Broken bridge classical guitar

[seosamh]

Hi all,

Just wondering on the thoughts on this, the bridge is cracked, just where it holds the saddle in place. Finally discovered it when I went to replace the strings the other day, guess that explains why I've been puzzled as to why the innotation was out on the bottom three strings!

Is it just a case of gluing this back in place? If so what glue? just white pva wood glue? Something stronger? Or should I just take it to a shop?

The guitar is a Joan Cashimira 77. So not an amazing guitar, but I like it, it's bright, loud and has a good sound, so a guitar I want to fix! It's my go to acoustic.

Any thoughts appreciated, thanks

Joe

Crack where it holds the saddle


Full guitar sans strings!

[mirwa]

I would just replace it

Steve

[Ned Milburn]

There is a very good chance that it can be glued without the need to replace the bridge. Repair cost would be cheap. If the saddle is on the lower side rather than the taller side, there will be less torque and less chance of splitting again. Even if a re-glue did not last, the bridge could then be replaced when deemed a necessary last resort.

Some people would use high-quality CA for this job, and that is what I would tend towards as well. A single mini-hole drilled and a brad nail inserted could help, since it is shear strength that is required here. The brad would likely avoid any necessity for bridge replacement.

Really quite simple.

Or you could replace the bridge. And have it finished to match. And pay a lot more. And lose some of the original guitar.

[Norman2]

Hi, i would replace the whole bridge as the finish will never look as clean.
No so difficult or expensive to replace whole bridge. They are available on e-bay
Regards
Norman2

[seosamh]

Thanks,

I think I'll give the gluing and pinning a go, see how it goes. Worst comes to the worst, I can get the bridge replaced, guess attempting a fix won't do any harm.

[Ned Milburn]

Originally Posted by seosamh

Thanks,

I think I'll give the gluing and pinning a go, see how it goes. Worst comes to the worst, I can get the bridge replaced, guess attempting a fix won't do any harm.

It may well be the case that you don't even need the pin.

High quality thin CA (CyanoAcrylite - aka: crazy glue or super glue) applied from the inside of the saddle slot, should easily wick into the whole crack and if applied in just the right amount shouldn't even have much if any overspill/squeeze-out.

[arie]

glue up with ca or epoxy. make sure the saddle fits clean, square, and "relatively" snug. too tight and you'll crack again, too loose and the saddle may roll in the slot -cracking the bridge again. i generally put a .010 chamfer on the bottom edges of saddles because saddle slots aren't always completely sharp and square at their bottom edges.

[seosamh]

Just tried the superglue, seems to be working well, and pretty mess free. Just put the saddle in and tried to push the broken bit, it's holding well. Now time to string the guitar up and see if it holds, and if the position is right to fix the intonation issues i was having(should do, just fitted back into place and the saddle looks well positioned).

Fingers crossed!

Thanks again, everyone, appreciate the advise!

[seosamh]

yip, that's worked a treat, strings are all properly stretched now, and the intonation sounds great!

My guitar is musical sounding again!

Must have been slowly getting weaker, as the sound in the guitar had been bothering me for a good while, obviously worse lately!