1981 Guild F212 Bridge Height/Thickness

[Scott C. Bryan]

Hello Everyone!

     I have a stringed instrument repair shop in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains, where a client of mine has brought me his well-worn 1981 Guild F212 12-String acoustic guitar.  The owner of this guitar uses it when performing with his wife in local clubs and restaurants, and unfortunately, has taken it to less experienced repair shops over the years, who instead of resetting the neck when needed, chose to shave the bridge and saddle progressively down to the point where there no longer is any string break angle over the saddle.  The current bridge on this guitar is less than .220" in height, and combined with the wear and tear of the owners heavy playing style, is no longer usable as a reference for making a new bridge, except for the basic outline/footprint shape.  I'm guessing that a new bridge height around .350" would work, but since I'm restoring the instrument, I want to return it as close as possible to original factory specs, before properly resetting the neck.  Any information on American made Guild 12-string bridge heights would be greatly appreciated.

                                                                                    Thank you in advance!!!

                                                                                            Scott 

[FRANK]

the epiiphone Gibson 12 string here in my shop is .300 give or take

[Len Biglin]

Can't help you with the bridge height but I would advise that you check the 1st s/bd brace , they can be a bit over scallopped at each end , and allow the s/bd to cave -in in that area . Dang hard to fix though ! Len

[Frank Ford]

In those days, Guild was not very consistent with bridge height, so it was not uncommon to see new instruments with bridges barely 1/4" thick in the center. Other factories also used different height bridges depending on how the neck angle worked out.

Your suggested height of .350 is right where I'd put it.

[Scott C. Bryan]

To Frank, Len, and Paul,
Thanks everyone for your replies and information. I'm glad I found you, and hopefully in the near future, I can return the information favor to someone else looking for help!

[Dave]

You might check over at the "Lets Talk Guild" forum: http://letstalkguild.com/phpBB2/index.php?sid=242c437dbcbc22c97d675...... several folks over there have F212s, and may be willing to measure the bridge height for you (the previous comment on Guild bridge heights is spot on... I have several Guild dreads from the 70s thru 90s, and bridge heights range from 1/4" to over 5/16").

Also, you might contact Hans Moust (author of the Guild Guitar Book) to see if he has a bridge that you might use... he is an LTG member, and often helps folks out finding parts to retore their old Guilds. His website is http://www.guitarchives.nl/guitarsgalore/

[Scott C. Bryan]

Thanks Dave for your reply, and the helpfull links for additional info!!! Scott