New old guild questions

dreadnut

Gone But Not Forgotten
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I'm just thinking that bridge looks pretty chewed up and it wouldn't be tough to come up with an exact replica. The cracks are one thing; the string gouges are another.
 

donnylang

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I know nothing about this stuff but - could it be due to the nylon strings having been tuned up for a super long time? Classical guitar bridges are designed differently, maybe for this reason?
 

bobouz

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Imho, structural stability easily overrides originally when it comes to the bridge & bridgeplate area, and the originality of a saddle means next to nothing.

This bridge is currently a mess. With the cracks having a minimal gluing surface & then being under constant pressure when restrung, the probability of failure after gluing seems quite high.

In a heartbeat, I would opt for a new bridge made out of Brazilian rosewood.
 

kostask

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I know nothing about this stuff but - could it be due to the nylon strings having been tuned up for a super long time? Classical guitar bridges are designed differently, maybe for this reason?

No matter how long the nylon strings are tuned to pitch, or higher than standard pitch for that matter, they will not cut into a rosewood bridge. They will stretch or even break before they cut into rosewood.

Traditionaly classical guitar bridges are designed for strings that do not have ball ends. The ends of the strings need to be tied in a certain way. The classical guitar bridges do not use pins, and do not have pin holes.

The strings on this guitar are ball end nylon. Slightly unusual, but they do exist, and are used because this guitar doesn't have a traditional classical guitar bridge (sometimes called a tie block type bridge).
 

mavuser

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no big deal to replace the bridge. Hans may have an original one that is a match. Otherwise, a new one can be made of rosewood to be an in-kind replacement. Highly recommend John Pearse SL550 11 gauge strings for these. looks like a nice Troubadour SB, welcome to the forum!
 
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