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how to heat a bridge to remove it


uncle fester

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Hi All,

 

Not sure I like the bridge on my new J45, so was thinking I'd try my hand at swapping it out (hah, just kidding). I got a yard sale guitar for $20, the bridge is lifting and slightly bowed, and I'm going to try my hand at removing and straightening the bridge.

 

First thing's first, I've read to remove the bridge, you need to heat the glue. For house hold items, I've read recommendations to use an iron, have not heard mention of a hair dryer - does anyone have input or tips on ways to go about heating the glue to remove a bridge w/o totally messing up the guitar. (per my research - one of these guitars in mint condition can bring in $100 (almost), so I don't want to mess it up)

 

Thank you all for any input.

 

Tangent question, (maybe I should ask on another post) is it still possible to run into gibsons / other nice guitars in yard sale settings?

 

Rgds again - billroy

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Yard sale, no. Pawn shop, maybe.

 

It's so affordable to have a dif bridge installed professionally, I don't know why anyone would play around with it, practice or not. The trick to swapping out is keeping the same footprint, especially on a burst top. and matching the curvature of the top to the arc of the bridge underside.

 

I'd love to have a rectangular bridge J, but I missed it by a couple years.

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I've used the iron method three times. The first two worked great. The last one I lifted the nitro finish around the bridge and had to refinish the top. In my defense on that last one, I was on the phone having a heated conversation with a female "friend" while doing it. Needless to say, I was distracted. As far as a hair dryer, that's what I used to completely lift the nitro finish off the top. It peeled off like sun-burned skin.

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Thanks much, from the input it sounds like the iron is the way to go, unless i'm looking to remove the finish. I'll give it a go and see how I make out.

 

FYI - the reason I'm not going to a luthier is because they are craftsman, but they're people too. They all started somewhere, and they all learned the craft, no one was born with the knowledge. I do not have experience with guitars, but I can manage my way around a wood shop. I will never be a professional luthier, but maybe I can develop a skill or two. maybe. wait until you see my plans for clamping the darn thing to glue it on :)

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Thanks much, from the input it sounds like the iron is the way to go, unless i'm looking to remove the finish. I'll give it a go and see how I make out.

 

FYI - the reason I'm not going to a luthier is because they are craftsman, but they're people too. They all started somewhere, and they all learned the craft, no one was born with the knowledge. I do not have experience with guitars, but I can manage my way around a wood shop. I will never be a professional luthier, but maybe I can develop a skill or two. maybe. wait until you see my plans for clamping the darn thing to glue it on :)

Keep us informed!

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Although many decades ago I did spend a little time working with a luthier and actually built a guitar, I am by no means a skilled repair guy. And I am careful about what guitars I choose to work on. I keep a parts box on hand so generally have a good assortment of bridges, tailpieces, tuners and the like. The last repair I did was to fix a broken headstock. Sounds impressive but if it is a clean break requiring no splines it is actually one of the easier repairs to effect. Plus it was a guitar I virtually got for free and was easily replaced on the cheap so I had nothing to lose if I botched the job. And that for me is the key. I only work on guitars where if I screw up it will not be the end of the world. But even then, every time I work on a guitar I swear it will be my last.

 

Swapping bridges is not rocket science. But even if you have a custom bridge made it does not cost all that much to have the old one removed, the replacement slapped on and the guitar set up. I would much rather let somebody else worry about proper pin taper, saddle angle and the like.

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Depending on the glue that was used replacing a bridge can be a *****. It's not only the heating the bridge part that you gotta worry about but also the aftermath and clean up part. Long story short, there are a couple of luthier video channels out there I can recommend as a study resource for this:

 

Hideyuki Higuchi: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBTRrBDgHSsNjgXnu8PsZ4w/videos

Jerry Rosa: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC29Dkc6-RMU8TCrloPN0Cbw/videos

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For what it's worth, here is Frank Ford's tutorial, but he has the proper tools. Still, there may be some insights:

http://frets.com/FretsPages/Luthier/Technique/Guitar/Bridges/ReglueBr/regluebr1.html

 

Thank you very much, that is the heater I had seen, and did note theirs controls to manage temp etc... the overall instruction is great and much appreciated.

