Tilted bridge pin holes.

[Andrew]

So last week I was getting ready to reglue a bridge on an older Gibson, and upon checking the alignment of the pin holes I noticed that they were not drilled perpendicular to the top. Sighting down the holes indicated that they tilted away from the saddle noticably. I double checked to make sure I had everything in place correctly - the edges of the pin holes, original bridge footprint, and good intonation all agreed that this was the case. It should be noted that, while the holes are somewhat worn, the angle is quite regular, so Im not too sure this was an accident.

Im wondering if anyone else has come across this and what your opinions would be from a repair point of view. Apart from a slight affect on break angle, I think this could be mostly cosmetic - but Im on the fence about it. Thoughts? Would you do something to correct the situation? If so, what might that be (understanding of course that it could be hard to say without having the guitar in hand).

Sorry, no pics. The good camera is on a painting expedition.

[Mark A. Kane]

I've noticed this, but on what guitars I don't remember. I don't recall it ever being problematic. As long as the strings are held in place reasonably well, I wouldn't mess with it.

[Mike Kolb]

Yeah, I saw this recently on a Loprinzi 6-string acoustic in for a neck reset.  It was interesting but didn't seem to pose any problems.

A new bridge had to be made and I drilled the pin holes straight with no angle... no difference was noted.

[Kerry Krishna]

Andrew, I would leave it alone. It IS an interesting post though. I had no clue anyone did this..  

[Paul Verticchio]

Hi Andrew.

I too have seen this on about 10 or so guitars over the years. Like Mark, it's not been a problem or concern for me. A few looked to be like that by design.

Of course, I'm in the camp that believes that a well cut & setup bridge/saddle/pins "system" use the pins only for "a back up plan" as the strings (again, if done correctly) do not need pins to do their job. ex: you can pull the pins under tension and the strings will stay put. I've proved this to be a true statement in casual situations, but would never depend on that observation for a gig :)

Best of luck & have fun :)

[Hesh Breakstone]

And I've seen it too but also don't remember on which guitars.  Agree with our friends here - it's not an issue and I would not do anything to address it unless you are a fan of scope creep...;)

Question though - any evidence that this bridge reglue is not the first bridge reglue?  It's standard fare to have to drill the pin holes again to remove glue and other crap from the holes after regluing a bridge.  And it's not all that difficult to get the drill angle off a bit when doing so.

Or... if the bridge had been reglued prior it may not have been placed in the exact same location which could cause the pin holes, once reamed to have an angle to them.  Manufacturers are so very lousy at cleaning up and cutting back finish under the bridge footprint that I suppose that it's possible that a bridge could have been reglued and not show outward signs of this.

[Andrew]

The bridge did not appear to have been reglued. It had certainly been strung with nothing but those wimpy little bolts holding it in place, as there was evidence of the bridge sliding forward under tension. I can't see that causing this though. If the force was enough to change the shape of the holes then it would have cracked first. Also, the tilt would have been in the other direction. And as I noted originally, the angle is pretty consistent across all six holes, so if the holes were altered at some point then this was almost certainly intentional.

Im pretty much in agreement with the general consensus here so Ill be leaving the holes alone, apart from a little reamer cleanup, oversize pins, and maybe slotting and ramping.

[Ned Knepp]

My brother used to own an old Gibson that was like this. I'm fairly sure it was the original bridge and I'm also fairly sure it was probably intentional, or at least it was very consistent in pin angle.  It wasn't a problem except that the string ball did have more of a tendency to hang on the end of the pin when first installed. The angle was pronounced enough that people that look at such things would notice it from several feet away. He had a few tell him that they had also seen this on a few others.  We always figured it was just another of the small inconsistencies that seem to be done on a whim of their workers over the decades.