Replacing an acoustic bridge.

That_Abbott

New member
Hi,
The strings on my Washburn acoustic guitar have cut into the bridge. I'm betting this isn't very hard to fix, but I've never done it before. How is it done?
Also, did this happen because I used a smaller gauge of strings than I should have?

Thanks for your expertise.
 
Replacing a bridge on an acoustic is not the most difficult task in the world, but not the easiest either. I have to ask though, are the strings cutting into the actual bridge itself, or the saddle? The bridge is most likely made of rosewood, and in nearly all cases has a white bar (saddle) that lies comfortably in the bridge. It is this white saddle that is most often gouged into LONG befor the bridge is, considering that the saddle is at least a sixteenth of an inch higher. If its just the plastic saddle thats shot you are in luck. remove the strings, wiggle the saddle out, take it to a guitar shop and ask for a bone replacement. They will sell you one for about 6 bucks. You are then faced with the task of cutting and shaping it to the same height as the original. A dremel is very handy for this. Its almost a definate that you will have to do this shaping as odds are slim you will find an exact replacement saddle. If it really IS the bridge thats gouged then you have a far bigger project ahead of you.
Sidenote: the gauge of the strings you use is a preference. The fact that they cutting in because they are a light guage is simply speeding up the inevitable with any plastic saddle. Fairly common, and easy to upgrade as mentioned above.
 
Your suspisions were right, I was calling the saddle the bridge. How long is it safe for my acoustic to be without its strings? I've been warned this could warp the neck. I'm guessing it will take me awhile to get a new saddle and shape it.
 
Any guitar worth more than 50 bucks can stay safe (in reasonable climate conditions) without strings for an extended amount of time. You can shape and replace a saddle in a couple hours max. After you get your new blank..... trace the shape of your original on it and start sanding/filing/dremeling..... smells like ass mind you.. but goes fast.
 
I have replaced six or seven plastic saddles with bone ones now. I got really tired of hand filing half way through my second one and scrambled for my dremel. Boy you get that baby huffing around 10,000 rpm's on bone and it smokes! Kicks up a mean stench, sends the animals running. but sure makes the job quick.
 
any recommendations for sources for bone to make saddles and nuts? i was hoping to replace the insanely cheap nut and saddle on my alvarez-if i get good at it, maybe the bridge pins too.
 
Call Steweart McDonald. They have the stuff. You have to specify what the thickness of your saddle or nut is. Rather than a Dremel tool, if you have a stationary belt sander, you'll get better results, I think. After you get the bone saddle blank, line it up with the old saddle and trace the curve of your old saddle on the bone-both sides. Remove the material outside of the trace line. Check it for fit. String it up and check action. If all is good, round off the top of the saddle with some sandpaper and use finer and finer grades to polish the bone saddle.

Oh yeah, man. Bone stinks to high heaven. Ever have your teeth drilled in a dentists office? Similar but worse. The absolute worst is fossilized mammoth ivory. Beautiful to look at, bad to smell.
 
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