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I have searched to the point of frustration for the distance from nut placement of my bridge bushings. On my Les Paul the low E side is 24.75" and the high E side is 24.625". That leads me to assume that for my 25.5" scale build I should place the bushings at 25.5" and 25.375". I learned years ago in fitting hardware in cabinetry it is usually not a good idea to move on assumption. Verify, verify, verify.
So, am I assuming correctly?

Dave, don't worry about the measurement to the posts. It's the measurement to the saddles that counts. I generally line up the high E saddle, in its forward-most position, right at the scale length line. If you have a Gotoh or other tune-o-matic with plenty of travel for the saddles, then you can just make the whole thing perpendicular to the centerline. If you have one with a small amount of adjustment, or just want the more traditional angled look, then set the low E side 1/8" back from the high E side.

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Mike

"The Dude abides. I don't know about you but I take comfort in that. It's good knowin' he's out there. The Dude. Takin' 'er easy for all us sinners. Shoosh." The Stranger

SniderMikes advice is good, if you are still afraid of putting it in the wrong place, you could make a temporary floating bridge like an archtop, string it up and find the proper place for good intonation, it wouldn't need to be pretty. Or just follow Mikes advice.

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Jordan Aceto
Ithaca, NY

I compared my Gotoh with the bridge on my LP and noticed it had at least 1/16" more saddle adjustment than the LP's. I don't think I will have any trouble. I think I will have my first personally built guitar here in a week or two. One of my fellow workers, who loves to play guitar, has told me a couple of times he's envious. I told him to go ahead and DO IT, and that I was willing to help. This is just too fun. I haven't enjoyed building anything from wood in a long time as I have with this project. And the piece takes up so little space as compared to a desk or entertainment center. Easier to move around, too.

You can use Stewart-MacDonald's fret calculator to find the general placement of your bridge. Enter the number of frets and scale length. Then click "Calculate". Towards the bottom of the page, it will tell you the measurement to use from the neck to the mounting screw or post for a variety of bridges.

Here's the link:

http://www.stewmac.com/FretCalculator/

Correcting myself. "...from the neck to the mounting screw or post for a variety of bridges" should be "from the nut to the mounting screw or post for a variety of bridges."

Gibson uses a different definition for scale length than most, so your assumptions based on their written scale length would have put you way off. Using the nut to 12th fret x2 definition for scale length (which most 25.5 boards will agree with), you should end up with your treble post at around 25.575", and your bass post around 25.700".

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.