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I'm building a guitar from scratch using the OLF MJ plans and it calls for a Taylor style bridge. I'm attempting to make one from scratch (using a rosewood blank) but I'm concerned that I won't be able to cut the saddle slot cleanly and am wondering if there's an aftermarket alternative out there? So far all I've found are Martin style, Gibson style, pyramid and classcal bridges. As the thread title implies, I'm curious to see if there's anywhere where I can get a Taylor style bridge. I just prefer the design for this build. Can anyone push me in the right direction?

BTW, I've attemtped to make one once so far but didn't have a saddle slotting jig or router base for my Dremel. I've borrowed a friend's Stewmac jig and router base and bought a 3/32" carbide bit for my Dremel 300 but repeated attempts have left me with a slot that's 1/8" wide and I'm wondering if the bit is perpendicular. It's not that the piece I'm cutting into is moving around so much as the bit seems to be taking a little extra and I'm wondering if the router base isn't properly set up.

Taylor may be a patented design , but learning to make a bridge is part of the process. Do you have a drill press ?

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=ta ... r&_sacat=0

tippie53 wrote:Taylor may be a patented design , but learning to make a bridge is part of the process. Do you have a drill press ?

I think I understand. Stewmac says to drill pilot holes along the length of the saddle slot and "connect the dots" using the saddle slot jig to keep a straight line. I don't have a drill press but I do have a one of those stands for a hand drill from Harbor Freight and will triple check to ensure that it's set to 90 degrees. I suppose I could fashion a punch out of a brad-tipped drill bit and set the endponts with the drill, wrapping a piece of tape at about the depth of the saddle slot (taking into account the point at the end of the bit) and then use them to set up the endpoints for the saddle slot. Once that's set I'll go back and make sure that I have the stewmac precision router base set up to be properly level then do passes at incremental depths until I get to the target depth.

After all that I think I should be able to get a clean cut slot. If it's 1/8" thick thats OK I guess. I was told that 3/32" was the norm but the plans call for 1/8".

nkwak wrote:
After all that I think I should be able to get a clean cut slot. If it's 1/8" thick thats OK I guess. I was told that 3/32" was the norm but the plans call for 1/8".

Taylor definitely uses a 1/8" saddle.

If connecting the dots doesn't work contact Waldron on the left...
http://www.waldronmusic.com/product_inf ... ts_id=1459
He's tooled up to do the 8string so I'm sure he can do the 6. I just don't see it on his site.

I may not understand the process you described but I think you want the bottom of the saddle slot flat.

It turned out to be a bust and I'm down to one rosewood bridge blank. The Dremel just wasn't up to it so I'm waiting for an opportunity to get over to my friend Kitchen's place and make use of his router.

I once made a saddle slot cutting jig out of junk wood, and, while it was indeed ugly, it worked beautifully. It has about 8 or 10 square pieces of felt on the underside of it.