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'Mel Wrangham' Orchestra Model (OM) Bridge Reglue

Related Topics:  | Cracked Bridge | Bridge Plate Repair | New Saddle |

1. A Lifting Bridge  is serious business. As the bridge/top glue joint becomes smaller, the string tension is distri- buted through an ever more concen- trated area of the top.  This will even- tually cause damage to the top, bridge and bridge plate if left unattended.	2. Removing the Bridge Pins goes quickly with the shop's flush cutting end-nippers.  We also use this tool to remove frets during refrets.
3. Removing the Saddle.  Once again, with the assistance of the flush cutting end-nippers.	4. Removing the Pickup is necessary because the lead wire from the under- saddle piezo pickup would be damaged during the bridge removal process if I didn't take the pickup out first. This pickup is attached to a pre-amp.
5. A Heat Shield to Isolate the Bridge is important since I'll be heating the ebony in order to soften the glue for ease of disassembally.	6. Softening the Glue with a Heat Lamp takes about 7 minutes.  The heat shield is protecting the finish on the top of the guitar.
7. Removing the Bridge with an Artist's Spatula.  I'm starting disassembally from the back of the bridge.  I'll first free the rear of the bridge pushing the spatula only as far as the pin holes.	8. Removing the Bridge with an Artist's Spatula Cont.  I've worked my way around the end of the bridge.  Now I'll completely sever the glue joint from the front of the bridge.
9. Bridge Removed.  The bridge came off nice and clean.  There are two very thin splinters of spruce attached to the bottom of the bridge. If the splinters are more than about .005" thick I'll glue them back down to the top.  These splinters are too thin to bother with since I'll be scraping away a few thousandths of an inch of the spruce in order to remove the old glue anyway.	10. Bridge Fitting Jig.  This simple jig is a scrap block of wood with four dowels going through it.  The two center dowles are tapered so as to guarantee a snug fit through the e string pin holes.  The 2 larger outer dowels are capped with rubberized cork in order to prevent scuffing of the ebony.  These outer dowels support the ends of the bridge.
11. Bridge Fitting Jig Cont.  Here's a picture of the top of the jig.  We made this jig to accomodate both 2 1/8" and 2 1/4" spaced bridges.	12. Rough Shaping the Bottom of the Bridge.  This jig does a great job stabalizing the bridge while I contour the bottom of the bridge to fit the top.  I start this process with a block plane frequently checking the bridge against a straight edge.
13. Final Shaping of the Bottom of the Bridge.  Now that the bridge is pretty close to its final shape I'll do the final fitting with a "scraper" razor blade.	14. Scoring the Bottom of the Bridge.  This improves the strength of the glue joint.
15. Scraping the Top Clean. I'm using my "scraper" to remove the old glue and ebony fibers from the top of the guitar.	16. Scoring the Top.  Once again, I'm doing this to increase the strength of the glue joint.
17. Bridge Reglue C-Clamp and Clamping Cauls.  Cauls help distribute the force of clamps to both protect the workpiece and ensure even clamping pressure.  The inner caul is made of hardwood and has notches cut into it to accomodate for clamping around the top braces.	18. Heating the Bridge for Gluing.  I'll be gluing the bridge with hot hide glue because hide glue won't creep as does alaphatic resin glue.  Hide glue only has an open time (time in which it can be clamped) of about 15 seconds.  Heating the parts to be glued increases the glue's open time.
19. Applying the Hot Hide Glue to the Bridge.  I've heated the glue in a double boiler.	20. Clamping the Bridge.  The two thumbscrews on the outer caul ensure that the bridge is under even clamping pressure.
21. Removing Some Squeeze Out Minutes After Gluing.  I'm doing this with a dowel into which I've carved a "cutting" edge.	22. Cleaning up Dried Glue Film with a Damp Towel.  Since hide glue is water soluble, a lightly dampened towel will easily remove any glue film from the finish and the bridge.
23. Removing the Last of the Squeeze out with a Chisel.  There were a couple of drops of squeeze out that I neglected to remove with the dowel while the glue was still curing.  That's not a problem because a sharp chisel will quickly and safely break the dried squeeze out free.	24. Reaming the Pin Holes is necessary to clear the glue that squeezed out into the pin holes.  All it takes is one or two turns to get that excess glue out of there.
25. Drilling Out the Hole for the Piezo Pickup lead is pretty straight forward.  I'm carefully running the shop's power drill at a slow speed.	26. Buffing the Finish will remove any scuff marks in the finish from the palate knife.  I was sure to clean off the knife before removing the bridge which ensured that there would be no serious damage to the finish.
27. Polishing the Finish gives the lacquer a nice shine.  I'm using Stewart MacDonald's "preservation polish".	28. All Done.  A meticulously fitted joint glued with hide glue ensures that this bridge will stay put for some time to come.
29. A Well Seated Bridge.