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Hi all, I have 4 TRANCE audio installs imminent... these pickups are glued to the bridge plate similar to the KK audio processes... do any of you have any PRO tips on the adhesive to use, placement ideas (possibly different than manufacturer suggestions, etc) and such? Trance Audio suggests E6000 adhesive...but I'm hoping to find something that transfers the vibration in the best manner... (Hide glue??) These are for live performing ac…

Well, it is what it is, I seem to have found myself “the guy” to bring basket case Gibsons too….. I have the following 55’ J-45. The top has some serious belly, and has had not one, but two different directions of bridge on it at various points. I’m trying to flatten the top out with Thompson belly reducers. I first tried the standard plates used for the bridge plate n the guitar, and although it helped, I still found the top to have a m…

I was finally able to model something like a Gibson L7 top plate! Now I'm trying to build my f-holes... My only reference is the Benedetto archtop book, where it puts a few rules of thumb about how the f-holes should be placed. My question is, how precise are we talking here? One of the rules of thumb is that the bridge intersects at the midway point of the f-holes. Does this imply that the f-holes are at a certain location on the plate,…

Initial frequency analysis of this D28 copy (done with a temporary 35g bolt-on bridge and the back plate taped on) is VERY LOW. Main air resonance 83.5hz and top monopole 156.6. It's standard Martin scalloped X-bracing with a torrefied Adirondack top. Since I can still easily access the bracing, I'm thinking of going in and laminating wood on top of the X brace to stiffen it. Other options would be a very light bridge, though I'm not…

An Alvarez MF350C arrived on my bench recently. The bridge was lifting ever so slightly, which prompted me to look inside. It's got a bridge plate like I've never seen before. The pin holes are on the very edge of the bridge plate. Seems like you'd want some of the re-enforcement behind the bridge pins. This one, there is none. Some questions: Is that normal for an Alvarez? Could this have been replaced at some point? What are the implicat…

Hey Looths, I have on my bench a 40's Gibson Banner J-45. At some point someone glued a supplemental bridge plate onto the original plate. I assume this was done in an attempt to reinforce with string balls having torn up the OG plate. My customer would like me to remove this and uncover it's secrets. Client usually brings in very nice instruments and understands the nature of guitars from this era so communication on this is pretty str…

This is my mid 50's LG-1. I had the back off to replace the bridge plate and one of the braces. I've got it all back together now but I'm lacking the knowledge to make my work disappear. I was using amber CA glue to color the binding but that didn't seem like the proper route so now I'm scraping, filing and sanding that back off and starting over. I watched Doug Proper's demonstration on liquid binding repair and that did have a lot…

Hey all. I've got the above-mentioned guitar on my bench. It had a neck reset and what appears to be a new bridge pad put in 14 years ago. It's a crack-free guitar except for a couple of little hairlines running from the back of the bridge to the upper tone bar. I thought that was a bit weird. Inside, everything looks okay until I turn off the inspection light, at which point I can see the rosy glow of daylight through the top - this…