The Electra Forums

Is there any modern bridge, tail piece and Humbucker cover hardware that will work on this model?

The metric tuneomatic styles on GFS (guitar fetish) site will fit, but you will have to use their posts they ship with it. It should fit fine. I have used them before. Most GOTOH style metric replacements will work. There are generic chinese ones sold that also work (and some don't). Also, there are some cheaper ones that are more Gibson ABR-sized but have the generic larger metric posts - those generally fit too (but again, not always - sometimes someone will offer them for sale with different threads on the posts that won't match your electra). So that is why I mention the GFS - I have tried those and they fit.

As for the tailpiece, I have not changed that as often and have ran into more variance in one brand compared to another. I replaced on a couple years ago, and may have used a GFS on that one too. But I don't recall if I modified anything, used the GFS posts in the electra bushings or pulled them and put in the GFS bushings. I got it to work and it looks great and works great. I just don't remember the details on that one. Mine came in with a chrome tailpiece on a guitar that had a gold one one it, so I knew that wouldn't do - so I swapped it out.

The Electra stock bridges are REALLY prone to pitting and corroding (and seizing up the saddles). I have gotten many in with saddles that would not move and even those the the saddle screws broken and the saddles stuck in the bridge with silicone sealant. The electra bridge is usually slightly shorter than the replacements, but I have only had one guitar that it ever made a difference on, and I am not certain that wasn't because the guitar had the neck reset at one time or not (hard to say - it was a 335-style, never had a problem with the replacement metric bridge with ANY LP styled electras).

As for humbucker covers - I have seen vintage ones a long time ago with a similar cover. They may have been original mighty might (I am talking from the 70s vintage). I haven't seen any exact like that since. I have seen a few people do chrome ones with an open cover - which is the same but does not have that little bar section in the middle. Another example is the type of cover used for guitar pickups that are supposed to be normal humbucker sized but have a partial cover to look more like a Gretsch style pickup. I don't know of anyone selling them retail, but I am sure someone does if you look for them. Just score one up with steel wool and prime and paint flat black and you will be very close. I have had pulled the electra cover off of a dead pickup in the past to put a working zebra style replacement pickup in the bridge of my X330 and it worked great. But you'd have to have a dead stock pickup to pull it from and it will likely RUIN the pickup (but it was dead in my case anyway and back then when I did it, I would not attempt to fix a pickup - today I would at least try to see and possibly fix one). But my X330 looks right except it has NORMAL poles instead of the square ones on the magnaflux. Just tossing around some ideas.

At a certain point it might make sense to find someone selling a real pull on ebay - it does not happen often but does occasionally - you might get lucky. Also, Ben at the new electra guitar company has shown some reproduction magnaflux pickups he made and they looked great. I have never seen them available for sale anywhere. You'd have to contact him. If you get one let us all know. We all would like to know how good they are and how much they cost.

Good luck. And guys, anyone have any better information than me, just chime in.

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Thorny