Scott's Guitar Blog: December 1, 2015

Reslotting a planed-down Gibson guitar bridge

This lovely 50s Gibson had its bridge planed down at some point by someone trying to avoid a neck reset. This is such a mistake! The contour lines at the bridge wings were also rounded over when this was done, and the saddle-slot became too shallow to properly hold the saddle!

The bridge was still tall enough to use, and being the original part, it was vital to save it.

I filled the slot with a piece of rosewood, then shaped and contoured it into place. While I was at it, I redefined the contours at the wings a bit too. Moving on to the milling machine, I re-slotted the bridge deeper to correctly hold the new saddle I’ll be making. Next, it will get glued back on this lovely old Gibson.

Thanks for stopping by!