My son has been gifted a damaged acoustic guitar and is looking to repair and service it to work on his skills. Were wondering what suggestions people have for how to tackle the issue in the photo.
My son has been gifted a damaged acoustic guitar and is looking to repair and service it to work on his skills. Were wondering what suggestions people have for how to tackle the issue in the photo.
Ouch, that hurts.
It looks like someone has tried to reglue the bridge!
Maybe try something similar to how you mend a hole in plasterboard!!
Straight up, and (disclaimer) I have never done this - I think I would remove the bridge completely using a chisel. Clean up the body with a chisel. Clean the bottom of bridge. Remove the damaged section of top (which is smaller than the size of the bridge). Add/glue a solid piece of wood/ply (bigger than the "hole") under the damaged section and well under the strong undamaged section. Add/glue a ply piece to fill in the damaged "hole". Sand the new top flat. Reglue the bridge.
Sounds easy
Good luck. I will think some more on this as well. I would also look online for other suggestions.
Definitely proceed with caution!
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Somebody really did a number on that! It looks like maybe it was pulling up a bit, and someone tried (or actually did) remove the bridge, and then tried to glue it...maybe with a urethane glue?
+1 I haven't done it either, but I think for sure remove the bridge as carefully as you can with a sharp, thin chisel or blade. If that is urethane glue remove it all. I think I also see dowels. Since that's not usually how an acoustic is constructed I am guessing someone tried to fix this before. You'll need to fill under the bridge and then flatten the top, as TD suggests to have a platform that is strong enough to hold the bridge.Originally Posted by Trevor Davies
That said, given the level of damage, I don't think the top will ever be strong enough to use a tail-pin bridge again. What you might be able to do is use a trapeze tailpiece:
It would be nice to do it as in the first pic, but the break angle may not be steep enough, which is why the two other pictures have a bar behind the saddle to improve the angle. A bar of some kind would also cover the holes for the string pins. You might need to put some felt or rubber feet under the bar on the trapeze to keep it from rattling.
String-pin bridges put a lot of upward and toward-the-neck pressure on the bridge. They have to rely on really good bracing to keep the bridge from pulling itself off. Trapeze-bridge setups put downward pressure on the bridge that helps to hold it in place, which is, I imagine, why most stringed instruments use them...including many early acoustic steel-string guitars.
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