This article was co-authored by Tomas Michaud and by staff writer, Jennifer Mueller, JD. Tomas Michaud is a Guitar Teacher and Owner of the Real Guitar School and Starland School Of Music in Alameda, California. With over 40 years of experience in the music industry, Tomas creates step-by-step lessons for adult beginners that want to play acoustic guitar and create their own music. He is passionate about making fun and accessible material for people wanting to learn a new instrument. He has recorded six CDs and has a B.A. in Music from California State University - Easy Bay.
The bridge of your guitar resists up to 200 pounds of string tension, yet it's affixed to your guitar with nothing but glue. It stands to reason that, after years of playing your guitar, that bridge might start to come loose. If it pulls up too much or stays loose for too long, it can affect the sound of your guitar. There's also a risk that the bridge itself will crack. If your bridge is cracked, replace it with a new one. However, if your bridge is still intact, you can re-glue it so your guitar will sound like it did when it was new. This isn't necessarily an easy repair job, so if you're not comfortable working on your guitar, take it to an experienced guitar tech or luthier to get the repair done.
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This article was co-authored by Tomas Michaud and by staff writer, Jennifer Mueller, JD. Tomas Michaud is a Guitar Teacher and Owner of the Real Guitar School and Starland School Of Music in Alameda, California. With over 40 years of experience in the music industry, Tomas creates step-by-step lessons for adult beginners that want to play acoustic guitar and create their own music. He is passionate about making fun and accessible material for people wanting to learn a new instrument. He has recorded six CDs and has a B.A. in Music from California State University - Easy Bay. This article has been viewed 49, 692 times.I just received a 2007 Larrivee LV-03 that I purchased on Reverb. Cosmetically, its in great shape, but I think it has suffered from some long term dehydration. I noticed after changing the strings that the bridge is lifting. You can see in the photos. I slipped a piece of paper under it to show how far the separation goes.
I have been in communication with the seller and am planning on taking it my luthier later in the week, but I wanted to get some opinions on how significant this looks. I'm hoping for a simple clamp and glue as opposed to needing to take the bridge off.
As a matter of fact I just got through replacing a lifting bridge on my Martin D Jr. While I was at it I replaced the stock composite bridge with an ebony. A good luthier will actually form the bridge to the top. No such thing as a perfectly flat top.
How To Fix My Guitar Bridge
Kriso, that should definitely get glued down. Only a good repair tech can tell you for sure whether you’ll be able to get by with a simple glue-and-clamp repair or if the bridge will have to be removed, sanded and re-glued to the top. But from what I could see in the photos, it doesn’t look as though the wood of the bridge has deformed to the point where the more drastic, expensive repair will be needed.
I have had a couple of guitars have their bridges lift like that, but was able to get away with the simpler clamp it down repair. In other words, the bridge on that guitar doesn’t look too far gone at this point.
I do think you're there with respect to getting it repaired. I notice that the lift extends the entire section of the bridge and that even the end is lifting so you have the length pulling up. That would get me to the repair guy, for sure.
Bridge Repair/bridge Doctor—should I Return This Guitar?
If those are the only areas where it is unglued, it is still 90% stuck to the top. If you like the sound of the guitar and can put up with the looks, then, you probably don't have to get it fixed right away. The bridge is only tilting forward and would probably stay like that for years.
A bridge cannot pull off the top of a guitar except by catastrophic top failure. The balls of the strings and all the pins would have to pull up through the pin holes, in the top of the guitar, all at the same time for the bridge to pull off. The pin holes, in the top of the guitar, are too small for the balls and pins to come up through the holes together.
The bridge should be removed and reglued. You can expect to pay around $100 for that to be done by a professional.
Acoustic Guitar Belly Repair
Simple 'glue and clamp' jobs don't always work well because the 2 surfaces have old dried glue on them that is difficult to remove with the bridge in place.
Removing the bridge entirely means all the old dried glue can be removed and the 2 surfaces can be properly cleaned which will allow the new glue to bond more efficiently.
Re gluing a bridge is not really difficult but removing it neatly and cleanly is the tricky part and does require skill.
Steelsting Bridge Repair
Ditto on getting it fixed. If it were my guitar, I would slacken the strings. It may not fail immediately and I've seen guitars with lifting bridges stay stable for a long time, but why take the risk?
I would definitely get an estimate and tell the seller that you expect compensation if there was no mention of it in the listing. That is certainly something that should have been disclosed.
I know there are repair people who will do it, but that always seems like a bad idea to me. The remaining glue might not be in great shape and there's really no way to know how soundly the bridge is attached when the repair is done as you described. To my thinking, the clamp and glue (as you called it) is a penny wise, dollar foolish repair that would leave me always wondering when that saddle is going to finally give way. I'd want it removed completely, cleaned up, and reglued.
Acoustic Guitar Bridge Regluing
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If you like the guitar, and the seller is willing to pay for the repair, I would be OK with having a competent repair tech do the job.
The above were my initial thoughts as well. Often, pics don’t capture any subtle problems that may exist, especially if the seller wants to only highlight the positive aspects of the guitar. Even if you didn’t ask the seller before buying if the guitar had any imperfections whatsoever, the fact that it wasn’t disclosed should give you recourse, particularly if you paid by PayPal. I wouldn’t have anything done to that guitar at least until you take the matter up with the seller. Why should you be forced to pay additnal cost for repair on a guitar that clearly needs it if it wasn’t disclosed? Just curious...is the soundboard lifting (convex) behind the bridge and sinking (concave) in the soundhole area? If so, I’d think that’s a serious problem.
Can Anybody Tell Me More About This 12 String I Bought On A Whim? Think I Could Possibly Fix The Bridge On My Own?
'21 Martin D-18 Standard | '02 Taylor 814c | '18 Taylor 214ceDLX | '18 Taylor 150e-12 | '78 Ibanez Dread (First acoustic) | '08 CA Cargo | '02 Fender Strat American '57 RI
The bridge on my 12 string was lifting like the OP's, not a lot but coming up, ... sadly there is no short cut to right.
It's off now and I'm prep-ing to reglue. Thought I'd use hide glue and see if there's an advantage soundwise on this guitar.Over the years I’ve come to realize that there’s two major philosophies that one can follow when building an acoustic guitar: it can either be built to last, or it can be built to sound good – but it can’t be both. Guitars that are built to last tend to utilize heavy internal bracing and thicker tops to resist the constant pull of the strings, and generally don’t sound very good because they are so stiff. Guitars that sound really good tend to have very light bracing and thinner tops, but the constant pressure of the strings can cause the guitar to slowly collapse upon itself. Guitar makers over the years have always treaded the fine line between an instrument that sounds good but won’t completely fall apart, and many have produced some fantastic instruments. However finely built, however, every acoustic guitar is prone to having issues directly related to the constant pull of the strings, and one of
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