Category: bridge

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Nuts and Bolts for Bridge Gluing

Nuts and Bolts for Bridge Gluing

by Tim Olsen

Originally published in Guild of American Luthiers Data Sheet #126, 1979 and Lutherie Woods and Steel String Guitars, 1998

 

The holes of a pin-style bridge provide a golden opportunity to apply some very convincing clamping pressure. I use 3 10×32 1" round-head bolts with washers, wing nuts, and pieces of drilled shoe sole leather to temporarily bolt the bridge on while gluing.

This not only exerts a strong pressure to the back edge of the bridge, but the bolts ensure an accurate alignment of the bridge. All that remains is to set a deep-throated cam clamp on each end of the bridge. The leather washers will take up any slop that the bridge might have. This is a natural for repair work as well as construction. ◆

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Grading on the Curves

Grading on the Curves: Fitting Bars and Bridges on Archtop Guitars

by Steve Andersen

from his 2006 GAL Convention workshop

Originally published in American Lutherie #91, 2007



The first thing I’ll show you today is how I fit tone bars to the top. Then I’ll talk about fitting the base of a bridge to a top, first with this router jig that indexes off the top and gets me really close to the final shape, then moving on to the final fitting. I brought some extra materials if anyone wants to try hand-fitting an ebony bridge or a tone bar.

I use the term tone bar, because I think of braces as being structural. If you built a flattop guitar without braces, it would just fold up. An archtop could be built without braces and it would hold up fine. The archtop’s bars are not so much for structure, so I call them tone bars.

One thing that helps me in the fitting process is that my arching is very consistent from guitar to guitar. The arching templates for my guitars started out based on a D’Angelico New Yorker, and have evolved over the years to what I’m using today. So while I have several body sizes, they have similarities based on what I’ve found works well for my sound.

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Violin Bridge Holder

Violin Bridge Holder

by Alan Carruth

Originally published in American Lutherie #7, 1986 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000



Thanks to George Manno for some feedback on his experience with bridge tuning. Bridges on good violins do tend to be quite similar, but I still like to work them up individually. And he is certainly right about fitting the feet!

One dimension he seems to have left out is the thickness of the feet at the bottom of the bridge, generally given as 4.5MM (3/16"). If this is too heavy it can make the instrument sound “closed.” If you don’t want to thin it anymore a bit of wood can be removed from the end of the leg without affecting the stiffness too much.

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String Spacing

String Spacing

by Sylvan Wells

Originally published as Guild of American Luthiers Data Sheet #103, 1979



After reviewing most, if not all books on guitar construction I realized that there was no proper spacing for cutting slots for strings in the nut or laying out centers in order to drill the holes for bridge pins.

It really is quite simple and I’ll explain the method and then conclude it with the mathematics already completed in an easy to use table.

First, it is essential to understand that although you are placing six points you are really dealing with 5 spacings (Space between strings, 1–2, 2–3, 3–4, 4–5, 5–6). The distance for those 6 spacings is determined by the distance desired from the centers of the outside holes (E & E or 1 & 6). For the bridges, the distance is the same as the width of the neck at the 12th fret. That distance centered on the bridge blank are the center points for holes 1 & 6.

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 This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page.

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Bridge Positioning

Bridge Positioning

by Eric Henderson

Originally published in Guild of American Luthiers Data Sheet #7, 1975

 

One procedure I use which your readers may find useful is that on my guitar top all the cross bracing and fan bracing is made up from the cuttings from the top blanks.

For the cross bracing, I have to laminate two pieces together with the joint at right angles to the top. This procedure, I feel, guarantees that the woods are compatible.

Another thing I do is when gluing the bridge I drill two small holes approximately 1/16" diam. in the slot for the ivory saddle, and when the bridge is precisely positioned, I drill through the top. The bridge can then be glued without being concerned about it moving because I temporarily inset two finishing nails in the two holes.

The finishing nails are removed before the glue has completely set. The holes remaining are covered up by the ivory saddle.

These are just two small items, but I would like to see the members who want to share small items like this write them up. ◆