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  #16  
Old 01-30-2018, 12:23 PM
Edgar Poe Edgar Poe is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Parlorman View Post
Ditto on getting it fixed. If it were my guitar, I would slacken the strings. It may not fail immediately and I've seen guitars with lifting bridges stay stable for a long time, but why take the risk?
I might also add, check what gauge strings were being used, and do they conflict with Larrivee's recommendations.

Ed
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  #17  
Old 01-30-2018, 10:00 PM
kriso77 kriso77 is offline
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Quick update:

Took it to my luthier today and he confirmed what most said here. Due to dehydration, the bridge lifted. He is going to remove and reglue. It may also need a fret filing as well but he is going to monitor that after letting it hydrate for a week. I'll follow up in a few weeks after the glue cures and it's back in my hands.

Side note: The seller is being a standup guy and covering the costs.
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  #18  
Old 01-30-2018, 10:46 PM
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Acousticado Acousticado is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kriso77 View Post
Quick update:

Took it to my luthier today and he confirmed what most said here. Due to dehydration, the bridge lifted. He is going to remove and reglue. It may also need a fret filing as well but he is going to monitor that after letting it hydrate for a week. I'll follow up in a few weeks after the glue cures and it's back in my hands.

Side note: The seller is being a standup guy and covering the costs.
Good luck...hope it repairs well. Also great that the seller is honorable.
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  #19  
Old 02-01-2018, 08:49 AM
DupleMeter DupleMeter is offline
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Originally Posted by charles Tauber View Post
The bridge should be removed and reglued. You can expect to pay around $100 for that to be done by a professional.


This.

New glue doesn't stick to old glue. Bridge must be removed & both it & the top must be cleaned of old glue.

Not sure where you are, but $100 would be cheap for where I live.
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  #20  
Old 02-01-2018, 10:32 AM
Earl49 Earl49 is offline
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Originally Posted by kriso77 View Post
.....It may also need a fret filing as well but he is going to monitor that after letting it hydrate for a week......
I'd ask the luthier to file the fret ends now, while the neck wood has shrunken. It will never be an issue again, and will take him five minutes to do. This is what I do on my instruments if I discover "fret sprout". I file my own.......
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  #21  
Old 02-01-2018, 11:48 AM
charles Tauber charles Tauber is offline
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Originally Posted by DupleMeter View Post
Not sure where you are, but $100 would be cheap for where I live.
Toronto, Canada. I charged $100. The 12th fret, a long established, reputable repair shop in Toronto charges $125.

What area are you in and how much is typical there?
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  #22  
Old 02-02-2018, 08:00 AM
Ned Milburn Ned Milburn is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by L20A View Post
You may be able to have it reglued without pulling it off.
Loosten the strings and get it to a Tech ASAP.
You CANNOT reglue a lifting bridge properly without removing it and resurfacing both faces of the glue joint.

The MAIN REASON many factory made guitar bridges fail is because there is TOO MUCH finish left inside the bridge footprint. I have seen up to 4mm inside the bridge footprint covered with finish. The glue on the underside of the bridge does not make a bond with the finish, and smallifies (like that word, eh...??) the glue bond footprint.

Score finish around bridge. Remove bridge. Remove old glue and remove finish to the score mark. Level & mate carefully. Reglue WITH A GLUING CAUL. Drill out the glue squeeze out in the pin-holes. Clean glue around bridge.

Restring and happy picking!!
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  #23  
Old 02-02-2018, 08:05 AM
Ned Milburn Ned Milburn is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kriso77 View Post
Quick update:

Took it to my luthier today and he confirmed what most said here. Due to dehydration, the bridge lifted. He is going to remove and reglue. It may also need a fret filing as well but he is going to monitor that after letting it hydrate for a week. I'll follow up in a few weeks after the glue cures and it's back in my hands.

