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guitar issue - advice needed


bonecrusher

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Purchased a used guitar - Seller was very upfront about the repairs that were done to the guitar. Which included a bridge re-glue. I was going to restring the guitar and wanted to check the bridge out first before i put medium gauge on it and I found that I was able to slide a piece of paper under the corners of the bridge. Showing the bridge lifting just a bit.

 

I contacted the seller and he said he would be more than happy to refund my money on the guitar - or have the bridge re-glued again. Im not sure what I should do here. Is the bridge re-glue a huge deal? Should i worry about other issues? I did notice a nice belly below the bridge as well.

 

Part of me says, the guitar sounds really good - so maybe it is worth it just to get it reglued and cal it a day - other part of me is wondering if the guitar has been under some extreme conditions to have needed a bridge re-glue so soon.. and wonder what else could go wrong - its a 2009... only 5 years old...

 

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

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If its only on the corners where you can slip a piece of paper in a fraction of an inch I do not think its a big concern. A bulge in the belly would have me a bit more curious. A 2009??? Is the seller he original owner?

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A 2009 what?

 

A slight bulge below the bridge might be designed in to whatever kind of guitar you bought, but if it's accompanied by a dip in the top between bridge and soundhole I'd be more worried. Bridge gluing is easy to do for experienced luthiers, and you'll probably be OK with the paper thin lift at the corners, but you'll have to keep an eye on the seating with mediums pulling away at it.

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Bridge gluing is easy to do for experienced luthiers, and you'll probably be OK with the paper thin lift at the corners, but you'll have to keep an eye on the seating with mediums pulling away at it.
About those strings. If yours is a (lightly braced) Dred, slope D, or small jumbo, you can get your sound with lights or medium lights; if its smaller (grand concert or less), it most definitely will produce with lights.
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If the guitar was built in 2009 you should have no issues about putting medium strings on it. These newer guitars are built to take the stress.

 

On the bridge, I do not mess with them and get them fixed. I have had cheap guitars in the house that I did not stay up at night fretting about that had lifting bridges remain stable for over decade. I have had others, however, where the bridge popped within months of it starting to lift.

 

The belly - as already noted, is normal. I think it was Norman Blake who said never trust a guitar without a belly. It is easy enough to tell whether it is excessive. Just place a flat rule below the bridge and measure how much of a gap you have at the end of either side of the top. If the total exceeds 1/2 inch when the gap on both sides is added up then you have a problem. If the guitar has excessive bellying then it may be time to consider installing a Bridge Doctor.

 

My deal with this guitar though would be it seems to have or has a number of issues which considering how recent it is is not all that normal. I would suspect it was not very well cared for or at least subject to fairly large swings in humidity or something. Not saying I would not buy it but this is exactly the kind of guitar I would want to have thoroughly checked out to make sure all is as it should be. Better safe than sorry as they say.

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Its a guild. Great sounding guitar and plays well.

 

I am concerned, and not sure if I should be, of other issues popping up. I agree with some of the statements on this thread about the guitar being subject to some big swings in climate. I just dont want to start dumping money into the guitar if other things go wrong.

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Did you get an exceptionally good price on a truly great sounding/playing guitar?

 

The reason I ask is because if the answer to either point is no, then I'd be getting my money back. There are zillions of guitars out there for sale, and I personally would keep shopping to find the right guitar, without having to worry about a past owner's poor care and storage of the guitar.

 

Keep in mind that repairs are typical of vintage instruments and a repaired guitar can still play and sound as good as new. But this is a recent build... no reason it should have this damage unless the owner just didn't give a crap.

 

Unless the price was rock bottom I would walk away...

 

Just my 2 cents, best of luck in whatever route you choose.

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@firestripe - I think you are right... It was a very good price - I wouldnt say rock bottome compared to ebay sales and with the possibility of haveing to spend extra on repairs in the possible near future kind of defeats the purpose of spending less to begin with...

 

Thanks for all the reposnses!

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