See Anything Wrong Here?
Source: Guitar Bridge Repairs; Guitar Buzzes
Removing Metal From the Bridge:
As you may or may not know, this is one of my pet peeves in the guitar making world. Just let me make it clear that metal has no place anywhere within the Acoustic or Classical Guitar. The only exceptions that I make to this is the use of bolts for a bolt-on Acoustic Guitar neck and of course the metal used for tuning machines and frets. Other than those items, you guitar should be metal-free.
How Can You Tell If a Bridge Has Metal Fasteners?
Outwardly, they are often hidden. The biggest giveaway is the use of Mother of Pearl Dots used on either side of the saddle. This often conceals the screw or bolt heads hidden below the surface of the bridge. Just take a look at the photo at the top of this article. Think there are screws or bolts under those innocent looking MOP dots? I do.
Why The Fasteners Were Used:
I really don’t have a good answer as to whey some of the best vintage guitars used metal. I would guess they felt that the bridge would be less likely to lift with screws or bolts holding it down.
Actually this was not a good decision by the guitar manufacturer as there was more often than not plenty of surface area for the bridge to be glued securely to the guitar top plate.
More Venting:
Metal does not aid in the tone of a guitar, if fact it is a big factor to dampen sound when used in the guitar bridge – which is the worst possible place to use metal.
One of the bigger culprits in rattles or buzzes is a loose metal fastener that was used in a guitar bridge. As far as a quick fix – it is possible to inspect the underside of the guitar bridge and you will likely see bolts sticking down through the bridge plate.
Quite often the nuts rattle loose from all the vibration of the top over the years. Simply take a small nut driver or better yet a ratchet wrench and tighten the nuts tightly against the top.
Removal of Bolts or Screws.
Removing of the metal screws or bolts that hold down a bridge is a simple fix. Just follow the easy steps outlined below:
Step 1: Just lift the MOP dots with the tip of an Xacto knife. If you can’t lift them you can always drill them out and completely replace the dots.
Step 2: Now remove the nuts from the bolt end below. They may be held into place by glue when the bridge was glued so try to unscrew them of tap them. Also try to work them loose from the underside of the bridge with a pliers.
Step 3: Once the bolts are out, just clean the MOP dot holes and insert new shell. You may need to go a size larger if you damaged the bolt hole. I usually select the MOP dot and then use the next biggest Brad Point Drill Bit.
Step 4: With a Drill Press, very gently drill down just far enough to allow the dot to rest flush with the top of the bridge. Mix up epoxy glue and wood dust that is the same color as the bridge. Let dry and sand flush.
The More Obvious Metal
You will see more than one guitar builder use an adjustable metal or bone saddle used in the bridge. This can take on several configurations, but the most common you will see will be a slotted screw on either side of the saddle that is used for the adjustment.
To get this metal out you are best off completely removing the saddle and the adjusting mechanism. Usually you can save the bridge and this is done by by completing the following steps.
Step 1: Completely remove the metal saddle or bone if it is adjustable. Unscrew the saddle completely and remove the adjustment mechanism from inside the guitar. These will usually be threaded inserts that need to be removed.
Step 2: Fashion a wood plug that closely approximates the bridge wood species, color and grain pattern. You will have to carefully measure the slot width, length and height using a vernier calipers. Make sure it fits snugly.
Step 3: Use Epoxy Glue for exotic wood and glue the plug in place. Sand down when dry and you will hardly see the plug.
Step 4: Determine the correct placement of the saddle by doubling the distance from the nut to the 12th fret. This will be the correct distance to the center of the saddle between the 3rd and 4th strings.
Step 5: Rout the saddle groove into place and make the correct compensation adjustments and you are ready to rock and roll.
When Do You Leave Metal In It’s Place?
There are a couple of instances when you would not take the metal out of a bridge and keep in mind that this is somewhat speculative.
Vintage Guitars: Some of the old vintage Gibson and other manufacturers used metal screws in their prewar guitar construction. To stay absolutely true to the original specs, you would not remove these bolts. Although honestly, I don’t know if it would affect the guitar’s value all that much.
Guitars Not Worth The Repairs: Obviously there are some of the really cheap guitars where it matters not what you do to them, they could be better used as a canoe paddle rather than a fine instrument.
Tags: Guitar Bridge Repairs, how to improve your guitar tone, how to remove bridge bolts, removing metal from the bridge
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