Category Archives: bridge

A Larson Bros. Harp Guitar Restoration

2020
AL#140 p.34               
Kerry Char                                                                                           

▪ This ornate contraption had seen a lot of use and abuse in almost a dozen decades of service. Long-ago modifications plus the pull of sixteen strings left it in a sorry state. It had to be taken in hand rather decisively to be brought back into playing condition. Two necks, the back, the enormous bridge, and a lot of bracing came off. Content warning: contains lutherie gore.

Less Than a Thousand Guitar Repair Tips

2020
AL#139 p.42               
Erick Coleman   Evan Gluck                                                                                       

▪ Erick and Evan (the two Es) are back with more helpful hints for the guitar repair shop. Some of the things they show are nicely developed professional tools, like for leveling frets while the guitar is still under string tension. Then there’s a diagnostic tool that is just a stick, a guitar string, and a salvaged tuning machine. If you think that’s gronk, how about the tool that Evan calls “my string.” It’s just a string. Not even a guitar string. Mentions gluing frets, DeoxIT, WD40, tri-Flow, slotting bridge pins, regluing bridges, fret nipper, notching fret tang, Matt Brewster, fret leveler bar, StewMac, Stewart-MacDonald, bridge removal, shark skin, fret rocker, fret leveler. From their workshop at the 2017 GAL Convention.

The Monster in the Attic

2017
AL#129 p.20               
C.F. Casey                                                                                           

▪ When a neighbor brought in “Grampa’s old guitar” for Fred Casey to look at, he got a shock. The guitar was a whopper. Or more properly, a monster. That’s what Lyon & Healy called this very wide guitar. It was pretty well smashed, but soon it was back in playing condition. Does this guitar make my hips look big?

Meet the Maker: Dave Collins

2017
AL#129 p.38               
Steve Denvir   Dave Collins                                                                                       

▪ Dave Collins is a rising star on the guitar repair scene. Take a look at a couple of nice jigs he has developed; one for slotting saddles, one for regluing broken headstocks. Interestingly, he is in the same Ann Arbor third-storey shop previously tenanted by Herb David. Dave counts Dan Erlewine and Bryan Galloup among his mentors.

Mending a Bomber

2007
AL#89 p.30               
John Calkin                                                                                           

▪ A number of acoustic guitars built during the ’60s demonstrated peculiar design traits, and this smashed up Gibson B-25 is a fine example of such. The author returns it to playable good health while maintaining its quirkiness in all its glory. With 12 photos.

Review: Shoptalk 6

2003
AL#73 p.61   BRB7 p.523            
John Calkin                                                                                           

▪ This video is a collection of shop tips that the reviewer found to be valuable and entertaining, especially in view of the low price.

Quick-and-Dirty Bridge and Brace Repair

2001
AL#67 p.42   BRB6 p.258            
John Calkin                                                                                           

▪ Some instruments aren’t worth repairing because their value is less than the cost of the repair work. Unless, that is, you resort to superglue and a bit of trickery. On the cuatro used in the example a tailpiece is used along with the stock bridge to prevent steel strings from tearing the bridge off the top again. With 8 photos.

Nineteen Stew-Mac How-to Videos 2

1996
AL#48 p.46   BRB4 p.474            
John Calkin                                                                                           

▪ Reviewed here are six videos, one about violins setups, one about French polishing, and four about guitar repair. All are found worthy, though two of the repair tapes are for the inexperienced luthier.

Bridge and Bridge Patch Replacement

1994
AL#39 p.10   BRB4 p.52            
Bryan Galloup                                                                                           

▪ Here’s the whole story, with some tools for heat removal of the parts not seen in the magazine before. Pull those worn parts and make your own replacements. With 38 photos.

This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.

It Worked for Me: String Tension/Hand Pressure

1992
AL#29 p.57   BRB3 p.484            
Richard Echeverria                                                                                           

▪ Fixing the common problem encountered with the Gibson style ABR and Schaller Nashville tune-o-matic guitar bridge: they collapse.

Letter to the Editor: Steel String Construction

1989
AL#19 p.5   BRB2 p.221            
Arnold-M.J. Hennig                                                                                           

▪ Hennig gives advice about removing guitar bridges with a sharpened putty knife. He also laments the fact that popular opinion believes that guitars, unlike violins, have a “shelf life,” and as a result are often eventually neglected rather than repaired.

A Baroque Guitar Restoration

1989
AL#19 p.24   BRB2 p.250            
R.E. Brune                                                                                           

▪ A guitar that may have belonged to Marie Antoinette is brought back to playing condition. This article gives a good picture of what goes into the restoration of a museum-quality instrument. With 13 photos.

This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.

Compensating Classic Bridge

1987
AL#9 p.32   BRB1 p.330            
H.M. Kolstee                                                                                           

▪ Kolstee’s adjustable bridge saddle is made of bone, except for the locking set screw. It is easily adjustable for intonation and uses shims to adjust the string height.

More on Bridge Gluing

1986
AL#7 p.55   BRB1 p.431            
Robert Doucet                                                                                           

▪ Doucet offers slick tricks for removing dried glue from raw wood, replacing spruce pulled up by the bridge, tracing braces to make clamping cauls, and roughing saddle blanks into shape.

Bridge Regluing Caul

1986
AL#7 p.56   BRB1 p.181            
Sam Sherry                                                                                           

▪ Sherry claims his “bridge plate” style caul is a universal tool that makes bridge regluing easier.

Regluing Guitar Bridges

1986
AL#5 p.22   BRB1 p.168            
Ken Donnell                                                                                           

▪ Donnell gives a thorough description of his methods of bridge removal and regluing. Both classical and steel string guitars are covered.

Flattop Bridge Removal

1982
DS#210   LW p.99            
Jim Williams                                                                                           

▪ Clean bridge removal is almost an art, but the right heat source and the proper tools can give even the first-timer a fighting chance. Williams offers a dedicated lamp setup for heat and a modified cabinet scraper to slide through the glue joint. With 3 drawings.

Rebuilding the Tune-O-Matic

1980
DS#137   LW p.99            
William Hatcher                                                                                           

▪ This classic piece of guitar hardware suffers from its share of rattles and loose parts, even on new units. You can tune it up and quiet it down. Here’s how. Includes 2 illustrations.