Shifting bridge on starfire III problem

[Albert Richie]

I have recently traded my Gibson Garry Moore/Les Paul signature guitar for a blond 1996 Guild starfire III. The sound and the feel of the starfire is just perfect for me and I can see myself playing this one for the rest of my life. I love it.

There is only one problem. Even though I don’t use a pick I have a a right hand style that can be quite heavy. The bridge is only held in place by the pressure of the strings and is tends to shift up and down and horizontal. It hasn’t made too many scratches yet so I can see where it’s supposed to be and push it back. But in the long run it’s going to cause permanent damage.

I can’t imagine I’m the only one to have run into this problem, so I hope there’s anybody here who knows a remedy for it.

Is there a way to secure the bridge in place?

 

[Walter Broes]

There are several fixes for this, all of them pretty effective :

-double sided tape under the bridge base. Make sure it's thin - I've used those little double sided-adhesive photo squares on wooden bases with succes. Any kind of thin double stick tape should work though

-on rosewood bases, and I don't see why this wouldn't work on aluminum ones, you can glue very fine sandpaper to the bridge base, facing the guitar body. This will immobilise a bridge too. Some people have succesfully used balloon rubber the same way.

-a very elegant and invisible way of pinnning a bridge is to put two small nails, brads, under the bridge in the guitar body, preferably into the parallel braces under the guitar's top , with about a millimeter protruding from the top. You then drill two small holes in the underside of the bridge base for these nails to grip into, just deep enough for the protruding part of the nail to fit into, and your bridge is pinned.

-Some people just drill two holes through the bridge base on the outside of the bridge posts and put woodscrews through them into the guitar's top and braces. Not very elegant, but highly effective of course.

Before you attempt any of these methods of securing a bridge base, map out the exact intonated location of your guitar's bridge on the guitar top - especially with a non-adjustable bridge like the Bigsby bridges Starfires come with.
Decide on a string gauge for the guitar, set the intonation for the outer E strings perfectly using a tuner and moving the base around until the intonation is just right, and then put masking tape on the guitar and draw the exact location of the bridge base on it with a pencil or a marker.

Before immobilising your bridge base, it's also worth checking whether the bridge base's radius conforms perfectly to the guitar's top - this will help both the bridge staying in place, and the bridge's string vibration transfer to the guitar's top/body.

Oh...Ik zie nu pas dat ik heel dit verhaal ook in het nederlands had kunnen doen...doh! :lol:

 

[Albert Richie]

Dank je!

 

[Squawk]

Walter definitely knows more about these things than I, but what worked for me was using those little thin self-stick circles that are sold to paste to the bottom of porcelain items to protect furniture from being scratched. Depending on how hard your right hand is, this might work - and while it creates friction so the bridge doesn't move, it can't harm your guitar. Then again, if you're hitting the strings very hard, it might not give you enough friction to prevent the bridge from moving.

Some two-sided tape can damage your finish. If you try two-sided tape, make sure it's safe for hardwood floors - I ruined the finish of my floor using two-sided tape on a rug, which is why I was afraid to try it on my precious Starfire.

BTW, I have a '99 Starfire III with the aluminum Bigsby bridge - great guitar - it is definitely one of my favorites too. Enjoy it!

 

[coastie99]

Pleased I spotted this post.

Timely, cos my Supro Ozark has just come back from the guitar doctor's, and the thought had occurred to me that the bridge might shift.

I'll try the double-sided tape routine.

Thanks guys.

 

[hansmoust]

I have recently traded my Gibson Garry Moore/Les Paul signature guitar for a blond 1996 Guild starfire III.

Hello Albert,

Not that it matters that much but there was no 'reissue' Starfire III yet in 1996.
If you give me the complete serial number, I should be able to tell you when exactly your Starfire III was made.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore.nl

 

[Albert Richie]

You're right I rembered it wrong when I typed it. It's either a 97,98 or 99. The list of numbers I have doesn't get more specific than that. As you said it doesn't matter that much. It's fairly new one, that's al I meant to say.

De serial number is AG-300164.

Still a great guitar. :lol:

 

[hansmoust]

dating Starfire III

It's either a 97,98 or 99. The list of numbers I have doesn't get more specific than that. As you said it doesn't matter that much.

Hello Albert,

Yup, serial # AG300164 makes it a Starfire III from 1997.

Hope you have fun with it!

Sincerely,

Hans Moust