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Amit Newton

Look at your guitar bridge again. Do you see two pearl/plastic/abalone dots on either side of the bridgepins? They look very pretty, right? Well, that is where their goodness ends. Not right away, but what those two dots are hiding will cause a lot of problems, even grief.
Sitting quietly below those two dots are a set of a nut and a bolt on either side. Don't believe me? Go inside the soundhole with a little mirror and a light. Nine out of 10 times the two dots on the bridge will be hiding this pair of hideous hardware. Some guitar manufacturers tend to use them under the mistaken belief that it provides strength to the bridge-topwood bond, and initially, it actually does.
However, over time, as the topwood tends to shrink and grow under the influence of the elements, these metal objects are being pulled and pushed under the bridge. The little holes in the topwood that once held them, grow bigger, and bigger, and bigger. At the same time, the string tension is trying to pull the bridge off the topwood.
String tension, the effect of the elements finally manage to pull up the bridge somewhat, and once that happens, all the strain falls on the two screws running through the topwood, which eventually screw up your guitar.
When that bridge is finally taken off, don't be surprised if you see gaping holes through which you could stick your thumb, where once was just a couple of millimetres broad hole!
Those holes will need plugging (by an expert guitar tech) with a wood matching the topwood: a very time-consuming, labour-intensive and costly affair. If the tech is intelligent, the two screws will not make their way back into the bridge, but be consigned to the wastepaper basket!
The best way to keep the bridge stuck to the top of the guitar is with wood glue and good old clamps. Leave the clamps on for 48 hours and if you have not been miserly with your glue, after a 48-hour clamping period, the bridge should not give you problems, at least for a couple of decades.
An adjustable bridge too presents the same problems. In theory, it sounds easy: with the help of a screwdriver, you can easily raise or lower the height of a saddle, raising or lowering the action of your guitar. However, over time and with the screws continuously biting into your top, they do much more damage than the painstaking task of raising or lowering action when the saddle is a fixed one.

NEXT TIME: The Bridge Doctor

To comment, compliment or criticise, write in to [email protected].
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23/02/2017
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