With a break like this with plenty of surface area, I would just glue it without any additional supports. My glue of choice is hot hide glue, but there will be lots of opinions on that and many option…
I think that's a good move. One thing I might do to kick things of is to hit the area with some ultra thin master glue so it wicks under the area and prevents more chipping from potentially delaminate…
Hi guys, I finally managed to sort the problem out. Seens like was a simple issue that I cant see in that moment. I took the whole bridge apart and did a complete setup from scratch. I read somewhere…
This is precisely why Leo Fender developed the insideless guitar. A compromised neck block is super hard to come back from and when I see something like this, it leads me to believe that it's the tip…
Chris, can I add this for the council of elders show ? Also, we are going to have @member on pretty soon to talk about a job about this dramastic. Here's a link to the live show co…
This is pertaining to steel string builds, dreadnaught or OM style. Michael Bashkin mentioned in a recent zoom chat that his bridges weigh in at about 25 grams. I have also heard some builders shoot for an even lighter bridge. The pre-made bridges I have purchased in the past from LMI come in at about 39 grams. What are some other opinions on this? And how do I modify the LMI bridge to reduce weight? That seems like a lot of material to have to remove.
I often use mesquite for bridges. It is the same density as Indian Rosewood, however, it is harder, and more stable. Around here it is quite easily obtained. My bridges usually weigh between 12 and 16 grams. On fingerstyle guitars, the lighter the bridge is the better, if it is stiff. The bridge is an important brace, as is the bridge plate.
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I found this thread interesting. Growing up on the farm we used Osage orange for fence posts. Hardest wood I know of.. I have some squirreled away and thought it would be interesting if I could make a bridge out of it and see how it works… but being new to this stuff, was wondering if it would be too hard/dense of a wood to use on a guitar… Anyone considered this wood as something to use??
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There's a lot in the Gore construction book on lightweight bridge construction I made some laminated koa and carbon fiber bridges. I glued them in a vacuum bag in a food sealer. It was definitely some experimentation but i enjoyed it...
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Hi: To put some more numbers on it my rosewood bridges range from 17-21 grams and ebony 22-28 grams. I tend to use rosewood but there are cases where I prefer a heavier bridge to either bring the top resonance down or decrease the monopole mobilty for a guitar intended for flatpicking and strumming. All in all I think its is a good practice to match the bridge weight regardless of species to the top and the goal sound for the guitar.
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I'm brought back to this thread, searching for more discussion on bridge materials in terms of weight and stiffness. Just read a paper by Trevor Gore* which has a brief mention of bridge woods, relating to mass (weight). In it, he identifies three woods that rated well, balancing stiffness, density and hardness: padauk (Pterocarpus sp.), walnut (Juglans nigra) and Tasmanian blackwood
(Acacia melanoxylon). These have not been particularly easy to find in a standard bridge blank sized chunk.
I may end up cutting my own billets from Black Walnut I harvested and cut into boards, 15 years ago. Anyone else focusing on bridge weight and material? A heavy bridge is a sure way to limit top mobility, and vise versa.
*161st Meeting
Acoustical Society of America
Seattle, Washington
23 - 27 May 2011
Session 3aMU: Musical Acoustics
3aMU4. Wood for Guitars
The wood and design that you use are very important in that sense. I usually make ebony bridge with the traditional Martin style and they were about 35 grams. On my current build I made a padouk bridge with a different more modern style and it weighs 20 g. See picture attached.
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Did you notice a difference in guitar volume/output vs a heavier ebony bridge?
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↪ Private memberSorry, I saw your question just now...
This guitar definitely has a lot of volume, and it is a bit brighter than other similar guitars I have built. I think that is at least in part due to the bridge, but it's hard to say how much, as there are other things in the construction that also affect volume/tone in the same way. For example, the top is pretty light, which would have a similar effect. But yes, I'm sure that the sound of this guitar is what it is partly due to the bridge.
Cheers.
Jorge
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Giuliano Nicoletti's 2023 book, Mastering the Sound of the Acoustic Guitar, gives a general bridge weight recommendation of "not to exceed 20-25 grams....while the bridge plate should weight around 4-8 grams" (p.87). A VERY good book BTW...
That certainly is a LOT of weight to remove. IS it an oversize bridge? Compare all dimensions of the new bridge with other bridges and see where you could remove material and still maintain the appearance/ critical geometry. I might start by taking wood off the top-tail end-radius of the belly, Maintaining the footprint, and blending the radiused edge into the top of the bridge. A drum sander could remove material by moving the top-to-wing radius on both ends inward toward the center while retaining the rigidity of the "wings". Have you considered making your own bridges, it's pretty satisfying.