Side note: The seller is being a standup guy and covering the costs.
Just getting persnickity technical... The symptom you see does not imply that the guitar was dehydrated. Bridge lifting is usually not a humidity issue. See my above post.
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  #24  
Old 02-02-2018, 11:21 AM
guitar george guitar george is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ned Milburn View Post
Reglue WITH A GLUING CAUL.
What does a gluing caul, for this purpose, look like?
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  #25  
Old 02-02-2018, 03:35 PM
charles Tauber charles Tauber is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by guitar george View Post
What does a gluing caul, for this purpose, look like?

Here's a "fancy" one attached to a clamp from frets.com:



It's just a piece of wood or metal that is used to sandwich the thing being glued. It provides stiffness and prevents the clamps from locating crushing the wood. In the case of a bridge caul, usually, it is the shape of the bridge plate, in steel string X-braced guitars, and a straight piece with cutouts to fit over fan braces in classical guitars.
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  #26  
Old 02-02-2018, 04:42 PM
LouieAtienza LouieAtienza is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ned Milburn View Post
You CANNOT reglue a lifting bridge properly without removing it and resurfacing both faces of the glue joint.

The MAIN REASON many factory made guitar bridges fail is because there is TOO MUCH finish left inside the bridge footprint. I have seen up to 4mm inside the bridge footprint covered with finish. The glue on the underside of the bridge does not make a bond with the finish, and smallifies (like that word, eh...??) the glue bond footprint.

Score finish around bridge. Remove bridge. Remove old glue and remove finish to the score mark. Level & mate carefully. Reglue WITH A GLUING CAUL. Drill out the glue squeeze out in the pin-holes. Clean glue around bridge.

Restring and happy picking!!
Smallifies?! I like that...

I believe RainSong actually glues their bridges directly to their tops using CA glue, since it bonds to the gel coat of their guitars.
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  #27  
Old 02-02-2018, 08:24 PM
DupleMeter DupleMeter is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by charles Tauber View Post
Toronto, Canada. I charged $100. The 12th fret, a long established, reputable repair shop in Toronto charges $125.



What area are you in and how much is typical there?


I live in Fairfield County, CT right along the “Gold Coast” as they call it. Here that repair is $200. Everything is expensive here. It’s even hard to find a house for under $1MM.
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1988 Fender Fretless J Bass
1991 Washburn HB-35s
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  #28  
Old 02-03-2018, 12:40 AM
mirwa mirwa is offline
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For info I charge 120 in Australia, people underestimate the amount of work involved in removing and refitting a bridge, it’s very substantial and with significant risk to damaging the Guitar

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  #29  
Old 02-03-2018, 03:32 PM
Mr Fingers Mr Fingers is offline
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Trying to save what is, after all, a failing glue joint makes no sense. This is a full remove/reglue job, which is itself no big deal. Bridges are glued so as to be removable! Your good guitar warrants a proper repair. Take it to someone who has done this often and who is not a hack willing to learn by working on your instrument. The reglued bridge needs to be located exactly. It's the heart of your guitar.
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  #30  
Old 01-19-2022, 06:30 PM
coder coder is offline
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Default Bridge reglue

A partially separated bridege cannot be reglued without first removing the bridge, likely flattening it, and cleaning the footprint (and, if needed) the bridge of any glue. You need to have flat, clean wood surfaces for a reglue job to "take". Technically you can inject glue under the separated section, but the existing glue, that is already there, prevents effective clamping.

I recommend fixing this asap if you care about the guitar. Otherwise it will just get worse. And, the bridge will warp more and more in the process, necessitating thinning it more to get it flat again.

The big problem is that the finish almost always gets damaged around the bridge when removing and cleaning up. Repairing the finish, so that it looks intact around the bridge requires a high skill level from the person who is doing it.

One word of warning, it may take a while for the glue to "fully dry", and until that happens, the sound may be diminished. This is esp. true for Yellow Aliphatic glues, those take a while to set and harden.
Until that happens, the quitar will sound pretty bad, do not be alarmed.

Last edited by coder; 04-11-2022 at 11:10 AM.
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