The Bridge Doctor

[Taylor Martin Guild]

In another thread, someone mentioned that they had Bridge Doctors in their guitars.

What do you folks know about the use of Bridge Doctors?
My wife's Taylor guitar is starting to show some bellying that is noticable.
I took it to my Luthier and he said that the bellying isn't enough to worry about at this time.

If there comes a time that it does become something to look at repairing, I want to know if a Bridge Doctor will help.

A BD is said to also help the tone and volume of the guitar.
Has anyone experienced this?
TMG

 

[chazmo]

In another thread, someone mentioned that they had Bridge Doctors in their guitars.

What do you folks know about the use of Bridge Doctors?
My wife's Taylor guitar is starting to show some bellying that is noticable.
I took it to my Luthier and he said that the bellying isn't enough to worry about at this time.

If there comes a time that it does become something to look at repairing, I want to know if a Bridge Doctor will help.

A BD is said to also help the tone and volume of the guitar.
Has anyone experienced this?
TMG

I have only heard good things about the bridge doctor, TMG. One person I know of on the AGF (I think) cracked his bridge though by tightening things up too fast... That's the only bad thing I've heard amidst much goodness. I've considered installing one when I find things getting bad.

This could be a case of "if it ain't broke..." TMG. Unless the belly is affecting the playability of the guitar, I don't think I'd bother. Make sure your humidity is good and level for a while and see if the belly drops down a bit.

 

[wright1]

I have one fitted in my GF60R and it works a treat. Did not fancy the type that fixes with a bridge pin because it may not give as much break over the saddle. Plugged the hole with a ebony plug and you would hardly know it was there. Definitely had a good influence on the sound and controlled the bridge lift. I think that Taylor fit JLD's if there is a belly problem. Maybe try the bridge pin type and see how it works even though it sounds like you don't have a serious problem yet.

 

[gilded]

Any time something's been out for awhile I always google the name of the product and add 'horror' and 'problems'.

Well, I did it for the Bridge Doctor system. Here's what I got:

http://acapella.harmony-central.com/arc ... 38726.html

http://acapella.harmony-central.com/arc ... 65628.html

Your mileage may very.......

 

[capnjuan]

Hi TMG; you might get some good ideas here: LTG 'JlD' Search String Mostly favorable comments. Good luck! CJ

 

[killdeer43]

I picked up a D15 recently and the belly problem was substantial. I installed the Doctor in about an hour and the top is now flat. I'm sold on the product and I bought a second one for backup. It's a simple cure for a problem that could become serious if left unattended. Don't tighten it too much right away, because it's not going anywhere. If you order one, it's just as easy to order two.

Cheers

 

[12stringer]

I have a bridge doctor on my early 70's F112 and it flattened out the belly which allowed a taller saddle and helped avoid a neck reset. The tone was improved especially the bottom end which sounded deeper and clearer. I used the bolt on version and it works just fine. I also put one on my Tacoma brand jumbo 12er with excellent results there too. Belly lowered and sinking around the sound hole raised up a bit too...I made sure that the guitar was properly humidified for a few weeks (2 months in the case of my Tacoma). Proper humidification is the first thing I attempt before going to a bridge doctor...as Chazmo alluded to, sometimes proper humidification is all it takes to lower a belly or raise up the sound hole area on a guitar if the wood has dried out too much. Best of luck with your guitar :wink:

 

[Taylor Martin Guild]

Thanks everyone for your input.
I have monitored the humidity of the guitar for seberal months. It had stayed in the range of 40% to 45% the whole time.
The Taylor came with a Dampit humidifier and we have always used some type of humidifier for all our guitars.

I think that the problem may have come from storing the guitar strung up with medium strings for almost a year with very little playing.
It's my wife's guitar had she has all but stopped playing for over a year.

I have changed to light strings and I play the guitar at least once a week now.
Before putting the light strings on, I let the guitar set in it's case with the string tention loosened. I added extra humidity for about a week at that time.
The bellying has subsided quite a bit from doing this.

 

[brian f]

I've got on in my d25...the one with the brass pins. Its a great device. the only downside is if you don't have a ton of saddle left, then the brass-pin model may not give you enough break angle for the strings. other than that, its awesome. does everything it says it will do.
I'd consider putting one in any guitar as a preventative so you don't get to the point of real "trouble".