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#1
07-18-2014, 04:42 PM
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Bridge lifting and coming unglued
Just finished up the work on my '55 Gibson LG1, so I thought!
Strung it up with light gauge and the top bellied more! The bridge is pulling away from the top. Now gotta fix that. Will repairing and slightly sanding the bridge to the contour of the top when not strung up, fix this belly? It has never been shaved but apparently it's warped to this shape from all the loose bracing that I fixed. Would heat pressing fix it without sacrificing any bridge material? 
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#2
07-18-2014, 08:02 PM
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If the bridge is significantly warped, often times the best is to replace it. Mildly warped bridges can sometimes be reshaped on their bottoms (ie: the gluing face) to fit the guitar top better.
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---- Ned Milburn NSDCC Master Artisan Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
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#3
07-18-2014, 09:15 PM
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That's what I meant by shaving the bridge to the contour of the top when not stressed.
The guitar sure did belly as soon as I tuned the strings to pitch. I may remove the bridge tomorrow and see if I can heat press it and make some cauls to press the bridge plate.
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#4
07-20-2014, 09:59 AM
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Removing the bridge this morning...
The factory nuts came off with ease and I noticed another loose end on the brace under the pick guard next to the bridge plate. If it comes down to it, and I hope not, how hard is it to remove the bridge plate to reglue? Also, I've seen a handful of people immerse a warped bridge into boiling water for 3-5 minutes to let the wood cells return to their original state. What's the verdict on this? I really don't want to sand any material off this bridge.
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#5
07-20-2014, 12:06 PM
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I love hide glue! Lol
The pearl dots came out easily and the bridge didn't take much wood when it came off. The wood attached is a thin layer that appears to have broke loose when the bridge began to lift.  I removed the wood and heated up the bridge and clamped it to my flat aluminium bar stock. The bridge plate is very long and appears to be tight still. There is a little damage where the strings rest. Makes me wish I had the bridge saver tool to make new plugs. Hopefully after the "last" brace is repaired and bridge is glued, it'll be back to restored state!
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