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  1. #1

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    I have a 1999 Heritage H-575 that I just had re-fretted. Plays great after the re-fret. I bought the guitar new in 1999. I used a new guy that just moved to my area that I have been very impressed with. I learned from the re-fret that someone glued my bridge to the guitar during an earlier set-up. Unbelievable! I am so annoyed that anyone would do that without even asking the customer first. I suspect this happened more than 10 years ago. I used several guys back then, so there is no way I could prove which one of them did it. The intonation is OK, so the guy who did the re-fret said not to worry about it right now. He was concerned that if he tried to undo it, some of the finish would come up and the top would have to be refinished. What would you do? I am not too worried about the money, so I am thinking of having it restored to how it is supposed to be at some point. I am so annoyed. I never noticed it because I only change one string at a time.

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  3. #2

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    I don't know that there is much that can reasonably be done. If it intonates well, leave it alone. The glue probably gives a good solid connection to the top. Trying to get the glue loose without damaging the top is an almost impossible task. I would probably just live with it. There are lots of idiots in the world, and the ones posing as craftsmen can be a serious problem. It's difficult to tell them from real craftsmen, though, because they look completely normal. Just like most of the idiots out there.

  4. #3

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    Just a wild guess but if you only change one string at a time, I wonder if the years of continuous firm contact caused the bridge base to get stuck on the finish somehow.

    Lacquer is a reactive finish that never cures afterall. Especially if they originally put the strings before the lacquer fully hardened.
    Last edited by Tal_175; 01-17-2021 at 09:17 PM.

  5. #4

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    That is .... Bloody annoying .... !

    what a complete twat that Tech was to do
    that , he/she has no idea how an archtop works ....
    what if you wanted to change that bridge
    sometime .... !!!

    Christ on a bike !
    I feel your pain man

    but if it were me ....
    I would just leave it as it is now
    try to relax and forget about it

  6. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by Tal_175
    Just a wild guess but if you only change one string at a time, I wonder if the years of continuous firm contact caused the bridge base to get stuck on the finish somehow.

    Lacquer is a reactive finish that never cures afterall. Especially if they originally put the strings before the lacquer fully hardened.
    that's what i was thinkin!!..could be the top laquer was still a bit wet...or with heat over time...and the bridge base stuck to the top...try heatin the top a bit (like with a blowdryer) in that specific area...but don't overdue it!!

    hate to think some tech just glued the thing, on a whim of his own! ugh...debarred!!!

    luck

    cheers

  7. #6

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    Yeah my ES 175 had deep wood grain print on the finish from the base when I got it brand new.

  8. #7

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    I don't think a repairman would glue it down, it accomplishes nothing as far as making any job they'd do easier and in fact is just more work.
    When you see an archtop bridge glued down it's usually by an owner that changes the strings all at once and is too lazy to mark the positioning, or they'll screw it to the top! I have an old L5 that I purchased from the original owner and he marked the perimeter of the bridge w a ball point pen.
    I'm w some others here, it'll probably just pop off w a little effort, just be careful.

  9. #8

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    Ugh, that sucks. At least it’s glued in a place where it’s currently intonating well. Sorry to hear, Rick.

  10. #9

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    Some how I would get the bridge unglued. Even if slight finish damage that could not really be seen. Possibly a bit of heat on top of bridge base. Then slowly creeping around till it came up. Even lightly tapping the bridge from all angles with small hammer using cork to prevent damage to anything.

    In my mind that bridge would come up and should be floating.

  11. #10

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    Thanks, guys. I am glad I posted. The idea that maybe it "fused" to the body over time is interesting. The last time I personally remember taking all of the strings off at once must have been somewhere around 2005. The bridge was definitely not glued then. Luckily, the intonation is good and I don't plan on switching from the TI flat wounds I have been using for a long time. Still....

    I am going to try to attach a few images. You'll see what he told me he thinks is a glue mark on the finish (i.e., somebody put glue down and then slightly moved the bridge after the glue was on there). What do you think?




  12. #11

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    Quote Originally Posted by Tal_175
    Just a wild guess but if you only change one string at a time, I wonder if the years of continuous firm contact caused the bridge base to get stuck on the finish somehow.

