Bridge plate

[Archon]

I have a cutlass and recently picked up a 2nd hand valentine and from general inspection it appears to me the bridge plate on the cutlass is higher quality. The valentine plate has metal plating that has flaked off. I would assume these parts should be solid metal instead of this easily damaged material but maybe whoever had the valentine last just didn’t care and beat it up. So my questions. Is there a variance in bridge plate quality. Why are these not solid metal parts? And can I find a replacement for the valentine plate? I’m talking about music man models for both of these, not sterling, so I assume a higher level of quality.

Here are some pictures of the damaged plate on the valentine.

 

[Archon]

Another picture

 

[Archon]

Looks like my image uploads didn’t work so here is a link

Music man bridge plate - Album on Imgur

 

[DrKev]

They are the same plates to the best of my knowledge. Chrome plating will always flake off if it gets rough enough treatment. I hope the seller told you about it before you bought it. Also, get in touch with Music Man customer service. Send them the photos and ask them if you can buy a new plate.

 

[GWDavis28]

They are the same plates to the best of my knowledge. Chrome plating will always flake off if it gets rough enough treatment. I hope the seller told you about it before you bought it. Also, get in touch with Music Man customer service. Send them the photos and ask them if you can buy a new plate.

DrKev, yah I agree with you about the plating. But I'm not sure that Music Man will sell a plate since the serial number is unique. If they sell him a new plate the serial number will be a new one and not matching the old one. I'm curious what they say when you find out. If they don't sell you a new one, you could find a local place they does plating and just have it plated again.

Glenn |B)

 

[DrKev]

Glenn, bridge cover plate, not neck plate.

 

[edhalen]

Holy smokes - the seller mustn't have provided very good pictures for you before you purchased it. That serious of an issue with the bridge cover should have been hard to miss. Also, I'd be pretty upset with whomever sold it if they didn't disclose that beforehand. In any case, as mentioned above I'd contact EBMM customer service and send them those pictures. I don't see why they wouldn't offer to sell you a replacement.

 

[johnnyboogie]

You can buy a replacement from EBMM. I don't recall the exact cost, but it's not expensive.

 

[RichieZ]

I have a very early Valentine, built June of 2016. Bought it barely used in September of 2016. I am no pro but I have played it almost daily since... and the finish on the bridge plate, along with the rest of it, still holding up flawlessly. Although I did put a tiny ding in the poly. I guess its possible a plate made it out with a defective finish, or the previous owner put that plate thru a lot more use than I have. Either way its not indicative of my experience regarding EBMM or Valentine quality. You should be able to get a new one from CS for very little, I'd imagine. Hope you enjoy the guitar. Mine's a member of the family at this point.

 

[GWDavis28]

Glenn, bridge cover plate, not neck plate.

Oh, duh, sorry DrKev, my bad.

Glenn |B)

 

[tbonesullivan]

Looks like they were really rough when trying to adjust the bridge. Maybe they even had the plate off several times. That looks to be more than just playing wear.

 

[Archon]

Alrighty, thanks guys! This guitar definitely took some abuse. It also has a crack in the finish near the bolt on plate. So I think someone overtightened it. The seller offered a decent partial refund and I’m definitely happy with the guitar for what I paid for it after that. I can deal with a few little issues like this. No guitar in my collection is perfect and I wouldn’t want it to be. I want to play them. I contacted EB about a replacement plate. I could see where my hand might get pricked where the plating is off on the front so I would prefer that to be smooth metal.

On to more fun stuff, the guitar itself. The seller had 10s on the guitar and I see it comes stock with 11-48 so I’m going to try that to see how I like it. I typically go 1046 on 25.5 scale but I’m thinking maybe this is a rhythm guitar for me and I like a little heavier gauge for rhythm. I do like the neck but I think the nut is a bit smaller than the specs say. I measured and it looked like a millimeter and a half shorter than a telecaster I have with the same width but according sweetwater. Not a huge deal but I definitely wouldn’t want it to be any smaller.

Tone variation seems good. I definitely need to spend more time with it to determine though. I think it’s a keeper but time will tell.