A bit more than making a new bridge

This is my dad’s first and, if I’m not mistaken, only guitar.

Its a Harmony archtop, probably from the mid 50’s.  Dad just told me he got it in third grade.  This has been moved around a bunch.  I had it for a few years and most recently my sister had it.  I just got it back with the intention of making a new bridge for it and cleaning it up a bit.  Turns out that it needed much more.

The neck dovetail was pulling out, which cracked the side.  I later found out it cracked the neck block as well.

So I decided to see what I could do with it, both for experience, and so it was playable and not destined for the trash.  This was a first for me.  He’s what I did, in pictures:

 

Well, that was exciting.  I used hot hide glue for all repairs.  I put the neck back on.  Nice and straight.

Now on to making the new bridge, in pictures:

 

The finish was pretty rough.  I could have spent a ton of time on it or even refinished it.  Not being a valuable instrument, I just did some minor touch ups.

It plays much better then it ever did.  The ridiculously high action that I always remembered is gone and it plays and sounds pretty well.

Glad I gave that a shot.

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Well veneering was a bit more difficult than expected.  I decided to strip off the damaged old veneer rather than try to stabilize it.  After steaming and scraping it off, the top warped, so I took the veneer off the … Continue reading →

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Well, I finished the Gerstner chest I bought.  Made a new top piece for the cover.  Stain came out a bit darker than I would have liked, even though my test pieces came out lighter???  Well, I never claimed to … Continue reading →

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Adventures in bridge work… the finale.  Ok, strung up the guitar.  Strings needed to settle for quite a bit.  I don’t think this guitar has seen full string tension in at least 20 years.  It sounds good and plays well … Continue reading →

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Adventures in bridge work… part 5.  Bridge attached, waxed, and frets cleaned up.  Now I just need to find the strings I bought, string it up and try it out.  I’m pleased so far with how it came out, being … Continue reading →

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Adventures in bridge work… part 4.  Prep, glue and clamp.  I did most of the final sanding on the bridge.  Set it’s placement with a piece of wood cut to the scale length, which was clamped and centered on the … Continue reading →

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Adventures in bridge work… Part 3.  Bone saddle.  The saddle from the old bridge was glued in and did not come out easily.  The kerf from the table saw left a larger slot, so I had to make a new … Continue reading →

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Adventures in bridge work… Part 2.  Making a new bridge out of rosewood.  Made it larger to cover the glue marks from the old repair.  Bridge is rough cut.  Needs to be final sanded, glued on and finished.  Next step… … Continue reading →

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Adventures in bridge work… Part 1.  1964 Gibson C1S owned by a family friend and repaired poorly.  Given to me because I offered to fix it, play it and love it.  Just removed the bridge.  Had to use heated palette knives. … Continue reading →

Started a new adventure. Removing an old bridge on a 1964 Gibson C1S that someone attempted to fix in the worst way possible. Then build and install a new one. Never tried acoustic guitar work before. I’ll post more pics from my pc. Why can’t you post multiple pics on Tumblr from a mobile device?