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Bridge for 1977 Gibson dove acoustic


walcoman

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Hey, everyone I just recently became the proud owner of an authentic 1977 black Gibson dove acoustic 6 string that was willed to me buy my best friend who died in a motorcycle accident 10 years ago needless to say his Widow finally came to her senses and fulfilled his wishes. Very sadly though she let the guitar sit, with no humidifier which caused the bridge to split completely in half. I have searched the internet hi and low hoping to find a replacement authentic Gibson dove bridge but to no avail I am hoping somebody out there can steer me in the right direction or maybe has one for sale hope to hear from you cheers everybody

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This is not a situation where you're likely to find a factory replacement part, nor would it necessarily be best even if you could, but rather you're going to need a skilled luthier to make a replacement replica bridge. Also (as contradictory as this may sound) in many of these guitars you will need the replacement bridge design slightly modified in order to preserve it structurally.

 

Their bridges varied quite a bit on these models in this era, in terms of saddle style, materials, and pin location. Many with standard saddles were built with a neck angle which seems unchanged from their adjustable bridge days, which means the saddles had to be exceptionally tall. Then in spite of all the real estate they had to work with behind the saddle, they put the pins exceptionally far forward leaving in unsustainable breakeover angle. These bridges split consistently along the saddle slot simply because the design is structurally unstable, and not because of environmental conditions. In these cases I typically make an otherwise identical replica bridge, but with the pins relocated back .2-.3" from original position, as if you copy the original layout exactly they can be doomed to crack again.

 

Of course as I said though, the designs varies a lot in this period and I'm not entirely sure which variation you have on hand. Some had the pin hopes located way toward the back which can cause other problems (not usually so significant as to redesign the layout in bridge replacement), or perhaps it was damaged by environmental conditions. Either way, your best bet will be to get it in to a skilled luthier who will be doing the work and discuss repair/restoration options with them.

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