How To Repair A Guitar Bridge

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Over time, the bridge on your audio-visual guitar can go damaged, warped, or autumn right off. Temperature and humidity are oft to blame for a damaged bridge, since these factors bear upon the gum that holds the bridge in place. However, heavy use can besides harm the bridge or cause it to pop off. Any the reason for your bridge troubles, don't worry—you lot tin can supplant the damaged bridge with a make new one fairly hands at home!

1. 1

   Unwind and remove the 6 strings from your acoustic guitar. Turn each tuning peg clockwise on the guitar neck to loosen the string attached to it. Once the string is loose, unwind the string from the peg. Then, follow the cord down to where it'south connected to the bridge with a bridge pivot. Push the cord slightly toward the pivot to loosen it, then pull the pin straight out.^[1]

   • Span pins are wooden pieces that hold steel guitar strings in place on most acoustic guitars. Some acoustic guitars don't have them, but most do.
   • If your acoustic's strings are threaded through the bridge instead of held in identify by pins, you can merely pull the cord gently to remove it.
   • If you plan to reuse your strings, place them advisedly to the side. You tin toss out the old strings if you lot plan to install a fresh pair.

2. 2

   Trace around the old bridge lightly with a pencil or X-ACTO knife. Doing this will help you lot later when you go to position the new bridge in place on the guitar torso. All you need to practice is lightly trace around the bridge with a regular pencil or gently score around the bridge with an X-ACTO pocketknife to marking the position.^[2]

   • If your original bridge has already fallen off, that's okay! You can measure out for the perfect placement later on. Information technology'due south also quite likely that the original bridge left a vague but visible outline on the guitar trunk.

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3. iii

   Place a heating pad over the bridge for 1-2 minutes to loosen the mucilage. The easiest way to disassemble a glued bridge is to oestrus up the glue until it softens so you can pry the bridge off. Place a regular heating pad directly over the bridge and let it for a couple of minutes to get the mucilage under the bridge nice and soft.^[3]

   • Avoid heating the bridge for longer than 2 minutes at a time. Prolonged heat exposure can damage the guitar'southward stop.
   • If you don't have a heating pad, place a thick towel over the bridge and run a dress iron over the towel to warm upwards the mucilage.

   Tip for Vintage Guitars: Most acoustic guitar bridges are glued on, just if you have a vintage acoustic guitar, the bridge may be held in place past screws. You can utilise a regular screwdriver to remove each screw.^[4]

4. 4

   Wedge a putty knife between the span and guitar body. One time the glue loosens upwards, carefully insert a flexible, blunt putty knife betwixt the torso and bridge. If you can't insert the putty knife completely from 1 side of the bridge to the other, apply heat to the area for another minute. And then, continue slowly working the knife under the span.^[five]

   • Y'all may need to apply heat several times to wedge the putty pocketknife completely under the bridge.
   • Piece of work slowly and take care not to damage the finish with the putty knife.

5. v

   Lift the putty pocketknife and pull away the dislodged bridge. Continue wedging the putty knife under the span and applying heat until the glue loosens up enough to disconnect the bridge from the trunk. So, utilize the putty knife to lift the span abroad from the body.^{[half dozen]}

   • You lot can set up the former bridge aside or discard it. Typically, it can't be reused.
   • If the span merely popped off by itself and it isn't damaged at all, you can glue it back into identify rather than buy a replacement bridge. If the bridge is cracked or warped in any style, you demand a new 1.

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1. one

   Scrape off the excess mucilage on the guitar trunk with a chisel. After you remove the bridge, at that place will probably be some glue residue stuck to the guitar body. Gently scrape the surface where the bridge was previously glued to get rid of the residue. Wipe the surface with a microfiber material to remove any glue $.25 before you proceed.^[7]

   • If you don't remove the former glue from the guitar body, the new bridge won't adhere well to the surface.
   • Be careful not to dig into the guitar cease or accidentally slip with the chisel.

