Acoustic Guitar Build part 15 // making the bridge - with problems

[@SkyscraperGuitars]

I've always said, you have to pay your tuition... Sometimes that means paying to be in the classroom and sometimes that means having to pay for "practice parts." It's just part of the process of learning. You're doing a great job of keeping yourself accountable. I have a feeling this guitar is going to exceed your expectations! Keep up the good work. -Greg

[@CMRWoodworks]

That‘s a really good way to think about it Greg! I guess the whole guitar is kinda like practice parts in a way, if I think about it. But, I am glad that I have only had to start over with two parts of this build - the sides and the bridge. Could‘ve gone worse, I suppose. Thanks for the comment!

[@MikeEdwards-w3h]

Great video, and so good to share sticky moments which we all have of course. If you have a radius dish for the top, it’s easy to make a bridge shaping convex sanding jig. Just sand a piece of ply in the dish to the radius, screw a vice hold underneath it, and fix 60 grit with double sided to the surface. A solid surfce to sand against, unlike the more delicate front.

[@CMRWoodworks]

I actually do have one of those now. I used it starting with my second guitar to do the initial work, then fine tuned lightly against the guitar top. The place I found then called them domed radius dishes. Thanks again for watching!

[@rodparker4514]

That's nice clean work on simple non cutaway .More please .

[@rzentz9690]

All good comments and observations on the bridge, contact patch and wings. You can use your shop pencil to mark the bottom of the bridge and then see exactly where wood is being removed. Also note that when the wings are thinned, they may not touch the top, even if they did when you fitted the bridge to the top. Wood has internal stress and when you thin the wings, the stress relief may result in some movement and gaps. As long as the space is small, the bridge clamp and glue will take care of it. My opinion…

[@CMRWoodworks]

Good to know. Thanks for the information!

[@JRJ2000]

Yes! I missed your last video, but now I get to watch 2 back to back! This is the most interesting series on KZbin right now.

[@adammclachlen213]

Couldn't agree more! Most interesting series 100%

[@CMRWoodworks]

Hey thanks so much man!

[@martinlouden9005]

All that hard work is really paying off. It looks great Chris. You must be very proud!

[@CMRWoodworks]

I am so far and can‘t wait to play it! Thanks for the comment!

[@steverees1936]

You must be so proud of your achievement Chris, I know I would be if I made that guitar. Excellent work and God bless you mate. 😊👍

[@CMRWoodworks]

Thanks!

[@stevecarver4906]

Excellent job for your first guitar!

[@CMRWoodworks]

Thank you!

[@warrioressence11]

Nice video Chris. Think about your action and your saddle height. If you want your action to be 6/64"(bass) and 4/64" (treble) that will make your gap at the bridge go up 12/64" , 8/64". You add that to the gap at the bridge and that will be your saddle hight. Ideally the saddle should be 1/8" to 3/16" over the bridge. So, some gap between your bridge and the straight edge is desired. Too much will make the saddle too high. Too much would probably be more than 1/32". For me, I shoot for the straight edge to barely clear the bridge.

[@warrioressence11]

By the way, your guitar looks great!

[@CMRWoodworks]

Thanks so much for the information! It‘s really helpful. I‘m right about 1/32 right now, so I should hopefully be good. My bridge is a bit on the thick end, however. I think on my next guitar I may try to reduce the neck angle just a bit. Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@rzentz9690]

Chris, I’m glad to see eye protection and ear protection. Breathing sawdust and especially “sanding dust” is not good (the mineral oxides are really bad). And many exotic wood species are even worse due to the oils and other compounds they contain. Always wear a mask-N95 or better-or some type of respirator when sawing and sanding. Shop air can be filtered in different ways, but the first thing is a mask/respiratory . I know it’s a pain, but when you hit your 60’s and 70’s, you’ll be glad you did. Also, nice work for #1! 👍

[@CMRWoodworks]

Thanks for the comment! Breathing dust has admittedly become somewhat of an issue since I grew out the beard. The masks I have used do not completely protect me. In fact, I‘ve been planning on getting one pf those full face airassisted respirators, the one by Trend specifically. I know I will be using more and more exotics and things that can be sensitizers (like cocobolo) now that I am building guitars, so I plan on getting the mask as soon as I can, but the $300+ price tag is a little off-putting, haha. Thanks again for watching and commenting!

