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#1
08-13-2021, 08:44 AM
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bridge
has anyone put on the bridge before putting on the back? if so were there any problems? I have a bolt on neck and can figure out where the saddle should be. This is my first build and I would not want to put the cart before the horse. Thanks for any input, George
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#2
08-13-2021, 08:51 AM
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Seems that installing a bridge before installing the back would be rather awkward. My first question would be "why".
I say that because obviously the guitar would not yet be bound and finished. Best to slow down, install the back and binding for the whole instrument and do the finish first. JMO, YMMV.
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#5
08-13-2021, 10:44 AM
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Make a gluing caul for the inside of the top before you glue the back on, while it's easy to get at. Get several (three or so) long reach cam clamps, and make sure you can get them into the hole. Usually you have to trim off corners on the clamps.
Tape off an area inside the bridge outline before you finish the top. Make sure the tape doesn't run outside of the bridge footprint. This gives you an easy start at getting the finish off in the end. I like to do the final assembly of the neck and body before putting on the bridge. Then you know exactly where everything is. Make up the bridge and have a saddle in it, preferably a bit tall. Determine where the two outer strings will leave the nut, and use that to find lines more or less parallel to the edges of the fingerboard from the nut to the centers of the outer string holes. Use that to position the bridge 'east and west' on the top. I put down blue painter's tape at each end of the bridge. Then, using a protractor or some such on the center joint to keep the bridge perpendicular, and a ruler taped to the fingerboard, find the correct location of the bridge to make the compensation come out right. Mark the front corners of the bridge with more tape. Tape the caul up inside the top, and use one clamp in the middle, or two on the wings, to clamp the bridge in place dry. For a steel string use a 3/16" bit to drill the two outer pin holes. Remove the bridge, and ream out the holes for plastic pins as locators. Pin the bridge down; make sure it's where it's supposed to be and has no slop. If needs be re-position it and drill the next two pin holes out if you have to. Once it's firmly pinned in place use a very sharp knife to scribe the finish around the outside of the bridge. Do not cut into the wood any more than you can help, particularly along the back edge of the bridge. Just cut the finish. Now you can remove the tape where you masked the bridge footprint, and use a sharp chisel to take up the finish. You have to get all of the finish, but try not to cut into the wood any more than you need to, and leave a smooth surface. Once you've got it all cleaned up pin the bridge back in place and dry clamp it with the caul in. If the caul is thick enough the clamps should reach over the braces. Once you're sure everything is right, and you can get the clamps on quickly, you're ready to glue. I use hot hide glue. Whatever glue you use be sure to scrape both the surface of the top and the bottom of the bridge just before you apply the glue; it sticks better to a fresh surface. I apply a good amount of glue to both surfaces, slap the bridge down, and get it clamped with deliberate haste. It's easy to clean excess glue off finished surfaces, but hard to get more in if you didn't use enough. Other people do this a bit differently. The point here is to have a well worked out process that you can do step by step, so that things go smoothly and you're not fumbling around. 
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