-
Hello all:
I am fortunate to own a swell 1964 ES-175. One thing I find mildly annoying, compared to modern guitars, is that the bridge wanders wherever it wants when the strings are loosened.
I was changing strings today, and had a mini-brainstorm. What if natural UV light "cures" the area around the bridge over time? If so, does the area that usually lives under the wooden bridge look different under UV light? I have a small UV flashlight I use for various purposes, and sure enough, when I illuminated the area where the bridge sits, I could clearly see a ghostly outline of where the wooden bridge used to sit.
Of course, this does not mean that the guitar is correctly intonated just by putting the bridge back where it originally was, but I think it is a useful starting point.
I am retired, and get to enjoy tinkering and worrying about important issues such as these
-
09-11-2023 03:23 PM
-
why would you want to loosen all strings?
-
I regularly clean the fretboard and give the guitar body a quick once over with something like Virtuoso guitar cleaner and polish. A lot easier when you take all the strings off. I usually use blue tape to mark where the bridge goes. The UV trick sounds pretty cool.
Originally Posted by djg
-
Removing all strings simplifies routine maintenance like cleaning and polishing frets, and moisturizing the fretboard. Of course, there is more than one acceptable way of doing this work. Also, if the new strings are different in gauge, tension etc than the old strings, you may need to move the bridge anyways to optimize intonation. Originally Posted by djg
-
On a sanely designed archtop, the bridge goes approximately at the points at the center of the f holes. Of course this assumes traditional f holes, which not every archtop has. On many Gibson models, however, the bridge position is not at that point, because of design features (or failures, depending on point of view). I remove the bridges on my archtops every now and then, because the top and fretboard need to be cleaned sometimes, and sometimes the bridge needs to be changed. If it's going to be a quick operation, I use tape. If it's more complicated, I use the f hole points as a starting point, and adjust intonation as needed. If there is a discoloration under the bridge, that's a good starting point, but still not close enough for me. If the bridge is moved, a strobe tuner is required to get it back into the right position. YMMV.
-
makes sense. i'm such a slob... Originally Posted by FloridaGuitarFool
-
It is hard for me to imagine any maintenance involving loosening all the strings that does not also include re-setting the intonation.
-
Use painter's tape to mark the bridge's position?
-
I love hearing from the big guitar brains on this site.
The blue tape will tell you where the bridge last was. Very useful if you change string types/gauges. Probably the fastest and most practical approach.
On my guitar, I think there was only one “last location”.
Having only “one location” provides a starting point, but I think as soon as you change string parameters it is probably better to use tape.
-
The naturally worn and worn-in interface between the bridge foot and the top develops a kind of mated wear that keeps the traction between those pieces in place. When you take the bridge off, and especially if you shine it up, it erases that natural wear and makes the surfaces very slippery, and subject to an inordinate amount of slip and slide. Plus a compressed top plays at its best, a tensioned neck is at its most stable and changing the strings all at once decompresses the guitar, pulls the truss rod back with no string tension to counter act it and puts your guitar out in ways it wasn't and sometimes reluctantly finds its way back to. If it matters that much how shiny your guitar looks, spend the extra time and take it to a tech and have it set up, intonated and action set exactly where you wanted.
It's your guitar, you do what you want to feel that it gets what it deserves, but I do dissuade serious players from subjecting their guitars to the complete detensioning of their archtop guitars. I try to impress upon them that it still looks great to clean it but that doesn't necessarily mean changing all the strings at once. One at a time doesn't change anything in the guitar's geometry or compression. And it keeps an earned unity between the bridge foot and the top is spends so much time transmitting the sound to.
Just my two cents. I hope you continue to show your guitar so much love.
-
Some people like Kenny Burrell have the bridge pinned.
-
Damn, how dirty does your guitar get? Under the strings? Remove two strings, clean, oil and replace. Next 2, repeat. Next 2, repeat. My simple routine.
-
Everything is easier with all the strings off. If the top can't take having the pressure removed for a short time, it's going to fail soon anyway. I don't see removing all the strings and redoing the intonation to be a big deal, it's just a few minutes of time, and I have more time than money anyway.
-
I always change strings one at a time because I'm too lazy to take them all off and deal with the bridge getting displaced ... oops, I meant to say because it's better for the guitar. Yeah, that's the reason.
-
Changing strings one at a time is best but any work on the neck including cleaning the board like sgosnell said is easier w all strings off.
I've never had a guitar need much adjustment after restringing either.
-
Why is everybody so afraid to lose intonation when removing the bridge?
Intonating is one of the easiest and fastest things to do: play a flageolet and then the open string. Move the bridge until the are the same pitch… done!
I can easily move the bridges of my archtops (ES-125, Gretsch, ES-175 copy, Ibanez AF55) under full string tension (.012 Thomastik Swings), one side at a time. With all these guitars the divots of the f-holes pretty much indicate the right intonation point and then move maybe a few millimetres up or down. It’s not hard when you use your ears.
-
I change two strings at a time, is it ok to do that? Lol.
I agree with Little Jay ^
-
I don’t really have a problem with this on my old es175. The intonation needs to be reset anyway with new strings, you can just eyeball it. Sometimes I need to tweak the set up.
I quite like taking all the strings off so I can give the guitar proper clean. I think some advise against it?
-
Tal Farlow used two small screws into the top of his guitar behind the bridge as locators for the bridge.
Dg
-
I hope that's on his signature model? Originally Posted by daveg
-
-
I too use painters tape to hold the bridge, and yes I oil the entire neck. If your bridge moves, using the scale length for that particular guitar, measure from the nut to the center of the bridge, this will get you close and from there you can start intonation. Might seem obvious but many folks never bother to measure and just start cranking on the bridge.
-
Intonation is not difficult. You dont need markers, tape or lights.
12 fret harmonic and string fretted at 12 fret should sound the same. These days you can use a tuinng app on your mobile phone to help check this.
The main reason why it is not that difficult to do is that you dont need the string to be at correct pitch to do this, which means that the strings can be quite slack so you can easily move the bridge to get the intonation correct. Then gradually bring them up to pitch without moving the bridge and the intonation should still be good.
-
Many decades ago I played in a Yes cover band using a real nice 175. However, when I bent strings the darn bridge would jump. I sold the guitar... I regret it to this day... Yes is no longer of interest but that guitar still is the one that got away...
-
Intense string bending was not super common back in the day of ES175's and archtops - strings were generally heavier. Think Kenny Burrell sound..
I think once you start bending strings a lot, a more modern bridge that cannot slide around is a better idea.
Reply With Quote
How do you understand the 5th and 6th bars of...
Today, 08:59 AM in Improvisation