Bridge problem on a Broadway

[Gary_B]

I have an Epiphone Broadway (number I06102037), and every time I play it the bridge moves and then, of course, the tuning is out. It’s not the I’m playing it harshly, it just happens, always downwards towards the knobs. I’ve had it looked at and setup but it didn’t last. How do people prevent this from happening? I’ve heard of people using double sided sticky tape but am concerned that this could damage the layer on the body. Any advice would be very welcome. Thanks Gary

[ksdaddy]

It's a fairly common practice to 'pin' floating bridges down, typically with small skinny screws. I'm not an advocate of it simply because I don't like drilling holes in guitars. I've had bridges shift on me though. Sometimes I scratch a little cross hatch pattern into the underside of the bridge feet. With luck, those little grooves dig into the top's finish just enough so it doesn't shift. I understand your concern about marring the finish with tape but sometimes it's unavoidable in order to make something work.

[cody78]

What gauge strings do you have on it? Normally heavier (12 or 13's etc.) strings will fix the problem with the extra tension and pressure over the bridge. I have a Gretsch Electromatic which came with rather light strings and used to move around a lot. When I restrung it with a heavier gauge strings it stopped moving. I haven't had any problems with my Gibson or Epi's that have floating bridges as the strings they came with were 12's I believe, I imagine if I played them super hard (as in metal on an archtop!) they may move though.

 

If this doesn't work go with ksdaddy's advice.

[kidblast]

Cody's question is probably a great one. I use 11s, and my bridge never moves on either my broadway or regent. If you are using 10s or lighter, there's a good chance that's why it's moving.