How To Repair Bridge Of Acoustic Guitar

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The bridge of your guitar resists upwardly to 200 pounds of cord tension, yet information technology's affixed to your guitar with zippo but glue. It stands to reason that, after years of playing your guitar, that bridge might beginning to come loose. If information technology pulls up too much or stays loose for also long, information technology can affect the sound of your guitar. At that place's besides a take a chance that the bridge itself will crack. If your span is cracked, supplant it with a new i. However, if your bridge is yet intact, y'all tin re-glue it then your guitar will sound like it did when it was new. This isn't necessarily an easy repair job, then if you're non comfortable working on your guitar, take it to an experienced guitar tech or luthier to get the repair done.^[1]

1. 1

   Check the looseness of the bridge with a sparse canvass of paper. Effort to slide a piece of paper nether your bridge, between the bridge and the superlative of your guitar. If it slips through easily, this means the glue has loosened and your bridge needs to exist fixed.^[two]

   • Fifty-fifty if you can see a gap between the lesser of your bridge and the height of your guitar, you still need to bank check it. It might be that the guitar's lacquer doesn't reach to the border of the bridge, which is attached to the blank wood, which can create the appearance of a gap.
   • If the bridge itself is cracked or warped, it will need to be replaced. Don't attempt to re-mucilage it.

2. 2

   Take the strings off your guitar. Before yous can work on the span, advisedly remove all of the strings on your guitar, then popular out the cord pins in the bridge. Set up all of these to the side so you can replace them later.^[3]

   • Inspect the bridge once again with the strings off to make sure there aren't whatever cracks or other impairment to the bridge that you didn't detect before.

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3. three

   Use a heating pad to loosen up the existing glue. If the bridge is just starting to lift, the heat will melt the remaining glue so yous can remove the bridge without damaging it. Bank check the glue every couple of minutes by wiggling the span a fleck. Remove the heat when it feels loose.^[4]

   • Luthiers use a specially designed heat blanket for this purpose. A dry heating pad designed to soothe sore muscles will work for this.
   • Don't exit the heat on your guitar whatever longer than necessary to avoid damage to the finish or the wood.

4. 4

   Pry the span off gently with a razor blade. Work your bract carefully around all the edges of the bridge. Don't force it! You lot may need to get around more than once before the bridge comes off freely. Then, set the bridge off to the side.^[v]

   • If you have an acoustic-electrical guitar, exist careful non to remove any of the wiring when yous remove the bridge. Simply go out that attached and permit the bridge dangle to the side.^{[half dozen]}

5. 5

   Scrape any remaining glue off the top of the guitar. Whatsoever dried glue still left on the top of your guitar or the bottom of the bridge volition create an uneven surface to glue your span back on. Employ a chisel or razor blade to gently remove it.^[7]

   • Yous want to gum your bridge directly to the guitar. If you attempt to mucilage it to old dried glue, it won't seal and you lot'll take to re-glue it all over again.
   • Sandpaper also works well to make clean dried glue from the body of the guitar and the underside of the bridge. Just be careful not to sand also hard.

6. six

   Score the underside of the span with a razor blade. Cutting some horizontal and vertical lines beyond the bottom of the bridge and then the glue will get more traction for a tighter bond. Exist careful not to gouge besides securely as you could scissure the bridge.^[8]

   • If your bridge was fastened straight to the lacquer of the guitar rather than the raw wood, as is the example with some more inexpensive guitars, score the lacquer as well. Take care non to cut into the bodily wood of the guitar when y'all practise this.

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1. one

   Employ a ruler to measure the midpoint of your bridge. Marker the midpoint of your bridge helps yous identify it back on the guitar in the exact same spot it was earlier. Marker the centerline of the bridge with a pencil both on the meridian of the bridge and on the guitar where the span sits. So, y'all can just match upwards those 2 lines to put your bridge back in place.^[nine]

2. 2

   Measure and marking your bridge to ensure yous replace information technology correctly. Employ a ruler to mark the centre of your bridge and line information technology up with the middle of the spot where your span was located on the height of your guitar. This volition help you line up your bridge and then you tin re-gum it in the verbal aforementioned spot.^[10]

   • You tin can also place wooden dowels in the bridge pivot holes and gear up your bridge downward on top of those. Subsequently you've placed your bridge, you can just pop the dowels out. They'll aid you line upwardly the span over the holes.
   • If you lot don't put your bridge back in exactly the same spot, it volition throw your string tension off and ruin your guitar's intonation.

