low string won't be able to fit through unless I modify the saddle somewhat, but I guess I'll take it.

At the risk of stating the obvious, I think you need either find a new bridge or go to single-string bridge pieces.

I cannot profess to be experienced at multiscale builds, as I'm currently in the planning stage of my first multiscale build. But here's what I've understood so far (with apologies for stuff you already know), on the off-chance I touch on something useful for you. And I'm assuming it's a scratch build (i.e. you are making your own neck and fretboard).

After the span of scales you are accommodating and what your smallest scale is (e.g. 25-27 is steeper than 26-28, even though they both vary by 2"), the next thing that determines the bridge "slant" is the centre-point of the fan. Technically you can place this anywhere, but clearly if your first fret is straight, the slant on the frets at the 24th fret would be unplayable on all but the narrowest range (e.g. Strandberg's 25-25.5" multiscale guitars, which seem to start straight at the first fret) so builders place this often around the 8th fret, which is about the midpoint of the fretboard.

All this means that the slant of the bridge is highly variable, depending on the range of the scales and your centre-point. As such, there is no "standard" multiscale bridge.

Right now I'm designing a prototype testbench guitar for variable multiscale necks, as I'm trying to find the right compromise of scale lengths to accommodate perfect fifths tuning. I am therefore planning for this by drawing out each neck I intend to test, to determine the range of slant angles for each bridge.

The ranges of scales I'd need to accommodate indicates a wide range of slant angles, so I'm solving that with moveable individual string bridges, each on a lockable rail. My assumption is that other luthiers intending to use off-the-shelf parts will factor those limitations into their build (e.g. by moving the centre-point of the fan).

I must admit that when I read the slant angle of your bridge, it did seem modest, based on an 8th fret centre-point and clearly it has turned out to be so. Assuming this is a hardtail, I think the best option is to go for individual string bridge pieces.

 

[col]

Update, the Hipshot was enough for intonation, quite nicely actually. I had to remove the spring from behind the lowest string saddle though to get enough room for movement.

 

[Winspear]

For general info:
Place a bridge with the forwardmost possible high E intonation point on the scale length, because nothing will ever need to be shorter than that. Maximum bass end intonation room is retained this way. If a high E is intonated half way back, they wasted half the bridge travel on the low end.
For single saddes, you can add approx 4x expected string diameter to each scale length. That is you can expect an .080 to intonate roughly 8mm back from scale length. You probably don't want to place the forwardmost saddle position that far back, as it is an approximation and may wish to be strung lightly some time. But imo you can and should compensate the saddles at least a little more than if one were stringing the guitar with all .009s. On an 8 string I'd happily go scale+6mm as the shortest possible bottom string position.

 

[Xibuque]

For general info:
Place a bridge with the forwardmost possible high E intonation point on the scale length, because nothing will ever need to be shorter than that. Maximum bass end intonation room is retained this way. If a high E is intonated half way back, they wasted half the bridge travel on the low end.
For single saddes, you can add approx 4x expected string diameter to each scale length. That is you can expect an .080 to intonate roughly 8mm back from scale length. You probably don't want to place the forwardmost saddle position that far back, as it is an approximation and may wish to be strung lightly some time. But imo you can and should compensate the saddles at least a little more than if one were stringing the guitar with all .009s. On an 8 string I'd happily go scale+6mm as the shortest possible bottom string position.

Thank you for the explanation! Let me see if a got it right! So, considering an individual saddle bridge for 7 string a multiscale 25.5 - 27, with a 0.06" B as an example. I have to place the high E saddle(forward most intonation point) with the string sitting at the 25,5" scale length, and the B 0.06" will sit at 27"+6mm? What about the other strings, should I compensate all of the saddles as well, (4x) or trace a line between 25,5" to 27"+6mm and place the other saddles?

Does ibanez compensate the saddle like this, or they use another compensation method?