questions about making a new bridge

Ron Victoria · From: New Jersey, USA

My friend asked me to have a look at his Kay round neck resonator. The bridge looked wrong and didn't have a space to adjust the cone. I took it out. What a hack job. Should I use hardwood or can it be bone? Would the edge facing the neck be square while the edge facing the tailpiece be rounded a bit? How do I figure the curvature?

thanks, Ron

Robert Murphy · From: West Virginia

Ron I'm not an expert but I do all my own set ups including a round neck reso so my $.02. I used a maple w/ebony top saddle from Beard Guitar. The Saddle should match the curve of the fret board and I use Stew Mac gauges for that. The screw needs to be accessable. I prefer the leading edge of the saddle to be square and facing the nut. Same at the nut, square and facing the bridge. I use gauged nut files and pencil lead so they don't catch when you tune up. Get the "Guitar Repair Guide" by Dan Erwine at Steward MacDonald. It's the bible of guitar poop. You can use bone but it's harder to work and not standard for a reso. You can also make a template for the radius of the fret board from stiff paper if that's all you have.

Ulric Utsi-Åhlin · From: Sweden

While You´re at it,why not experiment w/ various
materials for those bridge inserts..?..I was surprised at the tonal adjustments available with
different bridge inserts,brighter to more mellow and
everything in between,bone & aluminum on one side of
the spectrum,mahogany or even spruce to tame an
overly brittle-bright instrument.McUtsi

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