Bridge question for thunder II-A

Hi, I recently bought this thunder II-A for £10 as a project guitar, and i'm collecting all the parts for it when i noticed the bridge has a weird thing going on that i haven't seen in any of my other guitars.
It seems that the bridge part is very low, is that normal?
Is there some special bridge that is need or does it just screw up until its level or will the tune-o-matic make it level when placed on top of the saddles?

CAN YOU HELP ME PLEASE, As you can probably tell this is my first time repairing a gee-tar

Hi Jethro,

Help at hand here ... I own a Thunder 2a so can speak from experience. The arrowed posts for the bridge screw out to raise the level of the bridge. I do hope you have the bridge as they are only particular to certain Westones namely, Thunder 2 / 2a / , Prestige, and Rainbow.

By the way, the correct brass knobs are available via the Westone website. Is everything else complete? Have you played it before it was taken apart?

The paint looks in good nick but maybe you can describe the condition later. It looks very white, is it original?. This would have been called pearlised white when it left Japan and with age looks like cornish icecream in colour.

Has the head stock been sanded back and do you have the serial number? This either a version 2 or 3 and can be dated by the SN.

As for acquiring this guitar for £10,Originally, all I can say is do you have anymore Westone fixer uppers where you live?

If you live anywhere Lutterworth in Leicestershire or passing through, send me a PM and you can look at a complete Thunder 2a.

All the best

Steve

Hello Jethro and Welcome!

Blooming heck! You got that for a tenner? Tell me how and where you acquired it from and have they got any more?

Good on yer for bringing her back to life, keep us posted on the progress.

Pauline :flower: :queen:

The colour is an Ice creamy white and the serial number is 4014433, it states that its made in japan on the back.There is some minor cracking in the paint down by the knobs but its only superficial.The wood and machine heads seem to be the only thing intact and i'm assuming the electrics have quit and the pots need replaced but that shouldn't be to hard.Also the plastic parts at the back of the toggle switch and battery are missing, but i see replacements on the website

I love the weight of this guitar, thats what attracted me to it. here is a gallery:
gallery

The people at the guitar shop said it had been left in to get fixed about 15 years ago and the guy who had left it in never came to collect. I also picked up and Eros guitar for a tenner at the same shop, as shown above, they were clearing out the back.

I do not have the bridge piece though so does this mean i'm going to have to drill new holes?

Hi Jethro,

I wouldnt start changing components until you install fresh batteries and check the continuity of the wiring. Are there any loose wires? The circuit board attached to the cavity plate gives you a 15 decibel boost by using the lower of the three pots. I suppose there could be a possibility that the board has gone but not in my experience. Seriously, Westones are pretty strong and I would check everything first. The pots are long lived and the third one to operate the boost is not your typical pot. It has a half way point which you can feel and that allows you introduce more boost as required. Dont change this.

There was a post recently by a guy with a Rainbow II who wanted a new bridge as his had worn out. I dont suppose the shop you bought it from has an old parts bin with the missing bridge. As you can see on the Westone website, the bridge is different to usual generic one, the westone one being a long travel variety meaning there is plenty of adjustment for the saddles.

Personnaly, as a stop gap, I would measure the distance between the centre of one post to the other, note the size of the bridge pin, and make some enquires with bridge suppliers until a secondhand original appears.

Where are you based and what shop do you find this in?


All the best

Steve

All the wires are connected and seem in good order.

I'm based in belfast and I got it from a shop called Bairds, i'll check next time i'm down in the shop for the missing bits.. but it seems unlikey that they would have the bridge piece.

Can anyone recomend good place to start looking for this piece or something similar?

There will be a bridge to fit, so don't panic just yet!! You could get online and check out the likes of Stewmac and I'm sure they'll be able to help. You'll need the distance between the bridge posts, and probably more measurements as well; Steve should be able to help there... but it looks like a pretty standard Tune-o-matic to me?!

I'm picking eBay would be the place to keep an eye out for the OEM but I reckon that the store you got it from is worth a really close look; go in armed with a blown up pic of the OEM and see if they'll let you have a good rummage about!!

http://www.westone.info/thunder2a.html

thanks guys ,I'll keep you updated