    Lacquer is a reactive finish that never cures afterall. Especially if they originally put the strings before the lacquer fully hardened.
    I’ve seen this happen several times. They can be stuck on pretty tightly. I’m too nervous to remove them myself. Fortunately, I have a luthier who is really good at doing things like that without causing any damage. I really hope that’s what the situation is.

  13. #12

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    Quote Originally Posted by ThatRhythmMan
    I’ve seen this happen several times. They can be stuck on pretty tightly. I’m too nervous to remove them myself. Fortunately, I have a luthier who is really good at doing things like that without causing any damage. I really hope that’s what the situation is.
    I am going to have the guy who did the re-fret put some custom wound pickups in it next month. I may have him give it a shot then. This isn't something I want to mess with myself either.

  14. #13

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    just based on those two pics i wouldn't automatically jump to the conclusion that the marks are glue residue...looks more like finish interaction between top and base...hopefully anyway


    cheers

  15. #14

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    See if you can work some dental floss under the base.

  16. #15

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    Some years ago a friend of mine played as ES175D with 9's - heavy rock. As you can imagine there was quite a bit of movement at the brige. In the end he had the bridge pinned - much preferable to gluing. Several years later he sold it on to another friend who pulled the pins and played with 12s. The holes were plugged and were almost invisible.

  17. #16

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    Quote Originally Posted by vinnyv1k
    See if you can work some dental floss under the base.
    Thank you so much! After a couple of glasses of wine, I decided to give it a shot. It worked! The bridge is free now. I haven't actually taken the bridge off, but it freely moves now. The finish does not appear to be damaged at all, but there was a sticky substance on it that I largely removed with a microfiber cloth and water. So, I am guessing it was either a tiny bit of glue, or maybe there is tape on the underside of the bridge. Either way, THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!

  18. #17

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    Quote Originally Posted by Rick5
    Thank you so much! After a couple of glasses of wine, I decided to give it a shot. It worked! The bridge is free now. I haven't actually taken the bridge off, but it freely moves now. The finish does not appear to be damaged at all, but there was a sticky substance on it that I largely removed with a microfiber cloth and water. So, I am guessing it was either a tiny bit of glue, or maybe there is tape on the underside of the bridge. Either way, THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!
    Perfect! Congratulations!

  19. #18

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    The fount of knowledge in this forum is priceless! Vinny for the WIN!

  20. #19

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jabberwocky
    The fount of knowledge in this forum is priceless! Vinny for the WIN!
    New forum handle WinnyK?

  21. #20

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    There is this Heritage Golden Eagle that looks like the bridge might have been glued down. A friend of mine got it in trade years ago. It was a while before he ever decided to put another bridge on it.

    Pete Moreno removed the bridge but the finish under it came off in spots. It looked like the dye that blackened the ebony bridge stained spots in the top underneath the bridge. It would take a lot of work to get the black marks out to the wood. Since it was 100% concealed by the bridge saddle, he left it.

  22. #21

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    I'm a bit skeptical on the 'luthier glued the bridge base' theory. It's always possible, but it would be someone pretending to be a luthier, not the real thing.
    I have experienced a stuck bridge base on a guitar, a very nice one, that gave all the appearance of being firmly affixed, and that was eventually dislodged by a real luthier without damage to the instrument. It was attributed to the lacquer, failure to move it over the years. Possibly some cleaner that softened the lacquer. I'll never know. But I did buy the guitar eventually. No problem.

  23. #22

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    Years ago I brought in an extremely rare '59 L5 to one of the top guitar repair guys in LA for some work. I got it back, kept it for a few years, and then traded it in on another guitar.

    Sure enough, I got a call about a week later, the dealer had sold it to someone, who discovered that the bridge was glued down! I never even knew about it because I never changed the strings in the interim.

    Even the top repair guys can do some dumb things, and above all, many of them shouldn't be working on vintage guitars, where that kind of thing really matters.

  24. #23

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    Many of you remember former member Patrick, he had Aaron Cowles make him a Unity Guitar.
    and then he found an 18 inch Unity for sale in the shop in the south, bought that. The guy that owned it was an entertainer of some kind and had this great big name tag stuck on the pickguard that was really buffugly

    That didn’t stop Patrick he took the guitar to Ronaldo his tech, and that’s what Ronaldo did took out a piece of dental floss and shimmied it under that ugly tag and Popped that sicker right off.

    I’m glad you got yours fixed son

    BigMike