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Its embarrassing to say I’ve done this....
measured MULTIPLE times and it still happened.
I’m toward the end of a build and I’ve located the bridge in the wrong place. It is about 1/8 inch too close to the sound hole.

The Finish is applied em6000.
2 locator holes drilled.
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What I HAVE done:
1- located the CORRECT position
2-used a spiral downcut to get most of the em6000 cut off level with the top along the bottom of the bridge profile where it should go. I’ll carefully sand any remaining finish around the parameter
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What I PLAN to do:
Mark top of correct location of bridge and tape. Sand any unlevel areas from the current lacquer “lip” and brush on lacquer until it is level.
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What I’m not sure HOW TO fix:
The locator holes are too close to where the ACTUAL holes need to go for comfort so I need to plug / fill those.
———————
Any help is much appreciated .... this makes me sick, and I can’t believe I did it.

The good part is I didn’t glue on the bridge / do any level or buff finishing yet and end up w a very poorly intonated instrument.



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. Double

Is there room in your existing bridge footprint to move the saddle slot back 1/8"?

It may be possible to either fill and reroute the existing slot, or make a new bridge with the slot located 1/8 farther back.

This is why it's helpful to build a jig once you've got one right, then you can just repeat and skip mistakes like this...

I was wondering the same, but it reads like he may have already increased the size of the area of the removed finish to move the whole bridge back 1/8" and has to fill in the finish gap on the leading edge of the bridge. Is this correct SnowMan?

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Well the bridge is premade so it Has the bridge slot cut already
I guess I just have to dowel it


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You could make a bridge that is 1/8th inch wider. Often a slightly larger bridge is used when a bridge is replaced to cover finish damage.

Just to be clear so that suggestions fit the situation, is the finish for the bridge footprint already removed from the top and does it correspond to a footprint area 1/8" wider than your bridge? If so, making a new bridge to fit the footprint as suggested above would be a good option. Is the bridge a simple rectangle shape?

An example of how to fill the holes is shown here: https://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10137&t=46758&p=619096&hilit=fill+bridge+pin+holes#p619096

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Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right - Robert Hunter

Lets see some pics!

Sorry guys I just got home from work .





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The line at the top is pencil and is where it NEEDS to sit
I had previously removed finish on the bottom edge

The holes are really what I’m asking about.
I can’t really drill the others wo it being too close to them


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Please don’t tell me to burn it haha
This was a foolish error that won’t happen again



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You don't need the holes-I've glued 100 bridges on without locator pins.

Just plug with wooden dowels.

It’s just how I’ve been doing it. They are the outside pin holes. Not something that I have to do.

I have actually filled them w dowels and chiseled / sanded smooth. So they are smooth / flat

Really the only issue now will be the lawyer line at the top. I’ll need to add lacquer to fill in between there and the proper placement. I’d like that line to disappear but I realize it may be visible when done


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Yes... for me this was a stressful kind of thing but it was easier than I thought.



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I just had to plug some bridge pin holes on a repair I am doing . I think dowels are OK but plugs are probably preferable as the grain is running the same direction as the wood you are plugging especially if you need to redrill in the area of the plug. With dowels it sometimes seems like when re-drilling the drill kind of shatters the dowel if it hits it or it can pull the bit off center since you are hitting end grain..

I found a thread on Frets.net that showed a really neat way by David Farmer to shape a custom plug as the hole may not be a true 3/16 or whatever. I have used his technique and it works great. There are additional ideas in the thread using brass tubing as a plug cutter and that works well too if the diameters match.

http://fretsnet.ning.com/forum/topics/s ... ug-cutters

If you want to anchor a bridge for gluing and have already cut the saddle slot you can drill a 1/16" hole in each end of the saddle slot with the bridge taped in the correct position and use 1.4mm nails from Ace Hardware to pin the bridge in position. for a really snug fit you can cut off a 1.6mm nail and chuck it in your drill to expand the 1/16" hole and then use a 1.6mm nail to pin the bridge. That gives a very snug fit with absolutely no play.

If the holes are off drilling new ones is no biggie as opposed to bridge pin holes.

_________________
It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

On the HGTV show Home Town, in the husband’s workshop, there’s a sign that says: measure once, cuss twice.

The good thing is that this particular mistake is one you will never, ever make again.

Man, I wish you'd posted before you removed more finish, because you could easily have used the existing footprint and simply moved the saddle slot back 1/8"...

Anyway, hopefully the new finish melds with the old in a not too obvious way...

He didn’t make the bridge so maybe he doesn’t have a jig to or know how to route the saddle slot wider...


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This. I haven’t gotten into making the bridges yet. It’s kind of the last thing I need to mark off.
These were from Andy B. Super sexy bridges. So I’m working with what I know how to do.

And the previous poster was right. It shouldn’t happen again. I did however measure several times for this . I’m not sure what got bumped or when. :/




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You made a whole guitar, the bridge will be easy compared to that.

Nice looking silky top BTW.

With the possibility of the bit drifting when drilling new holes from hitting end grain (or harder wood if the dowels aren't as soft as spruce), you could use built up tape to locate the bridge. Binding tape works well for this, to build up ledges front/back and left/right. Several layers are needed to make sure the bridge doesn't end up on top of the tape. Use blue tape or other low-tack tape for the first layer, then binding tape above that. It's my go-to method. Never used any other.

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formerly known around here as burbank
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

Andy can put the saddle slot wherever you need it...

FWIW, I use the outer string holes to keep bridges in place while clamping...

viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=45926&p=608005&hilit=Super+simple+bridge#p607920

Hope this link works. It shows the very simple solution for locating the bridge correctly every time without having to think about it...

You're going to have to plug/repair the bridge plate too, right?

I went through this on my last build because I mounted the bridge in the wrong spot too.

I invested in the StewMac bridge saver, not cheap but did a great job.

Good luck.

https://www.stewmac.com/Luthier_Tools/T ... Saver.html

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I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.