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Hello all! I am in need of some advice. My guitar bridge has several bites, or ridges developed along the ivory bridge top. It has lead to buzzing and maybe also to strings breaking before they should have. I have posted a pic below. Any help on dealing with this would be appreciated.
Cheers and Thank You!
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I don't see how that could cause buzzing. All tie blocks wear like that. The bone is to prevent really deep gouges from developing. Most of the wear I see is finish chipping off.
Thanks for the reply! I will take the guitar to my local specialized shop and have them take a look. The buzz can be from something else. Thank you for your insight :o)
I dunno, this may be the only time I've disagreed with a luthier but in my defense I think the picture is deceiving. I think that it may be more a of sharp tiny chip off than just the finish wearing off. Maybe a pic from the back of the saddle would help. String buzz can be tricky, I recently tied one string just a tiny bit goofy at the saddle and got a super annoying buzz, took me forever to figure it out, the buzz wasn't just on that string but tons of sympathetic notes on other strings. I could see a tiny issue with the saddle causing a problem.
If it has several 'bites' can you show more photos with the other chips? With a good light close up.
Sometimes you can fix the chipping yourself with your nail file. The maker sometimes leaves the edges of the tie block bone too sharp and it needs to be rounded a tiny bit.
Strings left too long after the tie block can buzz on the top. Clip them about 8mm after the knot.
Hello!!! Thanks for the feedback gents! I will take a look at my bridge next time a restring her up and try filling down the edges of my bridge. Will also cut off my extra string length of the back, I recall having a buzz cause of a string hitting the tapa. Will see if some more pics would help.
The lacquer was probably acting as the round on the bone. So now that is has gone the bone is sharp enough to cut the strings. In your pic it also looks like the bone has chipped away a touch. A light touch up with a file or some sand paper will solve the sings being cut.
The buzz is almost definitely being caused by the extra long tails of the strings resting on the sound board. The should not touch the top at all.
Woot Thanks for all the help! Gone is my buzz. I spent some time today cleaning and doing some basic upkeep, carefully worked on the bone with some medium then fine sandpaper, getting rid of harder edges anywhere around where the strings lay. I also cut all my string ends.
Was wondering if my string tension and gauge can be affecting my bone, the guitar is a 2006 Conde EF5 blanca, which from day one has used luthiere 35,40,45 ?Mostly 40 and 45. Sometimes i spend some weeks not playing and soaked in water ( i loose my calluses) and when i get back on the horse i go down to 35 to build up my fingers again.
Yes, Jose Ramirez III told a story in his book "Things About The Guitar" about a buzz that he spent a long time tracking down. It finally turned out to be a loose nail in a leg of his workbench.
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