[@charlesdavis7616]

Excellent video! You gave us a great sense of your time investment in the build. You are a great role model for your children for patience and perseverance. I look forward to your next video.

[@CMRWoodworks]

Thanks so much for watching Charles! I appreciate your comment!

[@GarlandStringedInstruments]

Good stuff Chris; you have a great approach imho! Try the cabinet scraper for the bottom of the bridge next time round; I use it as it's much faster than sandpaper and there's no risk of sanding bits you don't want sanded, rounding over corners that should be sharp etc. You can use sandpaper taped to the top to just show where to scrape next, by very lightly rubbing the bridge back and forth just once or twice and checking the underside of the bridge for scratch marks (you'll see these because the cabinet scraper leaves a very smooth finish). The guitar looks terrific!

[@CMRWoodworks]

Thanks Chris! I appreciate that you watched and also the advice! I may give that method a shot next time, even if to get 90% of the way there. It would definitely save some time.

[@thecluelessluthier6520]

It is looking great! Thanks for the info on the saddle jig. I don't think I need it on this build, but expect to in the future.

[@CMRWoodworks]

Thanks for watching! Yeah, the jig worked out pretty well and it‘s one of the simplest to build of all the DIY ones I had seen.

[@scaira60]

Chris Very nice job, I bought that same book from Kinkade guitars a long long time ago, I bought several over the years each book has something it teaches that you might not think of. Good luck & I can’t wait too see that bad boy strung up.🎸🎸🇺🇸🇺🇸🙏🙏👨🏻‍🦯👨🏻‍🦯

[@CMRWoodworks]

Thanks for watching! I have read a little of the book so far and have skimmed back and forth at several other sections. I can tell he had to be pretty brief with some of the steps, so there‘s not a huge amount of detail, but for someone who has built a guitar already, it would be more valuable. If I were going off of the book alone for a first build, I might be a little unsure about some steps.

[@scaira60]

Yea I feel the same Chris, I forgot to tell you that both of the parlor guitars I’m building the backs cracked open🤣🤣 I talked to Robbie he said because of where I live the northeast I closed the boxes it was warmer weather now it’s in the teens Very low humidity. I had to remove both backs & make new ones and install them. now I have no binding left so I just made my own after screwing that process up twice where I undercut the binding channel & ended up sanding most of it off Ugg. Sorry for the rant. God Bless 🙏🙏🇺🇸🇺🇸🎸🎸👨🏻‍🦯

[@rzentz9690]

Kinskaid’s book is very good overall, IMO. I don’t use all of his methods, but the content, photos and drawings have been very helpful for my builds.

[@ch258845]

hi Chris, hats off to you, for your achievement, and also for the brilliant documentation from which i could already - along with robbies course- learn so much! thank you for that. now with your experience, would you rout the saddle slot with the bridge mounted on the guitar, as some propose, or rather do it on the workbench? thanks and best wishes from Austria (and i hope you found some time meanwhile, to finish the walls in your basement :-))

[@CMRWoodworks]

Thanks for your comment! At this point, I’d rather rout the saddle slot on the bench. Since I already made a jig to do so, it’s easier that way, plus I would hate to mess up with the bridge already mounted. On that first guitar, I did consider doing it already mounted and was looking at buying the jig StewMac sells for that, but in the end, I had to save money and just make my own jig. It works well enough, so I imagine I’ll just keep doing it that way. As for my basement walls: I hate the way they look unfinished 😅. I have thought about putting up plywood or paneling, but it’s a matter of spending the money and having time to do it. And there always seems to be something that happens in my family of 6 that uses up any extra money that would go to something like that, lol. My ultimate plan is to just hire someone to do the work, but I also want that person to add more lighting and power so that I can see better and can have permanent plug in spots for my tools instead of only using 1 plug like I do now.

