Gibson J45 Progressive has a progressive bridge.

[RustyAxe]

The first thing I thought was "hasn't Gibson done this before, and haven't many (most?) owners modified it?". It didn't work very well then ... and now?

[Peegoo]

Yeah, you'd think Gibson would come around to the notion that adjustable bridges are not ready to be accepted by the majority of guitar players.

[Pitar]

Originally Posted by Peegoo

That's the issue with this design: there's nothing but air beneath the center of the metal bridge that contains the saddles. It's like a typical Tune-o-Matic bridge on a Les Paul/SG/335. There is a threaded post at each end of the bridge that allows up and down adjustment for overall string height.

If you look at the first pic, you can see the two threaded brass inserts that accept the threaded posts.

The metal bridge is under-engineered; the alloy is too soft for the size of the piece, or the piece is too small to account for ductility of the alloy. And because it's cast and machined, much of the material is removed from the middle of it to allow the saddles to drop in. That further weakens the piece. This piece is a bit smaller than what you see on Gibson's electrics.

I suppose one could do away with the posts and make a flat shim for the metal bridge to rest on, but that adds more mass to the entire bridge.

I thought about this option too, but then decided to go with a wood insert and Tusq saddle because it adds very little weight. It is much lighter than the stock configuration. Intonation is bang on.

Did you relieve the wood insert to accept the brass threaded inserts to ensure the wood insert lies flat against the guitar top, or is the wood insert supported by them at either end retaining the same air gap as the (failed) original bridge? The reason owners of the adjustable bridge models replaced the entire bridge was due to sonic losses caused by that air gap.

[Peegoo]

The brass inserts have flanges around the top. These flanges are inset into pin-routed recesses, and are *just* below the the surface of the spruce top. The block sits perfectly flat.

[Bronsky]

Great looking fix.
Happy for you that your guitar plays and looks good now!

[Peegoo]

Thanks Bronsky. It is working great, so I'll keep it like this and see how she does.

[bfiore34]

I just got a 2016 J-45 progressive, and I'm loving it... for the most part. The bridge is driving me a little nuts. It's very metalic, and I get an occasional buzz. Would it be possible for you to make your wooden saddle for me? If so, what would you charge? It looks like I should be able to take the titanium one out and pop your wooded solution in the slot.

You can e-mail me directly at [email protected] if you prefer.

Thank you!!

Originally Posted by Peegoo

Closing the loop on this issue.

Gibson sent the part directly to me, and it's the same as the original part. Rather than roll the dice and possibly deal with another bridge failure, I decided to modify the bridge to accept a standard acoustic saddle.

I used a stick of pau ferro, cut to the same size and shape as the TOM bridge, so it slips right into place nice and snug. I slotted it and profiled the top to match the radius of the strings. It looks good, and plays and sounds fantastic.

Here's a picture of the horrific desecration.

https://ibb.co/ge0z38