3. 3

   Choose a C-clamp large enough to clamp the bridge through the soundhole. The clamp ensures that your bridge is glued tightly to your guitar. Become a deep C-clamp capable of plumbing fixtures through the soundhole of your guitar and clamping the bridge down tightly. Check the fit earlier you put glue on the span to make sure it'll work.^[11]

   • Depending on the size and design of your clamp, yous may desire to utilise a caul, which is simply a piece of wood that you lay between the braces of the clench and the bridge itself. The caul distributes the pressure of the clamp more than evenly so you can utilize plenty pressure level to set the glue without damaging the bridge.
   • Y'all tin also use 3 clamps, using 1 for each terminate of the bridge and ane for the center. If you use three clamps, you won't need to utilize as much pressure on each clamp.^[12]

4. 4

   Apply wood glue to the lesser of the bridge. Squeeze the wood glue around the entire edge of the span and inside, keeping abroad from the span pin holes. Don't worry about using too much glue — you tin wipe away any backlog later on you clamp down the bridge.^[13]

   • You could also employ the glue to the top of your guitar rather than to your bridge. There'due south no demand to glue both, however. It won't make the bond any stronger — you'll just end up with a lot of actress gum.

5. 5

   Press your bridge into identify on the meridian of your guitar. Use the marks or dowels you placed in the bridge pin holes to line up your span in the exact spot information technology was earlier. Cheque the outer edges to make sure it's lined up properly while the gum is still wet. Then printing downwards firmly.^[14]

   • When you press down, you'll likely see excess glue seeping out from the edges of the bridge. Wait until you've clamped downwardly the bridge to wipe it away. Otherwise, you risk wiping away also much glue and your bridge won't bond to your guitar.

6. half-dozen

   Clamp the bridge down onto the guitar. If you're merely using 1 clamp, identify your caul over meridian of the span, then place the bottom of the clamp through the soundhole into the trunk of your guitar, under the bridge. Clamp information technology downward just enough to hold the seal tight, simply non enough to squeeze out all of the gum.^[fifteen]

   • If y'all're using 3 clamps, get the ends in place beginning and prepare the middle clamp final.
   • If you don't want the clamps to damage the finish on the bridge, lay a piece of felt or cloth between the span and the clamp.

7. 7

   Wipe the backlog glue and leave the bridge clamped at least overnight. Use a cotton fiber swab or rag to make clean off any excess glue that seeped out from under the edge of the bridge. Then, go out your guitar laying flat with the clamps in place and so the glue tin can dry.^[16]

   • Information technology will take at least 12 hours for the glue to dry. However, if yous take off the clamps and the glue hasn't dried, you effectively have to outset all over. To be safe, you lot might want to leave your guitar for a couple of days before you attempt to restring information technology.^[17]
   • If yous try to restring your guitar before the gum has completely dried, the tension from the strings (200 pounds worth!) volition pop the span off once more.^[xviii]

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• If your guitar sounds thinner or quieter than normal, that could be a sign that your bridge is loose.^[xix]

• E'er keep your guitar in a cool surround (room temperature or below) to prevent your bridge from shifting or loosening.^[20]

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• If you're not experienced with guitar repair, take your guitar to an experienced luthier or guitar tech rather than trying to fix information technology on your own. You could damage your guitar to the betoken that it's unplayable.

• If the bridge itself is cracked or warped, replace it with a new bridge rather than trying to repair information technology.^[21]

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Things Yous'll Need

• Heat source (heat coating, heating pad)
• Razorblade (box-cutter or X-Acto knife)
• Ruler
• Mark pen
• Deep C-clamps (i to 3)
• Forest glue

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Source: https://www.wikihow.com/Fix-a-Guitar-Bridge

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