vw1300 Posted May 17, 2014 Posted May 17, 2014 About a month or two ago I put in a new bone saddle from Bob Colosi. The sound improved, but I've noticed some discoloration around the saddle, like some moisture or oil is seeping into the bridge. See attached picture. Has anyone else seen this?
GuitarLight Posted May 17, 2014 Posted May 17, 2014 About a month or two ago I put in a new bone saddle from Bob Colosi. The sound improved, but I've noticed some discoloration around the saddle, like some moisture or oil is seeping into the bridge. See attached picture. Has anyone else seen this? It reminds me of what fret board oil does to the wood to darken and nourish it. Did the oil come from the bone saddle? If it is fret board oil, just wipe the rest of the bridge down with a bit more fret board oil to blend it in and make the bridge an even darker color.
E-minor7 Posted May 17, 2014 Posted May 17, 2014 More than strange - never seen anything like it. I would contact Bob with the question also. Sure, , , maybe his bone is treated with polish or dye fluid. Would be real weird if he hasn't the explanation for this.
vw1300 Posted May 18, 2014 Author Posted May 18, 2014 OK, I just sent an email to Bob. I just asked here because it seems like with all the collective years' knowledge here, someone was bound to have seen this before.
modoc_333 Posted May 18, 2014 Posted May 18, 2014 i haven't seen that before, but i can say that your bridge looks very dry and appears to need oil. perhaps the bone was holding some and it is not coming out to the drier wood around it. either way, condition that bridge!
bobouz Posted May 18, 2014 Posted May 18, 2014 I most certainly agree that using a high quality fretboard oil such as Fret Doctor or Guitar Honey would be wise & helpful at this point.
retrorod Posted May 18, 2014 Posted May 18, 2014 I have never seen or heard of this happening before when installing a new saddle
zombywoof Posted May 18, 2014 Posted May 18, 2014 I have actually seen this happen with a home-made bone saddle. The guy apparently had not cleaned the bone properly and the saddle leached grease. He yanked the saddle off but later told me he was told if he let it go long enough it could actually loosen the bridge and bridge plate. I am not saying this is what happened to your guitar as I assume Bob knows his stuff and properly cleans, degreases and dries the bone. But I agree with others in that it would not hurt to contact him.
BigKahune Posted May 18, 2014 Posted May 18, 2014 . I've had a couple of Colosi bone saddles - currently got one in my J-200. Never have seen that. I'm hoping you'll relay to us what Bob has to say on the matter. .
Hotfoot Posted May 18, 2014 Posted May 18, 2014 Ditto Modoc 333. Dry bridge...too dry. ..maybe you have oily skin that transferred to the bridge...? (were you eating bacon (YUM!) when you installed it?...just combed in some Brylcream?)
zombywoof Posted May 18, 2014 Posted May 18, 2014 I would think you need to have alien spit sweat to discolor the bridge that much. But I guess it could be from the oils in you fingers when you put the bridge on. If that would be the case I agree with an above in that the bridge had to be incredibly dried out.
vw1300 Posted May 19, 2014 Author Posted May 19, 2014 Bob said he's never seen it either, and that I should put some conditioner on the bridge to even it out, it probably needs it anyway. I wasn't eating bacon when I installed it, LOL, so the true source of the oil remains a mystery. But I'll take the advice and condition the bridge and fretboard.
BigKahune Posted May 19, 2014 Posted May 19, 2014 . Sounds reasonable to me. Let's have a pic after the conditioner. .
E-minor7 Posted May 19, 2014 Posted May 19, 2014 I withdraw the dye-fluid theory - the bone doesn't seem to be dyed. But there might have been a polish after-treat either here or there, which might have left a touch of some sort of oil. Or could the inner-package you recieved the saddle in have contain a little unintended grease. . . Anyway - don't let it bring you down. I personally like a dark bridge and colored one with grain-polish/tusch recently.
Run Posted May 19, 2014 Posted May 19, 2014 Just an hypothesis...if there were some oil in the bridge and if the saddle was inserted too tight, maybe the pressure around it made the wood seep.
mountainpicker Posted May 19, 2014 Posted May 19, 2014 I'm with zomby on this one. Check out some museum curator/restorer advice here: http://www.bearmeadow.com/build/materials/bone/html/bone-clean.html If Bob's supplier didn't prep the bone he sent Bob correctly trouble ensues. If it were me I'd get some Fret Doctor or equivalent and try and make the whole bridge match but I'd still be worried that the bridge glue adhesion is compromised.
retrorod Posted May 19, 2014 Posted May 19, 2014 The whole episode scares me....NEVER seen anything like it.
bobouz Posted May 19, 2014 Posted May 19, 2014 The whole episode scares me....NEVER seen anything like it. I agree, and if it were my guitar, I'd replace the saddle. Even with a dried out bridge, this is not normal stuff. Maybe Bob would swap it out for you.
littlejohnny Posted May 20, 2014 Posted May 20, 2014 Sorry for hijacking this thread, but the bridge on my 2013 h'bird tv looks as dry as the one in the OP (and I'm going to install my new bone saddle soon). So I wonder: 1) Why do some guitars have such dried out rosewood parts ( my git is humidified properly all the time)? Did they just forgot to oil it at the factory? 2) but most important, what is the proper way of conditioning a bridge? I'm looking for a kind of official advice here, since theres is so much controversy about the use of lemon oil or other products.
fortyearspickn Posted May 20, 2014 Posted May 20, 2014 I've always used lemon oil on fingerboard and bridge. BUT, I apply it with a Q-tip to be sure I only get it on the bare rosewood and NOT on the nitrocellulose finish on the spruce. Not easy on a mustache bridge. I believe -95% certain -I got a drop once, before I realized the danger, on a maple neck. It sort of smeared the finish and made it cloudy. Not as bad now, 6 years later -possibly due to some Meguires scratch remover and Gibson Pump polish. To be honest, I haven't even noticed the ''flaw" for acouple of years now. So, the lemon oil works fine. And, equally important for your fretboard, always wash your hands before playing. (Especially after eating a bacon sandwich.)
vw1300 Posted May 27, 2014 Author Posted May 27, 2014 Picked up some lemon oil at GC this weekend and took the strings off to do the fretboard and bridge. Fretboard was dirty and needed it anyway, and the bridge looks a lot more even now. We'll see how it looks once the oil has soaked in, should probably do it again in a few weeks.
GuitarLight Posted May 27, 2014 Posted May 27, 2014 Picked up some lemon oil at GC this weekend and took the strings off to do the fretboard and bridge. Fretboard was dirty and needed it anyway, and the bridge looks a lot more even now. We'll see how it looks once the oil has soaked in, should probably do it again in a few weeks. Yes you may need a second application...When the bridge is dry I often will put a second application of lem-oil on it with in a week or two. I have used.. Kyser Dr Stringfellow lem-oil (most music stores and online),,,for 14 years and its works great on every high quality bridge and fret board, darkening and evening out the color. A bottle of it also lasts for years. In fact it is almost impossible to use up because it is so seldom applied. I use it only when dry or uneven looking woods seems to be present. It did wonders on my Hummingbird bridge and fret board. I also sometimes apply it to my Ebony bridge pins if they look dry, before inserting them during string change. Beware of over applying lem-oil...it can cause the bridge and fret board to swell if over applied...just wipe on, wait a minute or two..and then wipe off with a nice clean cloth..it will look dark moisturized and rich again!
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