OK, let me preface this by saying yes, I KNOW that you're supposed to place the bridge after finishing after doing a load of measuring.
My first build was an electric bass so the bridge had maybe 3/4 " adjustment to make up for getting it wrong.
My second was a les Paul with a floating bridge.
then 3 mandos, all with floating bridges
then a Reso which didn't work
then 2 more mandos with.... you guessed, floating bridges.
After all this floating I was faced with placing a Dread bridge.
So, I rigged a tailpiece made from a crosswise base clamped to the top and a string holder behind that.
the string holder can move sideways, even under tension, to get the strings straight up the fingerboard, regardless of where the bookmatch join is relative to the neck (!)
once the strings are straight the intonation can be set by sliding the bridge on the top.
a little mark and then glue it in p0lace, using the string tension as a clamp.
IT WORKS!!!!!!
here's some pics of the same technique used to put the bridges on the doubleneck I'm swearing at (sorry, building)
