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A friend brought a guitar to me,with a very small hair-line crack in the bridge,just forward of the pins.I`m thinking Ca and clamping? He doesn`t want to spend much so a new bridge is out.I`m not sure about how long this type of fix will last.Should I just tell him,new bridge or nothing or go with the Ca deal?
James

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James W Bolan
Nashville Tennessee

Are you a professional repair person? If so, new bridge.

Are you doing this as a favor? New bridge.

Are you an amateur looking for experience, including dealing with disappointed customers? Try the CA.

Lots of questions Rick.I`ve been doing repairs for a couple of years now.Mostly friends,so not really full time professional.I`ve done neck re-sets ,bridge re- glues ,tons of re-frets and set ups,fixing stuff like small cracks in bodies,changing nuts and saddles to bone adding pick ups in acoustics and simple stuff.This is the first cracked bridge.The task of making a new one ,I can handle easily,But he didn`t act like he wanted to pay for that.Probably a couple hundred bucks at least.I better have a serious talk with him.
James

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James W Bolan
Nashville Tennessee

new bridge is $125 . There are time when ca may work but in the long term a new bridge isn't that hard. A new bridge is $30 and about 1 hr of time. and they do come off easy enough and it is a repair that you need to learn.

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Thanks John.It would take me probably a couple hours.But your right it`s very do-able.I`ve taken off a couple of bridges that were loose and re-glued them,and Ive made several from scratch on builds so this is the way to go.The only thing about this one is it`s a Gibson Dove with some in-lay on the bridge.This is what made me think a couple hundred .I`d like to try and salvage the pearl and re-use it.
James

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James W Bolan
Nashville Tennessee

Someone brought in a Martin with a cracked bridge and I told him replacement was what I would recommend. But I also told him to take it to the authorized Martin repair person in town since he was the original owner. Apparently he was told the Martin policy is super glue and that's what they did. I don't know if that is truly their policy or not, by the way. I was surprised because I would think that, if that is their policy, they are just setting themselves up for more warranty work down the road, possibly with the addition of a cracked bridge plate. But since I've never actually tried it, I don't know how well it works. Anyone actually tried it and had it fail?

Maybe I'll email that guy and see if it's still holding. Been about a year.

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http://www.chassonguitars.com

I had one on my j-45 that came off and was cracked.I reglued it with titebond and it has been good ever since. That was 7 years ago. I still play that guitar every day. No problems. I'm not saying that's what you should do for your friend, just what i did to my own guitar and it worked.

I've done several CA repairs to cracked bridges. When the crack is short and doesn't connect pin holes, the CA worked. If the bridge is deformed by string tension and/or the crack extends through a couple or more holes, I've not had any luck.

My thinking is that for a cosmetic repair, CA would be fine. Sort of like pouring a quart of STP into an oil-burning car for a quick sale. But in my experience, for a reliable repair the bridge needs to be replaced and any underlying issues (bridge plate, loose braces) dealt with.

Thanks for the input guys.It seems I need to determine why the bridge cracked ,and then come up with the proper fix.
James

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James W Bolan
Nashville Tennessee

I just tonight made an almost invisible hairline crack in a full slot cut pyramid bridge by breaking the high E string. Might be that that's how your's happened? Since mine runs to the saddle line and nowhere near the pins, I'm going to leave it for a few days and see if it's stable. The crack is so tight, I can't imagine how I'd get glue inside it anyway.

I have glued over 100 cracked bridges with CA, some between every pin hole. I have had one come back, at which point I repeated the CA repair. That was about 15 years ago, and AFAIK, it is still good.
In general, this repair is not recommended for bridges cracked through the slot due to a leaning saddle.

Thin CA will wick in the smallest crack.

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John

Thanks John. That's good to know.

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http://www.chassonguitars.com