I recently acquired a mandolin with a traditional-style Brekke bridge. I went to adjust it to lower the action a bit (using the mini wrench that came with it) and could not get the saddle to go any lower. Hmmm. So I tried to raise the saddle a bit and it was quite difficult. I then loosened the strings, removed the bridge and discovered that the thumbwheels were impossible to turn by hand and quite difficult to turn even with the wrench.
I gradually worked the thumbwheels off by quarter turns off - on - off - on, loosened them very gradually and they now turn a lot easier but not easy enough. I guess the threads are a bit galled from having been over tightened against the end of the threads on the posts.
So. Question #1: Does anybody know what thread these are? They look like standard 4-40 threads to me. If so I will go down to the local Ace Hardware and get a tap and a die to clean them up. Or Question #1a: Is this a bad idea? What else would I do that would be better?
Question #2: The photo shows the bridge and saddle. A is the bass post and the thumbwheel is adjusted as far as it will go. My original desire was to lower the action a bit. I can see three ways to do it:
a) sand about an eighth of an inch off the top of the bridge where the thumbwheels seat themselves.
b) use the die I purchase for Q#1 to cut the threads further up each post. Post B shows how much unthreaded post I have to work with.
c) or a combination of a) and b).
I would remove an equivalent length from the end of each post to avoid having the post extend into the top of the mandolin.
So on Q#2, is there a problem is 2a or 2b or 2c? Or how would you do the job? Or, or, should I just buy a lowboy bridge and install it.
Many thanks for your thoughts!
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