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  #1  
Old 07-25-2022, 03:27 PM
donnyb donnyb is offline
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Default Bridge string ramps repair methods ?

I currently have a vintage 12 string guitar on the bench and waiting for some parts to arrive from the USA.

The 12 original factory bridge string ramps have at least 40 years of wear , with the G, B, and Es submerged into the bridgewood.

I assume this is not great for tone and resonance?

I don't want to do a repair that affects its vintage value, but some things do wear out and have to be replaced.

What is an acceptable repair for the issue?

I was thinking, a mix of matching bridgewood sawdust and quality thin superglue applied with the guitar vertical in small applications over a few days, and then carefully hand shape the ramps to the original factory routs.

Thankyou for reading and any advice you can give.
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Old 07-26-2022, 03:23 AM
John Arnold John Arnold is offline
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I cut and fit pieces of matching wood (rosewood or ebony, usually) and glue them in with CA. Trim flush and sand with additional applications of thin CA to fill in any tiny gaps.
Slotted bridges will require recutting the slot the minimal amount to clear the string.
It usually takes no more than a few minutes per string.
This is much more durable than CA and wood dust.
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Old 07-26-2022, 03:30 PM
donnyb donnyb is offline
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Thankyou John. There's very little information on this, plenty on why to cut ramps.
From what you said, Im envisaging thin V slivers of rosewood (in this case) using a sharp chizel to pare these off some rosewood.
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Old 07-29-2022, 02:32 PM
John Arnold John Arnold is offline
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I generally start with a long, thin piece (3+") of wood and carve the end of it to fit the slot. That allows for handling it while carving and while gluing it in with CA. After the glue sets, I clip off the remainder and proceed to the next slot.
The easiest grain alignment to execute is parallel with the slot, or perpendicular to the grain in the bridge. That seems to be less important than a color match. Matching black ebony is a cinch, but with rosewood, I tend to use a piece that is a little lighter-colored than the bridge. That is because end grain of the filler often looks a little darker when sanded smooth.
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Old 07-29-2022, 04:48 PM
donnyb donnyb is offline
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Excellent. Thankyou for that detail John. I will do this on the enveloped strings. The .008" G octave and others around .010" are clinched in the wood.

Is there a noticeable impairment to the "sound" of a string , one way or the other, when a string burrows itself into the bridge wood, or is this work mostly cosmetic and/or good practice? Im assuming this condition would diminish string vibration to the bridgeplate and soundboard but I dont have enough experience to know.
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