6 string bridge

[wildbill]

Howdy everyone, I am working on a project acoustic and need a Martin style bridge with 2 1/8" string spacing, the problem I am running into is.. I need one that is 1/4" thick and everything that I find pre-made on line is 3/8" thick. Would also like for it to come with a saddle.

I am not set up to do any thickness plaining or router the saddle slot. So making my own is out of the question at this point.

Any help that you can give will be very helpful.

Thanks in advance
Bill

[wildbill]

Any type of wood will do, this is just a project, even if someone has a good used one laying around that is 1/4" thick. As long as it will cover the footpring of the original bridge.

Thanks again
Bill

[Freeman]

Any type of wood will do, this is just a project, even if someone has a good used one laying around that is 1/4" thick. As long as it will cover the footpring of the original bridge.

Thanks again
Bill

Bill, best thing to do would be to buy a standard replacement bridge from any of the good suppliers (StewMac, LMI, John Hall) and take it to a cabinet shop to plane it down. Here is the StewMac Martin style belly bridge (or do you need a pyramid style?) - note that the stock thickness is 11/32. Stewmac can also furnish saddle blanks in several different materials to fit,

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bridges,_ta ... ridge.html

A cabinet maker, wood supplier, or even a high school shop class should be able to plane it for you, or you could do it yourself with a plane and sandpaper. I also happen to have one, I could run it thru a planer and sell it to you, but you may want to consider the oversized unit to cover your foot print.

However, be forwarned that planed to 1/4 you will not have much of a saddle slot left and it will be very weak - this is one of the big problems when people shave bridges instead of doing a proper neck reset (and when they do finally reset the neck they have to replace the bridge). May I ask why you need one that thin?

[wildbill]

Howdy freeman, Thank you so much for the post and great info. The original bridge on this acoustic is only 1/4" thick, and the action is great. So was scared to put a thicker bridge on it, thinking that I would not have enough saddle to get it low enough. This is an old 1960,s era Ventura V-10, and the old bridge is cracked and busted. Plus I am wanting to learn how to do repairs. So this will be my first bridge replacement. Want to learn everything that I can before I start my first build, which will hopefully be something like a Gibson J-200.

[Freeman]

OK, but that is pretty thin - do you know if it had been shaved? When you say the action is great, how much saddle is sticking out of the bridge? (Remember the old addage that you want at least 1/8 inch of saddle sticking out plus good action - that is one of the tests of proper neck angle. The other is the old straightedge test - a 24 inch straightedge laying on the fretboard should just touch the top of the bridge (not saddle)),

The reason that I bring up the neck angle is that you might want to reset it (that is a good learning experience) and then you could use a normal thickness bridge. Otherwise I would be happy to shave mine and send it to you but I would be worried that you'll crack it also - or buy the oversized one from StewMac and have it shaved.

When you get ready to glue the new one on, make some really good cauls for both the inside and to fit the bridge - use a couple of deep c-clamps. You should probably plug the old holes in the top and bridgeplate unless they line up perfectly with the new bridge. Buy a good tapered reamer, you'll use it when you do your build. Otherwise a pretty simple repair.

[wildbill]

Thanks for all of the great advice Freeman !! John over at Bluescreek fixed me up with a great bridge. I am going to sand fit the bottom of the bridge tonight to match the top radius. Will have to wait a few days to glue it up, been raining and the humidity is way up there.

What do you think of the Fox Bridge clamp? Looks like a good idea, but wondering if it will apply enough pressure to get a good glue job.

Thanks again
Bill

[tippie53]

that design had been around a long time They work just fine