bridge type

Does the type of bridge affect the sound? i have seen the strings attached on a bridge on the soundboard or they will be attached to the tail piece and laid across the bridge. What are the differences and the reason for doing one or the other, and are there any advantages or disadvantages to each of these? I am trying to decide which one i should use.

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  • Tite bond is Great. I use it or Elmer's on anything that's supposed to stay. Hide glue if I need to take it apart. But that is oftenh not worth the expense or time. Just don't use Gorilla glue unless you try it out on something else first.

    Mitchell Boren said:

    What kind of glue do you use? I have some of this. Will this work, or do I need something stronger?

     

    Titebond-III.jpg
    herb Berwald WWW.CigarGuitar.com said:

    All my ukes have been glue on.

    Thought I was doing great, once I did not sand completly through the label paper and into good wood.  Everything was fine for a couple of days, then when doing a final tune, the bridge popped off.  re-sand, re-glue and everything is ok.

    I have used floating bridge for CBG's and have screwed them down.  They all work.  I do like the screwed with some adjustment to allow for intonation.  This gives you some wiggle room....good luck.

     

     

  • TB is plenty stong, but very slippery until it sets up. The trick is to keep the bridge from slipping during the gluing process:

     

    (1) Dry clamp the bridge exactly where you want it.

    (2) Drill a couple of pin holes through the bridge and soundboard. You can do this in the saddle slot if you have cut one already, or you can drill holes toward the ends and fill them later.

    (3) Glue the bridge with pins in the wholes to keep the bridge from slipping during the clamping.

    (4) Let it sit overnight and then remove the pins. You can heat the pins with a soldering iron to soften the glue if they don't want to come out.

     

    This works well for fretboards too. Just make sure you're drill bit and pins are smaller than the width of your fret crown.

    Mitchell Boren said:

    What kind of glue do you use? I have some of this. Will this work, or do I need something stronger?

     

    Titebond-III.jpg
    herb Berwald WWW.CigarGuitar.com said:

    All my ukes have been glue on.

    Thought I was doing great, once I did not sand completly through the label paper and into good wood.  Everything was fine for a couple of days, then when doing a final tune, the bridge popped off.  re-sand, re-glue and everything is ok.

    I have used floating bridge for CBG's and have screwed them down.  They all work.  I do like the screwed with some adjustment to allow for intonation.  This gives you some wiggle room....good luck.

     

     

  • The "archtop" style bridge (with tailpiece) uses angle of deflection to "power" the actuated panel, the "flat top" (saddle and bridge pin) rock the panel in a twisting motion. the potential pressure to strength ratio is where the volume can be changed. "the loudest instrument is about to fly apart at any time" (Dan Ferrington book). For a Uke? Ladder brace-classical guitar bridge,....resonator-tailpiece,....banjo style, All can be found on "store-bought".....(what do you want it to look-sound like?) Oh, the tone can be controlled by interior volume to sound hole (like in a "bass reflex" speaker cabinet)
  • What kind of glue do you use? I have some of this. Will this work, or do I need something stronger?

     

    Titebond-III.jpg
    herb Berwald WWW.CigarGuitar.com said:

    All my ukes have been glue on.

    Thought I was doing great, once I did not sand completly through the label paper and into good wood.  Everything was fine for a couple of days, then when doing a final tune, the bridge popped off.  re-sand, re-glue and everything is ok.

    I have used floating bridge for CBG's and have screwed them down.  They all work.  I do like the screwed with some adjustment to allow for intonation.  This gives you some wiggle room....good luck.

     

     

  • All my ukes have been glue on.

    Thought I was doing great, once I did not sand completly through the label paper and into good wood.  Everything was fine for a couple of days, then when doing a final tune, the bridge popped off.  re-sand, re-glue and everything is ok.

    I have used floating bridge for CBG's and have screwed them down.  They all work.  I do like the screwed with some adjustment to allow for intonation.  This gives you some wiggle room....good luck.

     

     

  • I too prefer a floating bridge and I haven't heard that much of a difference in tone between a fixed and floating bridge. Bridge placement on the soundboard is in my mind more important.

    Don

  • I'm not very experienced at this, but the first Uke I built has the strings attached to a fork on the tailpiece. They lay across a floating bridge. I get really good sound from this. The main reason I did it this way was to avoid having to find a way to attach the bridge tight enough to hold against the tension of the strings. The one I am working on now will have the strings attached at the bridge. Trying to decide if I want to use really strong glue alone, or combine glue with screws coming from the inside. Not sure how this will affect the sound. Maybe someone else with more experience will chime in here and enlighten us.

     

    Here is the first one.

    240072028?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024

    And here is the new one.

    180551_1796342877044_1493885335_1903809_337841_n.jpg

     

     

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