L. Luthier GA20W Bridge Repair | Part Two

◀ Part One

As detailed in the previous post, the bottom of the bridge and soundboard contact area have already been prepped for regluing. Naturally, the next step would be to reglue the bridge. This I've done with Titebond III Ultimate Wood Glue and StewMac Soundhole Clamps. I dispensed with the lone existing rosewood bridge locating pin and replaced it with two bridge pins; one in the 1st string hole and the other in the sixth. The clamps were removed after four days, which would have given the glue sufficient time to fully cure.

After removing any dried glue squeeze-out, the immediate area around the repair was cleaned. Following this, the perimeter of the bridge was sealed with a couple coats of Tru-Oil. I needed to do this because despite using tape and a sharp scalpel to score the thick finish around the bridge before removing it, some of the finish had chipped; exposing a thin line of raw wood. Sealing these exposed areas with Tru-Oil should prevent moisture from getting into the wood; in my humble opinion.

Meanwhile, the fretboard surely needed reconditioning. The frets and fretboard were first cleaned with 3M Scotch-Brite Pads, after which a generous amount of Dunlop Formula 65 Fretboard Ultimate Lemon Oil was applied. After leaving the lemon oil on for about 15 minutes, any excess was wiped off with a clean rag; and the job was complete. The bridge was also treated with lemon oil as I thought the rosewood looked really dry.

Next on the list was restringing the guitar with a set of Alice A306-XL (010-047) and tuning up. As the relief was just where I wanted it with the instrument in standard tuning; there was no need for any truss rod adjustment. And so, after polishing the whole guitar with carnauba wax; this L. Luthier GA20W was ready to be played once more. Here's a short YouTube Video of yours truly trying out this lovely guitar.

L. Luthier GA20W Bridge Repair | Part One

Part Two ▶

This rather lovely L. Luthier acoustic guitar is suffering from a lifting rosewood bridge. After taping off the periphery of the bridge, I carefully used a heated spatula to prise it off the soundboard. Once off, I noticed three things. The first was that there was paint stuck to the bottom of the bridge; and paint on the soundboard where there should have been only bare wood. No wonder the bridge had started to lift --- part of it had been glued to paint!

The second was that there was only one rosewood bridge locating pin when there were holes for two. Maybe omitting the second bridge pin saved L. Luthier a cent or two, who knows? Finally, as can be seen in the pic, an insufficient amount of glue had merely been squirted to the bottom of the bridge prior to clamping. No one bothered to spread it evenly for uniform coverage. And they expected it to stay on? Seriously, the bridge gluing department supervisor had better keep a closer watch on what his subordinates are doing.

Well, I've started the ball rolling by scraping off all the paint and glue residue from the bottom of the bridge. I've also sanded the bottom flat, but not entirely smooth; so that the new glue will have something to grab on to. The next step will be prepping the area of the soundboard underneath the bridge. I'll have to scrape it clean until bare wood is exposed, reglue any stray wood slivers; and sand it flat. Not really looking forward to that, I tell you. Stay tuned for Part Two.