Strat bridge screws -- always sharp?

[Eric]

I got my first strat in a long time with my recent purchase of a Squier Hello Kitty Strat, and I've been giving it some more playing time recently after putting it aside for a little while. One thing I notice is that the bridge adjustment screws have pretty sharp edges, and if I'm not careful they can be a little painful if my playing motion brings my hand near the bridge.

I have no illusions that this is a great instrument, so I'm wondering if all strats have this going on or if it's just symptomatic of a cheap bridge. If it's the latter, are there any obvious fixes for it, or should I just change my strumming motion and/or buy a replacement bridge?

I can take pictures if they would be helpful. Thanks as always for any input.

 

[Bookkeeper's Son]

My Squier Affinity is like that. I'm in the process of shimming to adjust the neck angle slightly, so they don't have to stick up quite so far.

 

[deeaa]

Strat annoyances 101, yeah...very normal. Way back it used to bother me quite a lot but not in a long while now because my right hand playing has changed a lot, I play even over the fretboard now quite often an in almost all cases anyway far from the bridge.

Sent from my HTC HD2 using Tapatalk

 

[DeanEVO_Dude]

Shim the neck, to increase the angle, to allow you to raise the saddles so there is not so much of the adjustment screws sticking up... I've had a few strats and I've done that with them to fix this problem. All you need is a slice of a business card or similar placed between the neck and the body at the bridge end of the neck pocket.

Scott

 

[deeaa]

Sandpaper makes for a perfect shim.