Official Luthiers Forum!

Hello everyone

I just purchased a Gibson J-100 at a garage sale (got it for $450!!) and it is in need of some TLC. The action is probably the worst part needing attention. I have properly adjusted neck relief, and the nut is good, but the action is still very high and the saddle is already pretty short. It might need a neck reset, but I noticed that the mustache bridge is extremely thick. Could I just sand down the bride, re-slot the saddle slot, re-ream the peg holes and by doing so avoid a neck reset? Let me know what you think. Thanks,


James

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Always remember you are unique......just like everyone else.

You will need a certain height from the top of the saddle for proper tone. If it were me I would do the hard thing and reset the neck - if that is what is needed. I have one guitar, an older Guild, with a shaved bridge and it just bugs me. To make it right, I now need to do a neck set and replace the bridge. Others might say that shaving a bridge is fine but it lessens the value a bit.

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John Lewis
Wannabe builder owned by 2 crazy dachshunds

The purpose of the bridge (one of them, anyway) is to stiffen the top in conjunction with the bridge patch and x-brace against torsion stress from the strings leveraging the the saddle. It provides support on the outside so the guitar top is sandwiched between two stiffening agents, and the x-brace holds the top down against the rotation of the bridge in the direction of string pull.

If you thin down the bridge, you've weakened the outside support and are more likely to develop a hump behind the bridge and a dip in front of the bridge, and a possible bridge detachment.

The correct thing to do is reset the neck, if the angle is incorrect.

In my opinion, those mustache bridges are already underbuilt, no need to weaken them any further.

For $450 it might not matter, but how long do you plan on owning the instrument?

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Old growth, shmold growth!

What does the top look like under string tension? Is there a big belly? Maybe the bracing has come loose and the top is bulging up.

The first important question that comes to my mind is, what age (mfg. year) is the guitar? Vintage guitars are generally more valuable with bridges left original (not cut down). If vintage value is not a concern, then I guess you are free to do whatever. But it sounds like a neck reset is the ideal solution IMHO.

Hi James,

To determine if the guitar needs a neck reset, lay a straight edge on the fingerboard, the distance from the top of the guitar (in front of the bridge) to the bottom of the straight edge should be about 3/8" or so. If it is 1/4" or less then the neck should be reset. The bridge shouldn't be a whole lot more than 3/8" thick, so using these measurements you should be able to determine what your problem is and correct it accordingly.

Cal

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Remember, there are no stupid questions, only stupid answers!