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  #1  
Old 04-18-2014, 03:29 PM
pawmccatney pawmccatney is offline
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Default Doing a fixer-upper project, need input about bridge

Hello everyone - I'm taking an old guitar that my brother first learned on years ago (it's a dinky little Harmony) and making it look nicer (and hopefully sound half decent) for my dad's birthday.

I've disassembled all the pieces (except the fretboard & neck) and sanded the entire thing down to natural wood. Now, the only issue I've run into this far is the bridge.

It's a pinless bridge and I removed it to find it was quite damaged. The guitar body itself is still fine, but there's no chance of fixing the bridge.

I researched quite a bit and found it's much easier to make a pinned bridge than a pinless. I don't really want to buy one, as I'd like to take on the challenge of making one.

Since I don't really know much about the inner workings, and how a guitar really 'works' (I just play man, I just play) I'm not exactly sure if adding a pinned bridge would work because of inner stuff.

If someone could let me know if I can go ahead and plan on making a pinned bridge, I would much appreciate it.

Thanks a lot for reading, everyone - have a lovely day! c:
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Old 04-18-2014, 03:49 PM
John Arnold John Arnold is offline
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If the guitar is ladder braced, it more than likely has a spruce bridgeplate. Spruce is a soft wood, and will not survive the pressure from the string balls for very long. In that case, it would be better to remove the plate and install a hardwood plate in its place. The alternative is to cap the bridgeplate in the area of the bridge pins with a thin hardwood piece.
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Old 04-19-2014, 06:55 AM
B. Howard B. Howard is offline
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Another option may be to use a trapeze tailpiece.
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