The bridge is lifting on my Faith acoustic, after doing some research I have decided to have a go at repairing it myself.
Can anyone offer any suggestions of the best clamps to use and a UK based source.. The only deep ones I have found so far are Faithful, with a throat depth of 200mm, which I think may be a bit too deep to for the Faith Saturn. 40 or 50mm smaller would be ideal.
http://www.faithfulltools.com/p/FAIG8DT/Deep-Throat-G-Clamp Has anyone used the Faithful 200mm deep clamps? Perhaps I am unnecessarily concerned.
Any other tips before I start my first guitar repair would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Chris B.
Comments
But if you don't want to invest a lot for a one-off job, I've also got a few of these, which I used to use...
Obviously you need to make it to the specific bridge pin hole spacing of your guitar - they do vary, only slightly, but it has to be exact.
The slots in the ends of the bolts are so you can screw them in and out from the outside of the guitar, which is usually necessary at least to get them out, even though the wood glue won't actually bond to the steel - it will clog up around the threads and make it hard (and risky) just to push them through.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
I'll have a look at the Klemmsia clamps and maybe think about making something similar to the one you show in your photograph.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Guitar-Bridge-Install-Caul-Clamp-Rosewood-Bridge-for-Acoustic-Guitar-Parts-/192768743214?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0
A couple of these
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/IBEX-Guitar-bridge-clamp-/111969485646?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0
And a few of the klemmsia cam clamps too.
Before i had all those I did a couple with a ghetto go bar setup, garden cane under the workbench.
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"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
I've also used/made exactly the same kind of tool that @icbm showed above for gluing Variax acoustic bridges back down (with a couple of dowels to prevent it happening again). They work well.
The Black and Decker Workmate method sounds a bit high risk for my level of DIY - I can almost hear the sound of splintering wood as I don't quite get the bracing right!
Thanks guys, your suggestions are much appreciated.
I will be watching a few more YT videos before I set about the repair.
Experience has taught me not to assume with guitars - some cheaper acoustics are better made than others in this regard, and some expensive ones are utter crap.
Good luck with the repair. :-)
Much ordering today:
Fox style clamp
Titebond
Solvent cleaner
Scraper
Several videos have mentioned that it's not uncommon to see part of the bridge glued to the lacquer rather than the bare wood - hence ordering some scrapers to make sure that there will be wood to wood contact and no lacquer in the way.
Apart from the clamp everything else has been sourced in the UK. I'll report back when the job is done, or a post a FS in the classifieds for a Faith Saturn in need of bridge repairs!
I replaced the machine heads with Wilkinson EZ-Loks, set up the neck, adjusted the truss rod, re-strung with Rotosound Pinks, re-dressed the frets and made a really good looking guitar. Then my artist did her bit. I'll post a photo of the result she calls 'Effervesence' comprising diamante and epoxy resin. However, when I first strung it up I realised the bridge was separating from the soundboard. I'm old-fashioned and always tune 12-strings to D, ie a tone lower. I referred to my Dan Elewhine bible and using a couple of very strong large palette knives, held the bridge up while my wife pushed Titebond into the space. 24 hours later it's fine. Two bridge pin holes needed clearing. The comment about lacquer is correct of c course but you lose nothing by trying.
I bought from Amazon:
3” (75mm) Deep Throat (4-1/2") G Clamp Grip Holder Clamp Vice Clamping 2 Pack
£18 for the two and they fitted perfectly. Properly cauled inside and out, no damage in or out. Job's a good 'un..
Everything but the clamp has arrived and I'm looking forward to having a go at the repair.
Good luck to your wife with her artwork, I had a look at her site and she has some lovely innovative work.