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African Blackwood bridge. Concerned about the weight.
http://luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=46351		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  Linus [ Sun Sep 13, 2015 9:00 am ]
Post subject:  African Blackwood bridge. Concerned about the weight.
Hi everyone. I'm working on a mahogany/spruce OM. I made the bridge and I'm concerned it's too heavy. It's African Blackwood and I am using a pyramid(ish) design. It's super resonant and I like how it works and looks.

Image

It weighs 44gm. Is that too heavy?

I could get the weight down by leveling off the pyramids and just having the wings be flat but I like the look of the pyramid wings.

What are your thoughts?
Author:  DennisK [ Sun Sep 13, 2015 9:07 am ]
Post subject:  Re: African Blackwood bridge. Concerned about the weight.
Tilt the central portion back. Only the part in front of the saddle needs to be full height. 24 grams for this one.
Author:  Haans [ Sun Sep 13, 2015 10:18 am ]
Post subject:  Re: African Blackwood bridge. Concerned about the weight.
Used it all the time, both 6 and 12's. Never weighed them. It works great for bridges.

Image

I'd take more out of the middle. Making the pyramids more like a Stella takes more out of the pyramids too.
Author:  Joe Beaver [ Sun Sep 13, 2015 4:51 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: African Blackwood bridge. Concerned about the weight.
I used it last year for a bridge. It weighed 41.5g. I was worried about it also but when it was all said it done, the guitar sounded great.

I'm not sure this is the right picture. I make two that day, one blackwood and one bois de rose. But except for the wood they were identical.
Author:  Chris Ensor [ Sun Sep 13, 2015 5:50 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: African Blackwood bridge. Concerned about the weight.
One of my loudest guitars I ever made was an early prototype with a bridge that weight almost as much as a cinder block.
Author:  Tom West [ Sun Sep 13, 2015 8:33 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: African Blackwood bridge. Concerned about the weight.
Lots of support for the extra weight so it sort of indicates that it depends on what you want out of the guitar. Weight tends to cut down on responsiveness and slows down the attack. Its harder for the string to get the extra weight in motion. I like to see bridges in the 20's gram range, preferably 25 downward. Again it depends on what you want out of the guitar.
Tom
Author:  Haans [ Mon Sep 14, 2015 7:04 am ]
Post subject:  Re: African Blackwood bridge. Concerned about the weight.
It's probably not for those "shimmer and boom" Ervin clone guitars.
Author:  TonyKarol [ Mon Sep 14, 2015 7:07 am ]
Post subject:  Re: African Blackwood bridge. Concerned about the weight.
ABW is pretty much all I use .. never really weigh them either - tone is the thing !!!
Author:  EddieLee [ Mon Sep 14, 2015 7:52 am ]
Post subject:  Re: African Blackwood bridge. Concerned about the weight.
I used ABW on my last 2 guitars and liked how they look and sound. I slanted the back as Dennis says. They came in weighing 32 gm.
Pictures here http://luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=46347
Author:  Bryan Bear [ Mon Sep 14, 2015 1:39 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: African Blackwood bridge. Concerned about the weight.
I've never done an ABW bridge so take the grain of salt now. That bridge just looks heavy to me, from an aesthetic pint of view not actual weight. I would think you could drop several grams off just by lightening the look. As Dennis K. points out, you could (if you wanted to) remove a fair amount of the thickness of the bridge behind the saddle slot. IMHO, you could also shave a fair amount off the wings. I'm thinking about the area between the 3 straight sides of the pyramid down to where it blends in could be faired in more and that would lighten it a bit.
Author:  Don Williams [ Mon Sep 14, 2015 3:01 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: African Blackwood bridge. Concerned about the weight.
If you're really all that concerned, just follow the design of the original pyramid bridges. There's really no need for tapering it back...
Author:  Hesh [ Mon Sep 14, 2015 4:16 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: African Blackwood bridge. Concerned about the weight.
It will be fine. Optimal bridge weight is very much a function of what it has to drive as well and some guitars do sound fine with heavier bridges.

In addition to removing material from the back which has the added benefit of increasing break angle over the saddle there are other Marie Osmond weight reduction activities that you will be doing as well.

The saddle slot once milled will remove weight and to a lesser degree the bridge pin bevels will too. In addition many of us craft our bridges with less height on the treble side as well also as a hedge against insufficient break angle since the action of treble stings is lower. All these things will likely take you down around 35 grams and that's good enough IMO.
Author:  EddieLee [ Mon Sep 14, 2015 5:59 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: African Blackwood bridge. Concerned about the weight.
I do agree with Hesh. Also I radius the top of the bridge to match the radius of the fret board. The bridge in the picture looks flat on the top. I think that is why it looks a bit "heavy" as Bryan says.
Author:  Linus [ Tue Sep 15, 2015 12:21 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: African Blackwood bridge. Concerned about the weight.
Thanks folks. There is quite a bit I can do to slenderize this one. I'll let you know where it ends up.
Author:  Tom West [ Wed Sep 16, 2015 9:31 am ]
Post subject:  Re: African Blackwood bridge. Concerned about the weight.
Linus: If you have not reworked the bridge, a worthwhile experience would be to install bridge as is, set up to play, and then lighten it. I think you would be surprised at the difference. Quite easy to lighten when installed using a block plane and smooth up with abrasives.
Tom
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