2. 2

   Buy a replacement bridge that is similar in size and shape to the original. For nearly acoustic guitars, you can buy a pre-made replacement bridge at any music store. There are a few different universal bridge styles, and so be sure to buy one with the same dimensions and shape every bit the original bridge then everything fits correctly, including the bridge pins.^[viii]

   • If the original bridge popped off on its own and isn't cleaved or damaged, you can re-glue it in identify. Sand the dorsum of the original bridge to remove any glue residual.^[9]

   Tip for Vintage Guitars: If you have vintage acoustic guitar that wasn't mass-produced, a pre-made replacement span may not be an selection. You can tell just by comparison the original span to replacements on the marketplace. If you can't find a match, pay a qualified repair person to build a new bridge for y'all. This tin be pricey, only information technology'southward worth information technology to retain the value and quality of a vintage instrument.^[ten]
   

3. 3

   Line up the new span with the traced outline and clench it in place. Apply the outline you traced earlier as your guide to line upward the new bridge in the proper position. Position a deep C-clench in the guitar's middle hole and clamp the bridge in place. Once everything looks correct, release the C-clamp and pull the new bridge away from the guitar body.^[eleven]

   • A regular C-clamp is likewise modest for this. You demand a deep C-clamp.
   • It's of import to exercise a "dry out run" before you glue anything to your guitar. A "dry out run" simply ways to clamp the bridge in place and brand sure everything is just right before applying glue.
   • If you want to be actress careful, you can double-check the bridge positioning with a straightedge and a level.^[12]

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1. 1

   Fix upwards a bowl of water, a few rags, and a screwdriver on your piece of work surface. Fix your infinite before yous start gluing so yous don't run into whatever issues once the glue starts flowing. Position a minor basin of water off to the side and stack a few rags and extra paper towels nearby. Make sure there's a small screwdriver within easy accomplish, every bit well.^[13]

2. 2

   Utilise woods glue to the back of the replacement bridge. Flip the new bridge over so the backside is facing upwardly. Remove the cap from the wood glue and use a thin layer generously over the unabridged back of the span. Don't skimp on the glue! When y'all press the bridge into place, backlog mucilage will squeeze out from underneath the bridge, which is normal.^[fourteen]

   • This is why you lot have the bowl of water and rags nearby—to wipe that excess glue off.

3. 3

   Press the bridge carefully in place on the guitar body. Hold the bridge around the edges so you don't disturb the glue or become it on your easily. Flip the bridge back over so the backside with the glue is facing down. Gently place the replacement bridge into position just like you lot did before.^[fifteen]

4. iv

   Use the C-clamp to clench the span into place with light pressure level. Movement the clamp into the guitar hole just like you lot did before. Gently clamp the bridge into identify. Y'all don't demand to apply a lot of force per unit area on the clamp to get adept pinch.^[sixteen]

5. five

   Dampen the rag and utilise it to wipe away backlog glue that seeps out. As the clamp presses down on the bridge, wood glue will squeeze out from beneath the bridge. Dampen a clean rag with water and wipe away the excess glue immediately before it starts to set. And so, wrap another dampened rag around the finish of the screwdriver. Run the end of the screwdriver along the articulation edges to remove excess gum.^[17]

   • The wrapped end of the screwdriver allows you to get into the joints where the bridge meets the guitar body. Yous want to bridge to lay flat, and then information technology's important to remove any excess glue earlier information technology sets.

6. 6

   Leave the clamp in place overnight then the glue can cure. Once the clamp is set, leave the guitar alone and avert moving information technology. Make sure the guitar won't be disturbed for the adjacent 8 to 12 hours and so the glue has plenty of time to prepare.^[eighteen]

   • If possible, allow the glue cure for a full 24 hours.

7. 7

   Remove the clamp the side by side twenty-four hour period and restring your guitar. Advisedly unscrew and remove the clench after the glue fully sets. Be careful not to bump the stop with the clench equally you're removing information technology—clamps are heavy! Later on the clamp is out of the way, you can put the strings back on your guitar and exam out the sound!^[19]

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Things Yous'll Need

• Screwdriver
• Heating pad
• Putty pocketknife
• Chisel
• Microfiber material
• Deep C-clench
• Replacement span
• Wood glue
• Small-scale screwdriver

• Information technology'south all-time to take valuable vintage guitars to a professional person for bridge replacement to avoid any mishaps or adventitious damage.

• If you don't feel comfortable replacing the bridge on your ain, bring the guitar to a professional person. Professional bridge replacement usually costs $lxx to $100.

Thanks for submitting a tip for review!

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• Don't try to repair an old bridge on your ain. Once a bridge is cracked or warped, it needs to exist replaced with a new one to brand your guitar audio expert again.

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