In the thread re: Gibson Country and Western the subject of the plastic, adjustable bridges came up. By coincidence I'm in the midst of replacing a plastic bridge on a friends 1963/64 Gibson B25. I thought the gang might be interested in seeing some of the issues involved in putting things back together.
The bridge was pulling up on the back. The threaded plastic holes had worn so some the mounting screws did not have enough material to set. The bridge itself is very flexible so the pressure had pushed the soundboard down between the bridge and the sound holes.
You can see in these pictures the 4 smaller mounting holes have been deformed. The two larger holes are the inserts for the threaded posts that allow the saddle to go up and down. The treble side one was pushed almost thru the hole.
Finally the bridge plate had been badly chewed up.
So what to do? I have decided to replace the plastic bridge with a rosewood bridge and bone saddle. I also decided to glue a thin piece of maple over the existing bridge plate.
Here's the soundboard almost prepped and ready for the wooden bridge.
You can see I have plugged the smaller holes that secured the bridge. Not sure what I'll do with the larger holes. The larger holes are more deformed and it may create more problems if I try and plug them.
Once I have the new bridge secured I'l post some more pictures
The bridge was pulling up on the back. The threaded plastic holes had worn so some the mounting screws did not have enough material to set. The bridge itself is very flexible so the pressure had pushed the soundboard down between the bridge and the sound holes.
You can see in these pictures the 4 smaller mounting holes have been deformed. The two larger holes are the inserts for the threaded posts that allow the saddle to go up and down. The treble side one was pushed almost thru the hole.
Finally the bridge plate had been badly chewed up.
So what to do? I have decided to replace the plastic bridge with a rosewood bridge and bone saddle. I also decided to glue a thin piece of maple over the existing bridge plate.
Here's the soundboard almost prepped and ready for the wooden bridge.
You can see I have plugged the smaller holes that secured the bridge. Not sure what I'll do with the larger holes. The larger holes are more deformed and it may create more problems if I try and plug them.
Once I have the new bridge secured I'l post some more pictures
