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| Can bridge bolts on a J-45 ACTUALLY affect the tone? http://luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=43183 |
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| Author: | Steven Bollman [ Thu Apr 10, 2014 12:58 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Can bridge bolts on a J-45 ACTUALLY affect the tone? |
I've noticed on many old Gibson J-45s that there are bridge bolts. Some don't have them. Maybe they were removed during a repair. I wonder...if the bridge is glued properly, can two bolts actually have an adverse affect on tone? |
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| Author: | Jim Watts [ Thu Apr 10, 2014 1:16 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Can bridge bolts on a J-45 ACTUALLY affect the tone? |
It would be hard to say that it would either have an adverse or positive effect, it would depend on the individual guitar IMO. My take on this is that would be like adding extra mass to the bridge, sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't, depending on what you wanting. |
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| Author: | jackwilliams [ Thu Apr 10, 2014 1:26 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Can bridge bolts on a J-45 ACTUALLY affect the tone? |
Lots of the 1960's J-45's I have played didn't sound all that good to me, and most had bolt on bridges... I really don't think the bolts themselves affected the tone as much as the fact most of them were very heavily over braced ... Some of the 1960's Gibsons ( not sure J-45's had these) actually had plastic bridges, with no attempt to glue them to the top, in fact bolted on without even removing the finish under the bridge....Replacing those with wooden bridges, glued on really improve the tone I recently did a lot of work on a 1947 J-45, bolt on and glued 'down-belly' type brazilian bridge... The bridge had been shaved down, but the glue joint was still intact.... not sure if the bolts were holding anything. After the bridge was replaced, a neck set and many other repairs the guitar really sounded great. The 1960's were really a boom time for US guitar manufacturers, and many of the Gibsons built during that era weren't the best guitars... To me, they were built more to head-off warranty repairs, than for the best sounding guitars. |
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| Author: | RustySP [ Thu Apr 10, 2014 3:07 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Can bridge bolts on a J-45 ACTUALLY affect the tone? |
I don't know if this is the same bridge being talked about, probably not, but my 60's Gibson Blueridge had a couple of screws in it to adjust the saddle. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2 |
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| Author: | James Ringelspaugh [ Thu Apr 10, 2014 3:40 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Can bridge bolts on a J-45 ACTUALLY affect the tone? |
Yes, they add weight which lowers volume. Also if the nut gets loose or falls off they can rattle something terrible. |
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| Author: | Terence Kennedy [ Thu Apr 10, 2014 4:29 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Can bridge bolts on a J-45 ACTUALLY affect the tone? |
The adjustable saddles were sure a tone killer in those that had them. Bolts? Probably not much except maybe to a dog. Here's a picture of a 1965 J45 I converted to a fixed saddle back in 2007. The hardware alone weighed 40 grams. The improvement with a fixed saddle was amazing. 
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| Author: | Steven Bollman [ Thu Apr 10, 2014 9:14 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Can bridge bolts on a J-45 ACTUALLY affect the tone? |
Thanks everyone. I was referring to an old school straight bridge like the ones found on original Banner Gibsons fro 1943/44/45. I know those adjustable bridges from the early 1960s were a big mistake. |
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