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Post by plumbum on Apr 30, 2021 11:23:04 GMT
Hi
I have a Tanglewood D28 copy. The bridge is lifting at the back. Very slightly but it's increasing. Looking at Dan Erlewhine's book he recommends re-gluing in situ rather than removing. This seems sensible as I've never done this type of work. Also when the guitar was repaired before, the luthier told me it was probably made using epoxy which isn't designed to be dismantled.
Obviously it's a pinned bridge. Will a cheap bridge clamp and some titebond squeezed under work. Any advice or opinions?
Thanks
Martin
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Welshruss
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Post by Welshruss on May 1, 2021 23:46:49 GMT
I’ve had bridges lift on a couple of guitars over the years. I took them to Luthiers to get reglued and repaired. One was lifting one came right off.
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minorkey
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Post by minorkey on May 2, 2021 18:19:55 GMT
The bridge on my classical is lifting at the back too. It was only a cheap one though so its not worth having it repaired. (Plus it has rough fret edges)
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Post by dreadnought28 on May 3, 2021 2:21:47 GMT
DO NOT TACKLE THIS YOURSELF.! ! If you make a mess of it a luthier will have a much bigger job putting things right. There are all sorts of reasons why a bridge might lift. A luthier will do whatever is needed to put everything right.
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Post by ianlp59 on May 3, 2021 7:25:00 GMT
DO NOT TACKLE THIS YOURSELF.! ! If you make a mess of it a luthier will have a much bigger job putting things right. There are all sorts of reasons why a bridge might lift. A luthier will do whatever is needed to put everything right. I would certainly echo the sentiments here. Re-seating a bridge is far from trivial. I had a similar bridge issue with my Sobell Model 0 and prevailed on Stefan to fix it, which he was happy to do at no cost. Once a bridge begins to lift you begin suffer from both loss of intonation as well as sound and tone issues. Cheers, Ian
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Post by ocarolan on May 3, 2021 7:36:28 GMT
plumbum - The intrinsic value of the guitar, and its value to you are relevant here Martin. If both of these are small, and the "lift" is still in its early stages then your suggested remedy may well be OK. Otherwise do get someone who knows what they are doing to have a look and maybe estimate their potential charge - then you can decide! Maybe davewhite or colins might like to comment - or any of our many other loofah chums...? Keith
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Post by plumbum on May 3, 2021 13:54:54 GMT
Thanks for the comments everyone. It's not a super expensive guitar (£1000ish) bit it has been my gigging guitar for quite a while. I have a lot of affection for it having fallen on it and smashed the back a few years back. Jon Press in Bristol did a remarkable job of fixing it.
I had started to think I might go back to Jon as I suspect it may have a loose X brace as well. Probably not much point addressing the bridge and not the brace.
As suggested, probably best to get a professional price and weigh up the options. I also started wondering about replacing with a genuine Martin 28 (reimagined) as they sound pretty lovely.
Thanks again chaps
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Post by ocarolan on May 3, 2021 14:25:25 GMT
Jon is a great guy and an excellent craftsman, as you've already found out. I'm sure he'll give you a competitive quote and overall assessment.
Hope you'll let us know how you get on - sounds like it could be well worth a proper job!
Keith
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Post by plumbum on May 3, 2021 17:52:49 GMT
Thanks Keith
Yes, I'll post back about the result. It's interesting that feeling like this guitar was irretrievably broken (I'll never forget the sick feeling in my stomach when I saw the damage) and the getting it repaired has made me feel quite a bond with the instrument. I genuinely believe, rightly or wrongly, that it sounded better after the repair.
Here's a photo of the original damage
Martin
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Post by dreadnought28 on May 3, 2021 21:40:57 GMT
Thanks for the comments everyone. It's not a super expensive guitar (£1000ish) bit it has been my gigging guitar for quite a while. I have a lot of affection for it having fallen on it and smashed the back a few years back. Jon Press in Bristol did a remarkable job of fixing it. I had started to think I might go back to Jon as I suspect it may have a loose X brace as well. Probably not much point addressing the bridge and not the brace. As suggested, probably best to get a professional price and weigh up the options. I also started wondering about replacing with a genuine Martin 28 (reimagined) as they sound pretty lovely. Thanks again chaps Jon is excellent and a very pleasant guy too. I’d definitely go back to him.
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minorkey
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Post by minorkey on May 3, 2021 21:46:34 GMT
Thanks Keith
Yes, I'll post back about the result. It's interesting that feeling like this guitar was irretrievably broken (I'll never forget the sick feeling in my stomach when I saw the damage) and the getting it repaired has made me feel quite a bond with the instrument. I genuinely believe, rightly or wrongly, that it sounded better after the repair.
Here's a photo of the original damage
Martin
That looks catastrophic
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colins
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Post by colins on May 3, 2021 21:48:22 GMT
Bridges lift for a variety of reasons, in fact it always amazes me that any stay on at all considering the forces involved. The loose x-brace could be a contributory factor in the bridge lifting as it may have allowed the top to distort putting greater stress on the joint. If the bridge is rosewood that can also lead to a failure due to the oils in the wood, you can find that the oils in the wood, particularly BRW can migrate and weaken the glue/bridge join. If the glue used was HHG then warming of the bridge and adding some more HHG before re-clamping can work, but usually I'd recommend taking it off, checking the fit of the bridge to the top and re-gluing.
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