What is a suitable bridge material for an acoustic?
Soft wood trimmed from the box with bridge material from a real guitar?
Hard wood trimmed from the neck material (red oak)?
The wood by it's self (hard wood or soft wood)?
Or metal?
Which is going to transfer the sound best? I've got my theories, but I need to finnish the build before I leave for training (work related) tomorrow. So I really don't have time to experiment.
Would keeping the size of it to a minimum help with sound as well? Allow for more vibration of the top sheet, or would a larger piece help transfer vibrations better?
Same question for the nut too.
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Hey Beer,
Pull the tuners and laminate a 1/4" piece of oak on the back of the headstock. When you re-string it put the strings thru the tail piece front to rear. That should fix your primary problems!
Have fun!
I've tried oak, steel, brass, and a domino..The domino to me works the best. I take my dremel tool and slice a 1/4" piece off and slot it for strings. works great sounds better than metal and won't scratch the box. i just make sure i wear a gas mask when cutting because the polymer sheds like corian.
Forgot to mention, but you will find out, easy to cut but messy. Fine little shavings everywhere... hook up the vacuum. I enjoy working with corian, have md lots of pens and a vase out of it.
Wichita Sam said:
relatively easy cutting... doesn't hurt blades at all... finishes nice
Wes Yates said:
Sam, Paul, how hard is corian to cut? I tried on the band saw a little and it seems ok, but will it dull the blade quickly? I have some pieces that I can use to make nuts with but don't want to spend the $20 per band blade every time I need a nut.
-Wes
Wichita Sam said:
I like hard wood cut with "foots" (ala banjo) for acoustics. Close second is a martin bridge saddle using corian for the saddle. beyond that I have gotten great acoustic response from a 1/2 brass bar riding on a hardwood bridge... errr... what are you cutting the nut from?
I ended up laying some of the left over neck stock sideways in a miter box and cutting it at a 45*. Ended up trimming it way down. Cut the top of the triangle that was left on the neck stock off and trimmed it down for the nut.
Sounds fairly decent, even without sound holes. The action is a little high. Not that I've really had the chance to mess around with it. As soon as I was done, I had to pack and leave for the airport. Just getting in now.
I got quite a few looks and a couple of conversations. I may have inspired someone to build one. He had a question or two and was impressed with the sound. Gave him a quick rundown on the construction.
I may rethink using the picture hanger as the saddle, the strings are a little high. Barely perceptible deflection over the bridge. The sound was about the same without the bridge, but it would throw the intonation off. I haven't burned the frets in yet, so I could reprint a template for the longer scale.
I also need to space the tuning heads off the back of the head. Barely any deflection there too. I didn't line up the center tuning peg properly (rushing) so without the deflection over the nut, the string doesn't stay in the groove. I may just align them with screws for now and build a new neck when I get home (it pays to have friends in the lumber business).
So trying to finish this up quickly I was reminded why I only bought tools from Harbor Freight once years ago. As cheap as the tools are, they still aren't worth the money you are paying for them.
Flor de Jalapa Toro's make nice looking and sounding CBG's. The unfinished Red Oak neck ties in nicely.
I have pretty much used bone exclusively, set into a hardwood bridge. Likewise for the nut. However, on my mandola I tried a "Red Henry" style maple bridge and it works very well.
The light, hard bridge seems to transfer energy very well.
relatively easy cutting... doesn't hurt blades at all... finishes nice
Wes Yates said:
Sam, Paul, how hard is corian to cut? I tried on the band saw a little and it seems ok, but will it dull the blade quickly? I have some pieces that I can use to make nuts with but don't want to spend the $20 per band blade every time I need a nut.
-Wes
Wichita Sam said:
I like hard wood cut with "foots" (ala banjo) for acoustics. Close second is a martin bridge saddle using corian for the saddle. beyond that I have gotten great acoustic response from a 1/2 brass bar riding on a hardwood bridge... errr... what are you cutting the nut from?
Replies
Pull the tuners and laminate a 1/4" piece of oak on the back of the headstock. When you re-string it put the strings thru the tail piece front to rear. That should fix your primary problems!
Have fun!
Wichita Sam said:
Beer said:
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Sounds fairly decent, even without sound holes. The action is a little high. Not that I've really had the chance to mess around with it. As soon as I was done, I had to pack and leave for the airport. Just getting in now.
I got quite a few looks and a couple of conversations. I may have inspired someone to build one. He had a question or two and was impressed with the sound. Gave him a quick rundown on the construction.
I may rethink using the picture hanger as the saddle, the strings are a little high. Barely perceptible deflection over the bridge. The sound was about the same without the bridge, but it would throw the intonation off. I haven't burned the frets in yet, so I could reprint a template for the longer scale.
I also need to space the tuning heads off the back of the head. Barely any deflection there too. I didn't line up the center tuning peg properly (rushing) so without the deflection over the nut, the string doesn't stay in the groove. I may just align them with screws for now and build a new neck when I get home (it pays to have friends in the lumber business).
So trying to finish this up quickly I was reminded why I only bought tools from Harbor Freight once years ago. As cheap as the tools are, they still aren't worth the money you are paying for them.
Flor de Jalapa Toro's make nice looking and sounding CBG's. The unfinished Red Oak neck ties in nicely.
The light, hard bridge seems to transfer energy very well.
Wes Yates said:
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