Acoustic Setup + Bridge Repair

This is an early 80s Japanese Alvarez acoustic. It has an LR Baggs Element system which really works well.

The bridge on this guitar was starting to collapse the top and was sloping towards the sound hole. This was because of years of string pressure and I’m guessing exposure to some heat and cold. This guitar is not worth taking the top off and doing that type of repair so I used a JLD Bridge Doctor to support the bridge and slightly compensate for the slope.

This did require drilling a hole through the bridge and placing a permanent modification inside of the guitar. I did notice a small tone change but I cannot figure out what it is. I think it might be a little top end loss. It took about 30 minutes to repair and the guitar plays better than it did before.

 

IMG_1535
Apparatus inside guitar (upside down)

One thought on “Acoustic Setup + Bridge Repair

  1. I have a Sire acoustic and it was fine until I hung it up with a guitar device I got from Amazon. No I can’t get it to play right. These guitars aren’t the best but it played nice when I first got it. From Chicago music store. Where are you located in Marysville, I lived here since 1981. Work for the Gas company for 31 years now I’m medically retired with a bad back from ditch digging. I would like to see about how much it would cost to get it repaired. Thanks

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