Bridge re-glueing on a Gibson Pics added post#11

[dobro03]

Pics were added to post #11

My neighbor has a 2010 Gibson Legend J45 that sounds fantastic. He's not the original owner and bought it from someone out of state about 6 years ago. I noticed there were finish lines around the rosewood bridge which looks like maybe the bridge has moved. So I got a piece of paper and could slide it under part of the bridge on the lower middle of the bridge. He's never had the guitar repaired in the 6 years he has owned it.

If I can see the nitro finish lines all around the outside edges of the bridge, is that unusual other than the fact the bridge obviously needs to be re-glued? Or does that possibly mean the bridge was once re-glued and not that well? The guitar isn't that old.

Any idea what a good luthier/repairman would charge to re-glue the bridge and also is it usual to be able to see the nitro finish lines just around the entire bridge. If the bridge has moved a touch, seems like you would only see the finish lines on one side. Finally, does this hurt the value of the guitar if he ever decides to sell it? It's not a vintage instrument but I'm assuming he paid quite bit for this.

Thanks.

[Wade Hampton]

Dobro, I’m not going to speculate on how this might affect the market value of the guitar, but so long as the repair work is executed in a clean, professional way, it shouldn’t hurt it much.

If the bridge hasn’t distorted badly it might be possible to simply inject some glue under it and clamp it down. I’ve been able to get away with having that repair done several times because I’ve caught the problem before it got serious. I think I paid between $50 and $75 for that repair the times I’ve had it done.

If it’s gone past that point where it can still be glued and clamped, then it’s a more labor-intensive and expensive repair, because the bridge will have to be removed, have its underside planed flat, then be reglued. In really serious cases a whole new bridge might have to be made.

But based on your description of the gap under the bridge, it seems likely to me that simply gluing and clamping it down ought to be all it needs.

So long as that gets done SOON, though. If your buddy doesn’t get around to taking the guitar in to get worked on for a few months, the story could change. Tell him that the longer he waits to get this fixed, the more serious the problem will become, and the exponentially more expensive it will be.

Fix it soon = not too expensive

Fix it in six months or a year = WAY more expensive

Hope this helps.


Wade Hampton Miller

[nitram]

Amen to that.

[L20A]

I have had two guitars that needed to have a bridge re-glued.
One had to have the bridge removed and re-set.
The other one was able to have glue injected and the bridge clamped.
Both are still stable and no lifting at all.
The injection work was about 5 years ago and cost $50.00.
The re-set was over 15 years ago and I don't remember how much that cost.

[dobro03]

Thanks guys. The thing that struck me the oddest was the little 'impressions' around the bridge where you could see the nitro finish looked different than the whole guitar finish. It wasn't a different color, it just looked different and there were tiny impressions IN the finish all the way around the bridge. I have several vintage Martins and a McCollum and never had the bridge issue so not sure how the finish should look around the bridge when it is coming up or moving.

Thanks for any and all suggestions.

[mirwa]

Being he bought it used, then anything is possible.

That being said, brand new of the shelf guitars are sometimes repaired before they are sold, I do warranty work for quite a few well known brands including Gibson and I repair at least one new of the shelf guitar every week

Steve

[brianhejh]

If the bridge can be repaired, (glue injected) what would be the best glue to use?

Thanks

Brian

[ruby50]

Further on Brian's comment - how do you know what glue was used? If it was Titebond or similar, my understanding is that just adding more glue and clamping does not work. What's your experience?

Ed

[mirwa]

Only time I inject fresh glue into place is when I know what’s there, brand new guitar from manufacturer, no probs.

I personally pull bridges and reglue them on anything I’m unsure off.

If the original poster shows photos of the bridge and it’s surrounds a more educated “””guess””” can be given, any marks around a bridge are typical of someone having had to work the glue line to remove and refit it.

Steve

[dobro03]

Originally Posted by mirwa

Only time I inject fresh glue into place is when I know what’s there, brand new guitar from manufacturer, no probs.

I personally pull bridges and reglue them on anything I’m unsure off.

If the original poster shows photos of the bridge and it’s surrounds a more educated “””guess””” can be given, any marks around a bridge are typical of someone having had to work the glue line to remove and refit it.

Steve

I'll see if I can get a few pics of the bridge. I'm not a repairman but the bridge looks fine it just struck me odd that I could see finish lines around the entire bridge approx 1/32". Seems like the bridge would cover all the nitro finish and if it was coming up you would just be able to put a piece of paper under the bridge to see that space, but no finish lines?

[dobro03]

Got a few pics of the bridge if this helps with any opinions.

[lar]

Originally Posted by mirwa

Being he bought it used, then anything is possible.

That being said, brand new of the shelf guitars are sometimes repaired before they are sold, I do warranty work for quite a few well known brands including Gibson and I repair at least one new of the shelf guitar every week

Steve

Hi Mirwa,

My understanding (from taking wood shop classes) is that a glued joint is stronger than the wood itself. If a bridge failed such that it actually separated from the top- does it take a lot of the (top) wood with it? Ouch!

Considering the impressive strength of wood glue, what would cause a bridge to fail like this? Not enough glue used? The top wood and bridge not sanded down prior to gluing? The bridge not being clamped down long enough on the top? ....?

Thanks,
Larry

[mirwa]

From your photos, I do not see any evidence of the bridge having been worked free by a repairer and refitted, the very small lines coming off are typical nitro cracks

Some people say glue is stronger than wood, I find that to be too general of a statement, many times I find wood stronger and in some situations glue is stronger.

Typically I find top tear outs occur when a soft wood like western red cedar is involved or someone used a razor blade to mark the paint line and scored the long grain.

Glue has its limitations, if its exposed to enough heat it will soften and loose its strength, if a top has too much rotation of the bridge area then the load at the glue bridge interface is typically to great to withstand the string tension and glue creep starts to occur until failure.

I removed refitted three bridges this morning, each had a different reason for failure, The martin had a top that was too thin, the tanglewood had too much rotation of the bridge and provided creep, the other tanglewood has not been looked after well, i suspect exposed to heat from a hot car

Steve

[dobro03]

Mirwa-

So you don't have any worries about the nitro finish from what you can see in the pics? If I was able to slide a piece of typical copy paper under the back side middle of the bridge, is that a worry and is that typical on the Gibson Legend and hide glue?

[mirwa]

Paper going under the edge of the bridge is not bad if its retained in the outer 1-2mm.

Some manufacturers do a thing called micro routing, they route the edge of the bridge down, this allows the bridge to sit over the finish around the perimeter and give a clean seamless look.

Steve