metalhead4J.C. Posted March 13, 2009 Report Share Posted March 13, 2009 (edited) Hey i need to glue a bridge back on an acoustic what kind of glue generally works best for that? i know that sounds stupid but i know basic wood glue isn't the strongest stuff out there and idk if the 2 1/2 ton epoxy stuff or whatever it is screws up tone. Edited March 13, 2009 by metalhead4J.C. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaycee Posted March 13, 2009 Report Share Posted March 13, 2009 (edited) Titebond 1. You can use hot hide glue but titebond is easier to work with. I asked the same question over on the 13th fret forum and that is the answer Bruce Sexuaer gave. If you check out some of the guitars he has made, and his clientel I think he knows what he's talking about Other than that make sure both surfaces are nice and clean and have a good contact. It's good to know or work out why the bridge came off in the first place. If it was knocked just clean the area if it "just came off" perhaps the two surfaces were not mating well, if that is the case it would be a good idea to sand the underneath of the bridge to the profile of the gluing area. Edited March 13, 2009 by jaycee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metalhead4J.C. Posted March 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2009 Thank you I already sanded as there was a lot of old glue in between the bridge and body. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Herr Posted March 17, 2009 Report Share Posted March 17, 2009 Thank you I already sanded as there was a lot of old glue in between the bridge and body. Try to scrape rather than sand if you can it leaves a better finish, that being said sanding is ok. With a perfect gluing surface, the glue joint will be stronger than a the wood's grainjoint. (look at a broken headstock on a mitered neck joint-->the break won't be the glue line) Since the glue joint is not in the same direction as either the bridge and top grain, even a "perfect" glue up could fail before the top or bridge fails. Anybody who needs to repair it in the future will thank you for not using epoxy, gorilla glue, or CA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truckjohn Posted April 13, 2009 Report Share Posted April 13, 2009 The quality of your glue joint mostly depends on how tight the joint is machined and how fresh the wood is machined before gluing. The glue itself doesn't matter that much. Elmer's white glue will glue a bridge down with a stronger glue joint than you would ever imagine.... The wood will fail before the joint fails.... The prep is the key. I personally also like to degrease oily woods like Ebony and Rosewood with acetone immediately before gluing. I have a feeling that gluing a flat bridge onto a domed top is trouble... When I was trying this out myself, I noticed that it takes a large amount of clamping pressure to get the ends of a flat bridge clamped down. I kept thinking to myself... if it takes this much pressure on these large clamps to keep these ends down during gluing -- won't it be trying to rip itself back apart as soon as I unclamp? I pulled it back apart and sanded the bridge to match the soundboard... and light clamp pressure was really only necessary to keep things from shifting around. My own opinion is that sanding the bridge to match the soundboard face before gluing results in the glue joint being less predisposed to pulling itself apart from the start. Thanks John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaycee Posted April 14, 2009 Report Share Posted April 14, 2009 Thats what I do T J . You can put some abrasive paper onto the top with doublesided sticky tape and sand the bottom of the bridge by moving it up and downd the board as oppossed to side to side, this motion will then mirror the two surfaces to be glued with the minimum of pressure in order to have a tight joint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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