1965 LGO / LG0 Bridge Repair

[nolalgo]

I am trying to determine the best course of action to repair my 1965 Gibson LGO / LG0  guitar. The plastic bridge is cracking and I want to keep it as original as possible. It’s in good condition otherwise, since I hardly used it and would start playing it 50+ years later. Is there a part interchange catalog for other models at that time that used these plastic bridges. I occasionally see some on eBay and other sources, and buying one from them. Is there any old stock or replicas made that someone could recommend, or custom made duplicates. I want it to fit the present holes and cover the spot it will be removed from.  I appreciate any help. Thank you.

[jedzep]

This is one of the rare occasions where keeping things original means keeping inferior quality, the plastic bridge being one of Gibson's dumb moves. I think I've seen one or two on Ebay as well over the years, so I guess I'd advise you grab it if that's your desired outcome. I'm pretty sure no one is making these in reproduction.

[Leonard McCoy]

There are no swap-out parts for this. Gibson's experiment to use plastic bridges on some of their acoustic guitars failed anyway and quickly came to an end. It resulted in warped and unseated plastic bridges, poor coupling, and hence poor tone.

The best course of action is to make a new custom bridge, perhaps slightly oversized, out of dark rosewood to match the Brazilian fretboard, to strip the lacquer underneath (for plastic bridges were only screwed on), properly glue it surface-to-surface, and route a saddle slot. This way the vintage look (on this entry-level guitar) is kept in tact while improving upon tone and volume.

It is probably not ill advice to swap out the bridge plate as well (you're too deep in it anyway at this point).

Edited June 13, 2021 by Leonard McCoy