New Bridge

Paul B · Post by **Paul B** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 9:25 am

Made this last night. It's for a 12 fret 000 that has a matching fretboard, headplate and rosette. It's Myall, a desert acacia that's very hard and dense, and that as you can see polishes quite well. This bridge weighs in at 29g.

I'm building two 000's both twelve fret, one is EIR/Adi that will have the traditional appoinments (pyramid bridge etc). The Mahogany/Euro guitar that this is going on has more contemporary appointments (backstrapped headstock, volute etc). I just didn't think that a pyramid bridge would bring out the best in this piece of timber, curves are the go here.

Serge · Post by **Serge** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 10:23 am

Looks really nice Paul!

Rod True · Post by **Rod True** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 10:29 am

Paul, that sure is nice looking.

Hey, have you done the backstrap on the neck yet? I'd sure like to see a good tutorial on that if you wouldn't mind.

Paul B · Post by **Paul B** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 10:43 am

Thanks guys.

Rod I have done the backstrap, in fact everything is done now except setting the neck and throwing some hard shellac at it. The hard shellac and a set of tuners are in next months budget so i guess I'll be working on the EIR/Adi 000 until then. I might post a couple of pics of this one 'in the white' in a day or two, as time permits.

I'd like to see a good tutorial on back strapping myself, my method is pretty dodgy but it works - a couple of rolls of duct tape as a clamping caul

There must be a better way.

Ron Wisdom · Post by **Ron Wisdom** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 12:31 pm

Fine job on the bridge and a beautiful piece of wood.

Ron

Lillian · Post by **Lillian** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 12:41 pm

Paul thats beautiful, design, execution and wood.

Alain · Post by **Alain** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 12:55 pm

That Acacia sure looks fantastic. I've yet to see one in the family I don't like!

Great looking bridge too. What treatment did you give it exactly? Grit, buffing, polishing??? Enquiering minds want to know!

Paul B · Post by **Paul B** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 1:08 pm

Thanks for the nice comments. It is very difficult (for me) to show this piece of wood to it's full advantage with photographs. The figure is much more pronounced when you can hold it in natural light and wiggle it back and forth.

Alain, I simply went through the grades of sand paper until I got to 3200 grit wet & dry paper, then a light rub with a cloth. I was thinking of using a polishing compound but didn't want to fill the pores with gunk. So I quit while I was ahead.

Kim · Post by **Kim** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 2:10 pm

Paul is not kidding about the figure in the Myall, it has great depth and I have not been able to capture same with my cheapo 3.1 Sony either.

As for treatment, Paul you should get hold of some Micro-mesh, really good stuff that comes in mixed packs from 1800 thru 12000 grit. Does a great job of polishing HARDwood and bone etc. If interested I can look up an eBay vendor I have used in the USA who does reasonable price on the packs and, from memory, ships at cost to AU.

You may remember this little experimental Mulga bridge I showed a while back on the OLF, this is only polished out with Micromesh nothing else and had not even had my sweaty paw prints buffed off of it before the snap, however, once again the image does not capture the 3 dimensional depth of the figure in the wood.

Paul B · Post by **Paul B** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 3:24 pm

Thanks Kim. I've got some "Micro-Mesh Soft Touch Finishing Pads" from stewmac, but they are kinda clogged after one use (Myall fretboard). What's the go with these things? Can you just wash them and re-use em?

Oh, and I like the shape of your bridge better than mine, I'd already stuck the bridge patch on the top when I decided to use the Myall, so I was trying to keep it's footprint withing the bridge patch area. I was going to steal Hesh's stealth bridge shape until I realised about the bridge patch issue. This one's only a tad bigger than a pyramid bridge (1" x 6").

BillyT · Post by **BillyT** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 4:20 pm

I may not be seeing full depth, but I really like the looks of this stuff in the photos! Outstanding!

Kim · Post by **Kim** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 4:44 pm

Paul this is a link to the vendor I used last time to get some packs of the 6"x3" mixed grit rubber backed sheets. Looks like the shipping has taken an up charge as have the sheets since my last order so you may wish to look around a bit (Think I payed just under $9USD a pack last time)

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/MICRO-MESH-FINIS ... ingPayment

Anyhow, at least the shipping is the same no matter how many packs you order. I cant comment on the foam pads that you have but they should clean up fine. I can say that these rubber backs do wash fine in mild soapy water.

You will also see that they have hard foam sanding blocks for a few bucks extra to suit the Micrmesh sheets, I cut my own as I had some laying about but worth the investment if you don't happen to have any.

The secret to making Micromesh last is to wash as necessary and never to press too hard as the heat build up from friction softens the backing and causes the grit to de-laminate.

