Bridge Out!! Questions
Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2018 12:34 am
One of my customers brought in an electric guitar that had some "bridge issues".
The posts have moved forward under string pressure, and one of them actually pulled out.
I have attached a couple of pics to help explain.
You can see that the wood in between the bridge and the bridge pickup has cracked all the way through, and moved forward slightly.
The holes are oblonged. The other side is not quite as bad, but still cracked all the way through. First a bit of background.
The guitar is a Parker Fly. It has a vibrato bridge very similar to a Strat.
The bridge is equipped with piezo saddles that seem to be run through the bridge plate, and then run through one thin wire to the control cavity. The wiring seems to be "glued" or "coated" onto the underside of the bridge plate. I'm not sure how that system works. I will post a couple pics of it in my next post, so you can have a look also.
I do not want to lose the piezo capacity, even though the owner doesn't really care. He says it's ok to put a different bridge on the guitar if necessary. He does not use the vibrato, so it's ok to lose that too.
My thoughts are to cut the broken piece out and replace it with new wood. I would even fill the spring cavity with new wood, and fill in behind the trem block also, to stabilize the bridge in one position. That way, I could drill new mounting holes and screw the bridge plate down, leaving room for the piezo wiring.
My questions are these: What in your opinion is the best way to proceed? Do you think my method will work, or is there an easier better way?
The posts have moved forward under string pressure, and one of them actually pulled out.
I have attached a couple of pics to help explain.
You can see that the wood in between the bridge and the bridge pickup has cracked all the way through, and moved forward slightly.
The holes are oblonged. The other side is not quite as bad, but still cracked all the way through. First a bit of background.
The guitar is a Parker Fly. It has a vibrato bridge very similar to a Strat.
The bridge is equipped with piezo saddles that seem to be run through the bridge plate, and then run through one thin wire to the control cavity. The wiring seems to be "glued" or "coated" onto the underside of the bridge plate. I'm not sure how that system works. I will post a couple pics of it in my next post, so you can have a look also.
I do not want to lose the piezo capacity, even though the owner doesn't really care. He says it's ok to put a different bridge on the guitar if necessary. He does not use the vibrato, so it's ok to lose that too.
My thoughts are to cut the broken piece out and replace it with new wood. I would even fill the spring cavity with new wood, and fill in behind the trem block also, to stabilize the bridge in one position. That way, I could drill new mounting holes and screw the bridge plate down, leaving room for the piezo wiring.
My questions are these: What in your opinion is the best way to proceed? Do you think my method will work, or is there an easier better way?