 

I think there's more to consider than i'm looking at, probably a high chance of failure, and per most everyone's reasoning - it's not an expensive fix so worth dropping the $s on to have it done right. But on the other side I don't have a picture for T-Sals fubar post.

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Just an update - I got the bridge off without any issue (really proud of myself for that), but the top of the guitar is totally messed up anyways.

 

Per the SN, the guitar is from 1975, and it's not braced / supported well underneath. As a result, the top has bowed where the bridge is, going lower on the side close to the neck, and lifting on the side away from the neck - similar to how the bridge was lifting. with the bridge off, the top kind looks like a design for a cool skate park - probably not good for a guitar.

 

That's about as far as I'll go with this guitar.

 

I've got a couple follow up for questions for folks if anyone has thoughts - the bridge was lifting because it was not fully glued down (1/8 to 1/4 in. unglued at front). Do you think that contributed to the top warping, or because of the low quality woods, lack of support it would have happened anyways. (FYI it is a harmony guitar, and truly good ones from this era are going for $150 on ebay, why my concerns were not high, but would still have been happy to have a 1975 flat fingerboard guitar if it had worked)

 

Rgds - billroy

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If it's just an old Harmony I'd just bolt the bridge back on and not care what it looks like to see if you can make it functional but that's me. I wouldn't do it to a nice guitar though. Most of the cheap Harmonys didn't survive in playable condition.

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FYI it is a harmony guitar, and truly good ones from this era are going for $150 on ebay, why my concerns were not high, but would still have been happy to have a 1975 flat fingerboard guitar if it had worked)

 

 

I once bought a late-1930s Regal-made Monkey Wards Carson Robinson for $35 with the intention of snagging the bent tab Kluson tuners. I ended up liking the guitar enough to fix it up.

 

1975 would be the last of the Chicago-made Harmony guitars. The following year the company was purchased by Global which moved production overseas. About the only models they were building were concert and grand concert Stellas which did have some strange bridges such as bolted down pinless contraptions and those with ADJ saddles. 1974-75 were also the first years you saw any Harmony guitar built with laminate. I love Harmony guitars and own five of them if you count the one leftover late-1930s Oscar Schmidt-made "Westbrook" Stella which Harmony re-badged and sold after they had acquired the company. In the early 1970s, in a last ditch effort to keep the company afloat, Harmony came out with a line of guitars proving they always had the ability to produce a instrument as good as any J-45 or D-18 out there. Problem was the line carried the same price tag as the Gibson and Martin and they could not convince anyone to pay that much for a Harmony. In my opinion, their early 1970s Opus line was superior to any Norlin-era Gibson.

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I picked up a Harmony Cremona closet queen a couple years ago. Solid carved top. Had my luthier do some work on it.

He asked if I was emotionally attached to it, which I wasn't, and we bartered for some work I wanted done to a Martin I have.

He put a pickup in it and I see him playing it around town. I'll check it out when I pick up the Martin.

That's Jamonn Zeiler of the Crow Daddy's.

79F45A14-6BB3-42F8-9890-85F946C7F408_zpsk8gyidzq.jpg

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A friend of mine from the Twin Cities, Master Luthier Marty Reynolds, has made a nice side business resuscitating old Harmonies and Stellas. I've played a couple. Funky guitars, and I mean that in a good way.

http://mnluthier.com/harmony_guitars.html

 

I'm no expert, but it sounds like bracing (or lack thereof) is your issue. That said, I wonder if a JLD Bridge Doctor would have any impact....

http://www.stewmac.com/Luthier_Tools/Tools_by_Job/Tools_for_Bridges/JLD_Bridge_Doctor.html

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