Glued bridge on Silvertone (wrong spot)

[Pim Boerdijk]

Hi everybody,

Yet another question about the Silvertone 1485. The previous problem has been fixed, but this one seems to be a bit more gnarly.

One of the previous owners has glued the bridge onto the top, but it is glued on the wrong spot. All saddles should be adjusted further towards the bigsby, but this is obviously impossible at the moment.

The maximum compensation I can get at the moment is 0.09" which is fine for the high E, but all the other strings are sharp. The bass side should move back about 1/4" if I calculated it correctly.

My main concerns:

1) I don't know what kind of glue is used.

2) I don't have the right equipment for finish touch-ups (I think removing the bridge will leave quite a mark, since the finish is in quite bad shape to start with)

Does any of you have any recommendations? If not, I will tell the customer to go to another repair-guy.

Thanks in advance!

[Pim Boerdijk]

I'm pretty sure that the customer would love a rollerbridge, I just haven't come across any 9.5" radius ones:) Thanks for the advice on the bridge. I have an old Dutch archtop with the same fretwire/saddle idea. I was thinking that I could also use a normal T.O.M. and file the saddles to match the FB radius and round the tops of the saddles.

But still: preferably a roller bridge, just haven't found the right one yet.

[Jelle van Tilburg]

Hello Pim, 

Not a fan of these bridges, but not a fan of unnecessarily risking any damage to the lacquer/finish either.

Maybe a bit of a side road, but you could opt for 3 or 4 new saddles (with contact/intonation point further back). Someone with a mill/ machine shop could make these easy enough. I wouldn't be able to predict the cost of this but.

[Pim Boerdijk]

Hi Jelle, thanks for your reply. I understand where you're coming from, but that would mean 5 new saddles, which would probably pivot the bass-side of the saddle. A quarter of an inch is quite some extra travel without moving the bridge. Also the customer wouldn't mind a bit of lacquer damage if it means he can use this (let's be honest) nice sounding guitar in the studio and on stage again!

[Jelle van Tilburg]

Hello Pim, 

Sorry, just now noticed the straightedge/marks above the bridge. That is quite a bit off allright!

[Mark Pollock]

I would dribble just a little warm water on the area, and see if any glue changes color or loosens up. Be ready with some denatured alcohol to quickly wipe over th area if the finish starts to cloud.

[Pim Boerdijk]

Sorry guys, haven't got around to updating you yet.

After heating the bridge up, it came off quite easily (and very clean too). I found out no glue was used, it was double-sided tape which had gotten a very good stick over time. I couldn't move it one bit, but heat did the trick.

The owner wanted to give the stock bridge another go, but I think he'll be back soon to have me put on another bridge.

Thanks everyone!

[Demetry Merkuloff]

I somehow knew it was a double-side tape :))))