The acoustic guitar bridge serves many functions on the guitar. It not only sets the placement of the strings, but the bridge also plays a crucial role in proper tone, action, and intonation. That is why it is crucial to understand how the acoustic guitar bridge works and how to maintain it.
There are a few reasons why a bridge pin can become stuck. For example, the environment in which the player keeps their guitar can cause its wooden parts to expand or shrink. If it shrinks, the bridge pin holes can grip the pins. One may also be restringing their guitar incorrectly. If they’re not careful, the ball-end of the string can get jammed in the wrong position and make the bridge pins challenging to remove.
How to remove broken guitar bridge pins? The best option here to not damage the guitar is to unwind all strings and push the pins from the inside. What worked for many players was by using a coin with two fingers to push the pinout. The coin is easy to take out in any case that it slips from the fingers. One can also use the pliers to get the pinout from inside by putting it inside the soundhole and push the pin from beneath.
Purpose of the Bridge:
The bridge not only holds the strings securely in the guitar body, but it also sets the string spacing. A small change in the string spacing can drastically change the entire feeling of the instrument. Maybe even more critical than string spacing, the guitar bridge sets the intonation of the guitar.
Depending on the position of the bridge and saddle, the guitar might have perfect intonation or might not be able to be appropriately tuned. The angle and position of the saddle slot in the bridge is key to setting the intonation of any guitar. The adjustable element of the guitar’s intonation is set right here, and if the player doesn’t get it right, they’ll never quite play in tune, no matter how accurately they tune-up.
The acoustic guitar bridge also plays a significant role in setting the string height or action of the instrument. Stubborn bridge pins often plague acoustic guitar players in the middle of a restring. It can cause a lot of problems for the player.
Tips to Remove the Bridge Pins:
Here, are the steps to remove the broken bridge pins and clean the bridge by completely taking it out. Bridge pins can be taken out by following these tips:
- If a pin is stuck fast, the player will first need to remove the guitar’s strings from the machine heads. Once loose snip them close to the bridge.
- Grab a pair of pliers and put the arm back inside the guitar. Gently tap the underside of the pin with the body of the pliers.
- The pin should begin to slide out. If it’s still stubborn, use the fingers or the peg remover on the string winder to support the pliers.
Now, it’s time to take out the loose bridge and fix it correctly. Follow the below steps to avoid any damage and ensure perfect cleaning.
Step 01. Heat the Glue:
After the player has taken a look at the loose bridge, they will most likely need to remove the whole thing. There are many ways to do this. One can place a heating pad on top of the bridge for a minute or so to heat the glue.
If one doesn’t want to buy a heating pad, they can also use a clothes iron with a towel to cover the bridge. Whichever one use, be very careful. One doesn’t want to overheat the guitar top. They could cause the braces to come loose or damage the finish on the top of the guitar.
Step 02. Peel away the bridge:
After the glue is warm and loose, the player can take a flexible, blunt putty knife and work it between the bridge and the body. Be careful not to damage the finish in the process. The player may have to heat it a few times to get the putty knife across the bridge. Just take everything nice and slow. One doesn’t want to overheat things and don’t want to slip with the knife.
Step 03. Glue the Guitar Bridge:
Glue Acoustic Guitar Bridge, after a dry unbeaten run, the player can apply the glue. On most glue joints, I say to go sparingly on the glue–not this joint. The bridge has to be securely joined with the body.
Make sure to put the right amount of glue on the body and clamp the bridge down just like the dry run. Tighten down the clamp until one starts to see a proper amount of glue squeezing out of the seam.
Step04. Wipe off the Excess Glue
I usually use a damp cloth or paper towel to wipe off the excess squeeze out. Make sure to wipe it away immediately. One doesn’t want it to harden and ruin the finish. I usually like to let the bridge set up overnight. This way, there is plenty of time for the glue to dry. Take the clamps off the next day, and one is ready to restring your guitar. Just make sure to be careful removing the clamp and caul. It is effortless to dent the inside of the soundhole with a deep c-clamp.
Now the bridge is re-glued and ready to be strung up—time to restring the guitar and start playing again.
Related Questions:
When should you replace your guitar bridge pins?
Well, if the player is restringing the guitar and the pins keep getting stuck, that’s a prime indication of a worn-out acoustic guitar bridge pin. Eventually, all bridge pins wear out, and sometimes they break. That’s why one should inspect the guitar’s bridge pins every time they change their guitar strings. If the pins are causing too much trouble, then it’s time to remove them and replace with new ones.
Swapping the acoustic guitar bridge pins can be a fun and relatively inexpensive upgrade for the instrument. And, aside from changing the nut or saddle of the acoustic guitar, it’s probably the most dramatic tonal upgrade one can make.
Why are guitar bridges slanted?
The angle is there to improve the intonation. If one has ever set the intonation on an electric guitar with individually-adjustable saddles, they did see that the bass strings are slightly longer than the treble strings. It is due to the gauge of the strings: heavier strings need to be somewhat longer than lighter-gauge strings.
The B-string anomaly that one points out has to do with the fact that it and the high-E string are plain steel instead of the wound, and so their intonation adjustment is different than for the wound strings. Still, though, because the B-string is more substantial than the E-string, it needs to be slightly longer.
How tight should the bridge pins be?
They don’t need to be tight as long as they hold the ball end in place against the bridge plate. I always put a slight bend in the string at the ball end. It pushes it off to the side, and it’s much less likely to catch the bottom of the pin and push it up when one tightens the string. As long as the pins don’t fall out and can’t be pulled out with tension on the string, it’s no problem.
How high should the bridge be on a guitar?
To set the bridge saddle height, we need to be sure that the truss rod and nut slot depths are okay. Measure the sixth and first string’s height at the 12th fret from the top of the frets to the bottom of the strings.
The player will need to lower the treble side more than the bass side. The high E should measure 2/32″, and the low E should measure 3/32″ at the 12th fret. The string height measurement is the distance between the top of the 12th fret and the bottom of the string.
Conclusion:
The bridge truthfully is the heart of an acoustic guitar. Characteristically made from a piece of ebony or rosewood, it is glued to the top of the guitar where it aids several critical functions for the instrument. Though guitars are intended to resist that force, if there is any weakness in the glue joint connecting the bridge to the top, it can flop.
After the glue is dry, it can be filed and sanded back. Consecutively higher grades of sandpaper can polish up the bridge and, all going well, the result should be pretty unnoticeable. Bear in mind that, if the glue has overhung into the sides of the pinholes themselves or the hole-chamfer/countersink on top, these might have to be reamed or cut to clean them up.
For a stuck pin, one might find that it takes a grouping of all of the above tips to remove it. But the trick is that no matter how annoying it gets, just to keep trying different things. Just don’t give in to the attraction to put all the muscles into tearing the offending pin-up no matter what — that’s how bridges, guitars, and pins get damaged.