Bridge separating from soundboard... how serious is this?

[herrakonna]

Was changing my strings today and noticed that the bridge was separating from the soundboard. Had never noticed any gap before and it is nearly half the width of the bridge, as can be seen in the photo.



I keep the guitar in a hard case with a humidifier, so it hasn't simply been left to the mercies of the winter low humidity.

How serious is this? And is this something that needs expert repair or something I might be able to re-glue myself?

Thanks.

[Halcyon/Tinker]

Quite serious. It needs fixing, pronto, and unless you have experience with guitar repair, I don't suggest you do it yourself.

Bridge needs to be fully removed, the old glue removed from top and bridge, and reset.

Having soundhole humidifiers is no guarantee that the correct humidity is maintained...

[Otterhound]

If you need to ask , you need to take it somewhere to be repaired . If you ask and are fortunate enough , the one doing the repair might teach you something about this while doing the job .
This is likely not connected to a humidity issue , but good on you for trying to be diligent about humidity .
Should you have a warranty available on this guitar , you may be able to get this fixed for free .
In the meanwhile , do not string this instrument up and/or try to tune it to any pitch until it is repaired .
Looks like you are in the 80/20 Bronze range .

[murrmac123]

I have never experienced the "lifting bridge" phenomenon on any guitar I gave owned, but it does occur to me that no lasting harm would be done if glue were drizzled into the gap, and the bridge firmly clamped with properly fitting cauls above and below ( the making of which is not rocket science).

Admittedly, the repair might fail immediately, but OTOH it might last twenty odd years.

In any event, there would be no lasting harm done by having a go and trying it out.

[Rodger Knox]

Originally Posted by murrmac123

I have never experienced the "lifting bridge" phenomenon on any guitar I gave owned, but it does occur to me that no lasting harm would be done if glue were drizzled into the gap, and the bridge firmly clamped with properly fitting cauls above and below ( the making of which is not rocket science).

Admittedly, the repair might fail immediately, but OTOH it might last twenty odd years.

In any event, there would be no lasting harm done by having a go and trying it out.

That would depend on the glue used. While it's true for HHG and Titebond, using epoxy, CA, or gorilla glue will make any future repairs more difficult and maybe impossible.

HHG is the only good alternative for this method, and that looks too severe to reglue in place. New HHG will stick to old HHG, so complete removal of all the old glue is not as important in any future repairs.

While removing and regluing a bridge is not terribly difficult, it does require some specialty tools, and the likelihood of damaging the top or the finish is quite high on the first few attempts.

[herrakonna]

Thanks everyone for all the prompt replies. I will look for a local repair shop and get it sorted out professionally. I'm pretty handy, but this definitely seems like the kind of job for someone who really knows what they're doing.

At least I noticed it before things got more dramatic ;-)

[charles Tauber]

Originally Posted by murrmac123

In any event, there would be no lasting harm done by having a go and trying it out.

Originally Posted by Rodger Knox

That would depend on the glue used.

And the person doing it.

Murray, I guess you've never had someone come to you with a bridge bolted on, covered in CA glue that they spread liberally all over the top, including CA "fingerprints" randomly scattered on various surfaces.

Sure, no lasting harm, but it went from a simple $100 repair for a professional to many times that.

"Know thyself." If one has the skills and knowledge, go for it. If not, well, ....

[murrmac123]

Originally Posted by charles Tauber

Murray, I guess you've never had someone come to you with a bridge bolted on, covered in CA glue that they spread liberally all over the top, including CA "fingerprints" randomly scattered on various surfaces.

LOL ... no I haven't Charles, but in this particular instance I was thinking more about either Titebond or Old Brown Glue, neither of which would present an insuperable problem for the luthier if the attempted repair were to fail.

Worth a shot IMO.

[redir]

A friend of mine, old college roomate, 'repaired' his classical guitar by injecting it with glue about 20 years ago. I visited him a few months ago after many years and it was still being held together hahahaah!

I don't at all recommend this type of repair mind you, but I have seen it done successfully. If it's a real cheapo guitar then I agree that injecting it with Titebond won't hurt it in the future.

[herrakonna]

Well, I had the bridge repaired (removed and re-glued) by a local guitar repair shop (which seems highly regarded and only does repairs and custom work) and cosmetically everything is perfect, like new, as if nothing had ever happened, but the guitar has lost its magic. Really nice guy, and seems he did as good a job as anyone would.

