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Early 70's ES-345 Bridge Question


moonlight mystery

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Just thought I'd throw a question out there to anyone who may have some insight. I have an early 70's Gibson 345 and I've had it since the mid-90's. Lovely guitar, completely original, until now. The bridge became pretty corroded over the years and a couple of the individual string saddles had become immovable in terms of adjustment for intonation. So I had a pretty reputable guitar tech address it and see what he recommended. He recommended a new bridge entirely, which he installed. It now is intonated perfectly, up and down the neck/fretboard. But it just doesn't quite seem to have the same sustain as it did before. And therefore, just doesn't have quite the same "mojo" and ease of playing when soloing. It's a very subtle difference but I'm pretty certain I can tell a difference.

 

What is the best bridge for this guitar, for this particular issue? Or should I try going back to the original bridge but see if the individual string saddles can be fixed and made functional again? That's what I originally wanted to do but I took this guy's advice and now I'm not so sure about the finished product.

 

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks

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Great question mm......

 

I entirely get where you are coming from. This comes up a lot with vintage guitars...(I replaced the part....BUT "lost the mojo") [scared]

 

In your example, I would bath all the components of the original bridge in a naptha/oil bath (several days) and 'try' to get all of the threaded-moveable parts freed-up and 'functionable' again. IF ONLY to replace any bad saddles.

 

Either that, or try another 'brand' bridge.

 

There are many positive replacement parts available....even if not 'period-correct'.....which can be a real eyesore for 'purists'.

 

Would love to see some pictures.

 

Rod

 

 

 

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Rod,

 

Thank you kindly for your reply. You bring up some good points. I think I'm going to get the original bridge back out and try to do everything I possibly can to get it back to working order. Just not sure how realistic that is because the old screw holes are a bit "wallowed" out, as you might expect on a 40 year old Gibson.

 

I'm new on this forum, and I tried to attach a photo but it tells me it's too big. It is just a basic JPG file. ?? Not sure... I'd be glad to show a pic if I could get around this. I paid $1200 dollars for this guitar almost 20 years ago! At the time I thought that was just so much $$ for the guitar. Now I'm happy to see these going for $3500 and the likes. But I plan to keep it.

 

I really wish the fretboard were wider though. It's very narrow. Back when I got it I wasn't quite the player that I am now. Over the years I've learned that I prefer the big, fat, wide necks/fretboards. That goes for both Gibsons and Fenders.

 

Anyway, thanks again!!

 

Lee

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Ok, I was able to attach the photo now. Had to re-size it.

 

Anyway, I'm planning to try the naphtha / oil bath. How exactly do you recommend doing this? Should I combine some mineral oil with the naphtha solvent? Or should I soak it in one of these solutions at a time? If so, in what order and how long for each?

 

Just curious, because I got the bridge out and looked it over very closely and it can easily be used again. It just needs the treatment exactly as you suggested. Seems simple enough, but I wanted to ask how the steps should go exactly.

 

Thank you!

 

Lee

post-68688-039152000 1417798686_thumb.jpeg

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