A pain in this young bucks side

[Ian Supplee]

Just bought a banjo its a nice one a good quality one. I know they as well as mandolins have moveable bridges and when you change strings on them it makes thing difficult anybody have any of there own methods to share on here for keeping this bridge still?.

Ian Supplee

[Matt Haugen]

You could mark the foot print with a pencil , or use tape to hold it in place.

[Ned Knepp]

Pencil works for me.

[Paul Verticchio]

Ian,

When I restring banjos & mando's, I put the strings on with the bridge off of the instruments and slide the bridge under the strings while they're reasonably loose. Then I bring the strings up to tension.

To "witness" where the bridge was: I too employ the mighty Dixon-Ticonderoga #2 on banjos & low-tack tape on mando's. I do this only after determining (as part of the setup) if the bridge is properly located.  If not, I get it corrected & then "mark" the spot.

You'll be surprised at  how many of those instruments had misplaced/misaligned bridges to begin with. 

Have a great week (:

[Ned Knepp]

Paul,

 I consider my pencil marks to be a "close" registration point. I always adjust the intonation as I tune the instrument. I use it on all my instruments that have floating bridges. On a wood top I use it very lightly so I don't dent the finish.

I like pencil because it can be erased easily if there is ever a problem or a change in the setup but it's permanent enough to last from string change to string change and I wouldn't do that with tape.

I have seen several mandolins that have bridge marks on the top that are out of place. I suppose most of them are caused by people that change strings but don't mark the proper location first. I've seen a couple with long scratches where someone was in the habit of sliding the bridge back into place under pressure. I even saw a mandolin that had felt under the feet of the bridge so "it wouldn't mar the finish" ( no, it wasn't positioned properly either ). Go figure.

[Pierre-Antoine Roiron]

Once it's set-up properly, I use an x-acto to mark its place, gently is the key word.

[Ian Supplee]

Thanks guys always a boat load of info and losts of great help.

Ian Supplee