But the guitar sounds dull. Dead thumping low end and much less volume.

I ended up pulling off the new strings that the shop put on after the repair, checked everything carefully (not that I'm an expert), checked that the saddle was firmly seated, felt for anything odd around the soundboard inside, put fresh strings on, the same kind as I always use, and carefully ensured the ball ends were seated perfectly, etc. Everything is exactly the same as before the repair, but still the same dull, quiet dead guitar.

It's not an expensive guitar by any means (Recording King ROS-06) but it was a joy to play and had a richness to it. I think I got lucky with one of the better sounding ones. But whatever the re-gluing did, it removed what was special.

So bummed out about it... I'm hoping that maybe, in time, the glue may cure more, or the top readjust and open up somehow a bit, and it will regain some of its former self.

Has anyone else experienced anything similar?

I don't think there's any reason or would be any benefit to take it back to the repair shop. It's not like it wasn't repaired well. It's just not the same...

[redir]

That's very odd. Re gluing the bridge almost always improves the sound if anything. But the bridge after all is indeed a brace and so essentially what he did was reglue a brace on your guitar which may have tightened it up a bit. Give it some time to play in.

BTW I've seen enough Recording King bridges come undone to recommend people avoid them. I've heard they may have since addressed the problem but what they do is glue the bridge right to the ridiculously thick finish and they all end up cracking off eventually.

If you really want to make it sound good you would remove the finish but that's a hella project to DIY and very expensive otherwise.

[cobalt60]

Wait there's really an example of a contemporary builder gluing a bridge right on top of finish?


Agreed with the advice of giving it a bit of time - at least a couple weeks.

[Ned Milburn]

Originally Posted by herrakonna

Well, I had the bridge repaired (removed and re-glued) by a local guitar repair shop (which seems highly regarded and only does repairs and custom work) and cosmetically everything is perfect, like new, as if nothing had ever happened, but the guitar has lost its magic. Really nice guy, and seems he did as good a job as anyone would.

But the guitar sounds dull. Dead thumping low end and much less volume.

I ended up pulling off the new strings that the shop put on after the repair, checked everything carefully (not that I'm an expert), checked that the saddle was firmly seated, felt for anything odd around the soundboard inside, put fresh strings on, the same kind as I always use, and carefully ensured the ball ends were seated perfectly, etc. Everything is exactly the same as before the repair, but still the same dull, quiet dead guitar.

It's not an expensive guitar by any means (Recording King ROS-06) but it was a joy to play and had a richness to it. I think I got lucky with one of the better sounding ones. But whatever the re-gluing did, it removed what was special.

So bummed out about it... I'm hoping that maybe, in time, the glue may cure more, or the top readjust and open up somehow a bit, and it will regain some of its former self.

Has anyone else experienced anything similar?

I don't think there's any reason or would be any benefit to take it back to the repair shop. It's not like it wasn't repaired well. It's just not the same...

A change in setup can affect the tone.

Was the saddle shimmed after the repair...?? New saddle?? Original saddle?? Truss adjusted...?? Same strings... (gauge / brand / type)??

[JLS]

Originally Posted by Ned Milburn

A change in setup can affect the tone.

Was the saddle shimmed after the repair...?? New saddle?? Original saddle?? Truss adjusted...?? Same strings... (gauge / brand / type)??

I was thinking saddle, too...

[herrakonna]

Well, things are at least improved.

I concluded that the re-gluing of the bridge changed the inherent dynamics of the guitar sufficiently that it should be considered a different guitar, and different guitars like different things (or so I understand) so I decided to try a Tusq Supercharger kit (PX-9110-00 bridge and pins) and some light (12-54) strings, as opposed to extra light strings (11-52) that I was using.

The original saddle (and nut) are bone, though the pins were plastic, and I thought perhaps slightly higher tension strings might also help increase the reduced volume I was hearing.

The end result is encouraging. Both volume and tone are much improved. Most of the dull, dead vibe is gone and it's close to its former volume.

Hopefully things will continue to improve over time, though I have come to terms with my conclusion that it is no longer the same guitar and will need to be played with and understood all over again...

But at least it's not disappointing to play any longer, albeit still not quite as good as it was...