The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
  1. #1

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    Two exceptionally nice guitars have been been given to me, on loan, in hopes that I might be inclined to purchase one or both of them. They arrived with flatwounds, old ones at that, and being an acoustic player primarily, I wanted to give one of them a change to rounds. The intonation was slightly off, and when I went to move the bridge a tiny bit I found it adhered to the nice spruce top. I tried putting a little pressure on the base, but it was not going to move, so I decided to not force the issue given that it isn't my guitar. That creates a bit of a problem, as I was on the fence about the guitar primarily because it has a built-in humbucker, and although it is 16", it has a decent acoustic voice.

    Any experience that can be shared would be appreciated, but at this point, without being able to move the bridge, and unwilling to apply enough force given some probability of damaging the guitar, and the fact that I'm marginally interested in buying the instrument, it looks like it's going back to the owner. He assured me that it hadn't been glued, but that the strings had been on for quite a while.

    Thought? Thanks.

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    funny we just had similar thread...with success!...take a look

    Glued bridge on Heritage H-575

    luck


    cheers
    Last edited by neatomic; 02-08-2021 at 08:23 PM. Reason: add-

  4. #3

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    Heat has been mentioned as a way to soften glue. This works but don't apply with a heat gun.
    Instead fill a plastic bag with hot water and use it to warm the bridge base after strings and saddle have been removed. Tap the bridge base close to the joint surface in a direction parallel to the glue surface, and it is likely to come loose. Before attempting this, make sure that there are no dowel pins or screws involved.

  5. #4

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    Vinny suggested dental floss and sawing motion between base and soundboard. I think it worked for the other guy. It may work for you, too.

  6. #5

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    One of my top-flight archtops had that issue too and it's actually at the shop right now for a tune up and during that process the adhesive under the bridge will be removed. It's not a problem to deter purchasing a guitar IMO but it's something best left to a tech to address.

  7. #6

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    Thanks Neatomic, Teeps, Jabberwocky, and CoolVinny!

    Definitely requires more strong force energy than I'm willing to risk with someone else's relatively higher end instrument; And given it has a built in P/U, and me being an otherwise acoustic player, that has great appreciation for plugging in occasionally, I'm planning to return it to it's rightful owner. It's a great guitar. Short scale. 16". Well known builder. I'm pretty sure it's something that is easily remedied and a great deal for someone else.