For those of you who have the square bridges, tapered high to low from bass to treble side.....

[onewilyfool]

Mine measures 11.5/32" on the bsss side and 8/32" on the treble side on my AJ. My J-45 has a belly bridge that apprars to be the same height on both sides???? Can you measure yours, AND...WHY is this tapering done??? Any insights appreciated!!!

[Guest J-Doug]

WHY is this tapering done??? Any insights appreciated!!!

 

My assumption would be to maintain a constant break angle. As to why they don't do it on the belly bridges I don't know.

[guitarstrummer]

This topic has been covered dozens of times on this forum but the reason is simple. When you tune up the bass or large strings they tend to put more tension on the saddle, because they are bigger. This tends to lean the saddle forward toward the sound hole. This can pull the guitar out of tune and maybe even crack the bridge. Gibson figured if the bass side of the bridge were deeper than the treble there could be more wood to cover the saddle and keep it from leaning. The bridge is thicker on the bass side by design. This is not true on all Gibson guitars as things vary from one design to another.

[Smurfbird]

Personally, I like when people ask the same questions over and over. Eventually some of the answers stick in my head.

 

Ask away!

[onewilyfool]

ThanksGS...can you guys post your measurements, I'd just like to compare....

[Hogeye]

ThanksGS...can you guys post your measurements, I'd just like to compare....

No need to measure. Gibson uses different height bridges on every guitar. They are not cookie cutter guitars but made individually. This means that they can have different neck sets and the 28 foot radius used on the top can vary slightly so the need for different bridge heights. The straight bridges have the different height adjustment for the exact reason that Guitarstrumr stated. The other bridges don't need the adjustment because of the ammount of wood between the saddle and the front of the bridge. The very reason for the reverse belly bridge. No mystery here.