Post by CTGull on Mar 9, 2021 19:57:25 GMT -5
A customer brought this to me when I delivered another guitar. It belongs to one of his students. The bridge looked like it was coming off. It was hard to tell how bad it separated or if it was still partially attached.
After removing the bridge pins and strings it was really obvious it was completely off, only held in place by the bridge pin and the (2) dowel pins locating it.
The problem is they didn't completely remove all the finish in the bridge area, leaving a gap, which was filled by glue. Most glues aren't good gap fillers, they become brittle, as this did. Some of the finish at the front of the bridge is bubbled up.
I forgot to take a pictures after all the cutting and scraping to remove the finish in the bridge area.
Then I started scraping the bottom of the bridge. This was much harder. Some of the finish was loose and popped off, much of it was stuck well. But I wanted a flat smooth wood surface to reglue.
Early in the scraping.
Finished!! It must have taken 45 minutes!
First I practiced my clamping. Then I glued the bridge back on with fish glue, putting a thin coat on the top and a slightly heavier coat on the bottom of the bridge.
There was some squeeze out on all sides, a sign of good glue coverage. I removed it with a toothpick, wet Q-tip and wet paper towel.
Tomorrow the bridge pin holes with have to be reamed to remove any glue that got into the holes.
After removing the bridge pins and strings it was really obvious it was completely off, only held in place by the bridge pin and the (2) dowel pins locating it.
The problem is they didn't completely remove all the finish in the bridge area, leaving a gap, which was filled by glue. Most glues aren't good gap fillers, they become brittle, as this did. Some of the finish at the front of the bridge is bubbled up.
I forgot to take a pictures after all the cutting and scraping to remove the finish in the bridge area.
Then I started scraping the bottom of the bridge. This was much harder. Some of the finish was loose and popped off, much of it was stuck well. But I wanted a flat smooth wood surface to reglue.
Early in the scraping.
Finished!! It must have taken 45 minutes!
First I practiced my clamping. Then I glued the bridge back on with fish glue, putting a thin coat on the top and a slightly heavier coat on the bottom of the bridge.
There was some squeeze out on all sides, a sign of good glue coverage. I removed it with a toothpick, wet Q-tip and wet paper towel.
Tomorrow the bridge pin holes with have to be reamed to remove any glue that got into the holes.