Cheers

Kim

Bob Connor · Post by **Bob Connor** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 6:34 pm

Looking good Paul.

That Myall is heavy stuff. It's about the same as Gidgee which I used on a Maple OM recently. That one came in at 32 grams which, in hindsight, I thought was a little heavy. The guitar had some really nice bottom end but the tops sounded a little compressed, or lacking that sparkle.

That last Myrtle OM had a Braz bridge at 26grams and it sings.

So I'm thinking smaller guitar, light top, lightly braced, lighter bridge.

I'm getting a bit anal about bridges and bridge weights because I think it makes a hell of a difference to the responsiveness and to the top end.

I've got a heap of different local woods I've collected for bridges so I'll start another thread with some pics and weights.

If it were me I'd try and sneak another couple of grams off somewhere but then again, I don't know what you've done with the top or the bracing
so I may be speaking through me bum.

Cheers

Bob

Paul B · Post by **Paul B** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 7:33 pm

Bob I'm thinking the same thing. The top is lightly braced - 1/4" adi X, tone, and finger braces. Nothing below the waist is tucked under the linings, so I'm worried about gaining punch at the expense of sparkle.

Problem is I like the bridge as it stands. It's occurred to me that I can drop some mass by drilling a couple of holes in the under side. I'm still trying to see a downside to this approach.

Bob Connor · Post by **Bob Connor** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 8:11 pm

Have you radiused the bottom yet? That should get rid of half a gram.

I wouldn't think that a couple of drillings on the bottom would affect the glueing footprint too much.

Very cunning approach that. Duly stored for future use.

Cheers

Bob

Kim · Post by **Kim** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 8:21 pm

Other than reducing the glue surface area, I cannot realy see any issue with drilling out a little mass, but these desert woods are very stable so I would examine maybe thinning the wings down or taking a little mass off the back by shortening the length of the belly a bit. Another alternative is maybe tapering to the rear edge removing material from the behind the pin holes.

Cheers

Kim

Hesh1956 · Post by **Hesh1956** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 9:26 pm

Paul I think that your bridge looks great. the bridge that I am going to use on my current OM is 27 grams. I am bringing this up because I think that your 29 gram bridge should be fine on an OOO sized guitar. Commercially available Martin style bridges often weigh more than 29 grams too and I have weighed them when they were in excess of 38 grams as well.

I think what is more important here is does this wood ring and in doing so pass vibration freely. Also what is the bridge plate material, does it ring well, and it's weight as well. The bridge is only 1/2 of the hot dog bun so-to-speak....

So are ya going to use 3 degree, unslotted, wood pins?

Paul B · Post by **Paul B** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 11:11 pm

Heshtone, five degree unslotted bone pins - 'cause I got some, and a tapered reamer to match.

The bridge plate is maple.

This bridge material rings like, well, I dunno, like a piece of glass maybe (but not quite) or ceramic (closer) would ring when you drop it on the bench. Plink plink plink when you tap it, though that's probably not a better description.

P.S. just found out tonite that a couple of good friends from my youth committed suicide a couple of weeks ago, a couple of weeks apart. Spoke with one of their brothers for a few hours tonite. Might have a couple days off posting to reflect on things....

Hesh1956 · Post by **Hesh1956** » Thu Oct 04, 2007 12:05 am

Paul my friend I am very sorry to hear of your loss. Hang in and and you and yours are in our thoughts and prayers.

BillyT · Post by **BillyT** » Thu Oct 04, 2007 2:56 am

Woah! What a shock! Take some time Paul!
Sorry to hear about this!
Please come back when you feel up to it.

Sam Price · Post by **Sam Price** » Thu Oct 04, 2007 3:50 am

RIGHT THAT'S IT!!!!!!!

I've moving to Australia.

You lot seem to have the best tonewood in the world!!

That Myall is STUNNING

Sam Price · Post by **Sam Price** » Thu Oct 04, 2007 4:02 am

EDIT: Paul, I have just re-read the thread and want to add my deep condolences for this tragedy.

Ron Wisdom · Post by **Ron Wisdom** » Thu Oct 04, 2007 10:37 am

Paul, that is a real bummer, man. My thoughts and prayers from Arkansas.

Ron

Rod True · Post by **Rod True** » Thu Oct 04, 2007 11:04 am

Paul, I'm very sorry to hear of this tragidy. I hope you will find comfort.

Words can never express enough for such a loss as this. I'm sorry.

Find peace.

Paul B · Post by **Paul B** » Thu Oct 04, 2007 1:03 pm

Thanks everyone for the kind words. Feeling better today, was pretty freaked out last night tho.

And here I was trying to inject some guitar building into this guitar building forum, and I completely changed the subject!

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