My bridge fell off!

[Slackmaster2K]

Got a quick question. Somebody asked me to check out his acoustic guitar and see if it would still be playabyle. It's an old Kalamazoo, so probably from the 60's or earlier I'd imagine. Not extremely well constructed, but doable.

Anyhow, it's been stored with the strings on for who knows how long. When I took the strings off, the bridge fell off! It's a wooden bridge. The tailpiece is one of those that is long and connects to the back side of the guitar (the name escapes me at the moment).

Anyhow, I figured I'd just glue the thing on...but what do I use? What kind of glue? I can approximate the position of the bridge horizontally by the slight markings on the guitar top, and I figured I'd just put some strings on it and let them dictate where the bridge sits vertically.

Any tips?

Slackmaster 2000

 

[Sonic Misfit]

I think the bridge on the old Kalamazoos are modeled after the Gibson bridge used on the L5. Anyway, they are a "floating" bridge. The tension of the strings is what holds them in place.

Go ahead and put on the strings, but do not tighten them. Slide the bridge under the strings. You will need to adjust the bridge with a tuner, but to get the place where the string sits over the bridge, measure the distance from the nut to the twelfth fret. That same distance below the twelfth fret is where to position the bridge.

I hope that this helps. It does bring back old memories of when I used to have a guitar like that. I was much younger then.

 

[gibs]

assuming this is not a joke, you must be talking about a floating bridge.....

uhhhh, floating bridges are just that.....the strings hold them against the guitar top......no glue.....no screws......just put the freaking strings back on with it somewhat in place, you'll be able to see where it used to be if it's been stored for that long.......

sometimes the bridge can even be moved while the strings are tight and in tune....which is why they sorta suck.....I assume the bridge is separate from the harp or trapeze tailpiece, right?.......gibs

 

[Slackmaster2K]

Ahh...I was actually going to ask if it was a floater, but that seemed weird so I didn't See there's no sign that it was ever glued.

Just seems like there'd be some intonation issues.

Anyways, thanks! I'm relieved!

Slackmaster 2000

 

[Slackmaster2K]

Thanks gibs...I've just never actually seen one of these...just scared me for a sec

Slackmaster 2000

 

[gibs]

Talk about scared.......when I was way younger and got my now very old Silvertone, I thought I had ruined my $75 used guitar.....and there was no Sears store or music store around...I got it at a pawnshop......not too many guitar wizzards at the pawn shops........so I put it back together, noticing it didn't look like it had ever really been connected to the top anyway, and sweat bullets for about a week until some kid told me about floating bridges................gibs

 

[Treeline]

Think "violin" and "String bass" and then subtract the arched top: voila. Some old Gibsons had floating bridges, and the Stellas of Leadbelly fame sported a floating bridge. Not a great design without an arched top, but hey - there it is.