Rough pawn shop find :: 2002 American Fender Stratocaster [7.9 lbs]

View fullsize

Here's the rough pawn shop Strat ready to head back out.  The major issues was that the posts holding the bridge were blown out and wrecking the action.  Once the bridge area was repaired (along with the neck pocket), I went through with the setup.  The bridge was fairly rusty, to the point I needed to use vise grips to remove the saddle height adjustment screws before replacing them with new ones.  A new output jack finished it off (check the video from the daily vlog below).

View fullsize

Hipshot to fix a 2 point leaner :: 1970s Gibson EB-3

View fullsize

Ah, more on the heavily modified 1970s Gibson EB-3.  A combination of a low neck angle and poor design of the original 2 point bridge made it the ideal candidate for a modern upgrade.  As you can see from the photo above, the two maple wedges were an attempt to keep the bridge from leaning forward.  But leaning issues aside, the action could not be lowered any further.  In comes a Hipshot 2 point Supertone bridge to help out.  It has a lower profile and it's machined with far greater tolerances to maximize sustain and allow for proper action and intonation.  I agree that it does change the vintage vibe of the bass, but if you value playabilty over vintage-correctness, this is the way to go.