[@ch258845]

@@CMRWoodworks hi Chris, thanks for your answer. Yes, of course, our time spent with the family is the most valuable. As for me, my workshop time is basically limited to when my girls are in bed :-) so from 10- midnight and a few minutes in the morning :-) anyhow, as for the walls, speaking from experience, this can be a very rewarding and beautiful project as well - making the place you spend time at a beautiful place. why not make a video of the project? treat yourself, you deserve it :-) all the best, chrisbk

[@TazzieDevil4862]

I just finished my first build a couple weeks ago, I was following that rule of having the top edge of the bridge meet a straight edge on the fretboard and I ended up with a pretty high action. My saddle is buried in the bridge, can't go any lower, so if I want to lower the action I'll have to shave a bit off the top of the bridge. I don't know if that means I screwed something else up, or if the rule is just so you have the room to make whatever action height you want. That's my non-expert experience for what it's worth.

[@CMRWoodworks]

I can‘t go much lower with mine! I was around 1mm over the bridge. But after playing it, it sounds fine and I don‘t even notice the height of the saddle just looking at the guitar. Anyway, thanks for the feedback!

[@markpell8979]

Your initial thicknessing of the bridge blank is probably fine, as comparing geometry to your Martin should confirm. As your guitar ages and plays in, that portion of the sound board will probably rise or 'dome' a little anyway as string tension pulls on it constantly. If it ever rises enough to lift your bridge height above the extended line of the fretboard face and hurt the action, all you have to do is sand down the top, radiused face of the bridge to get your adjustment range back and then resand the bottom edge of the saddle to restore your action to where you like. So no problem!

[@CMRWoodworks]

Thanks again for the info! Makes sense if the soundboard ever bellies. Just thin down the bridge from the top, thickness the saddle. Not really so tricky when you talk it out, haha

[@markpell8979]

@@CMRWoodworks Exactly. This is one of those things that still leaves you some adjustment as the guitar ages. If you're careful and mask off the guitar you can always keep working on the bridge and saddle with tools and sandpaper to level the action out. Usually just takes some sanding, then re-oil the bridge. You've got it going well.

[@KBorham]

@@CMRWoodworks Very good video of hand fab of a bridge! To add a small detail, the bridge mass (weight) is directly related to the resonance, and resonating frequencies, of the top. Changing the mass (shaving it down to lower the saddle) will affect those parameters. How much it affects it is complex and almost impossible to predict or model, but you can measure with freq analyzer. So, changing the mass of the bridge (including the pins) will change the way your guitar vibrates. Whether or not you could hear that change is another story. You can affix a stack of pennies to the bridge to hear (or not) the effect. Just a small detail every luthier should be aware of. Google it for deeper understanding.....

[@elguitarolerno]

Anyone have any ideas why acoustic makers think the saddle height above the soundboard is so critical? If memory serves its about 13mm on an acoustic, 10mm on a classical (though that could be as high as 14mm) and 7mm on a flamenco. They all work so what is the critical issue with acoustic guitars? Seems like his bridge would work fine at any height that doesn't make the guitar buzz.

[@facundocanosa6601]

Beautiful job my friend! Can you tell us how you set the angle of the jigle? I mean this is not paralel to the frets, it has a little angle so the bone touchs de 6th strings farther than the first strigs (just for 2 milimiters or.something like that) i will apreciate it if you can answer my question! Sorry for my poor languaje, im.from Argentina. Wish you luck my friend

[@CMRWoodworks]

The jig has two parts. The part that sits on top has two slotted holes on both the left and right sides so that you can angle it like you need and then tighten the bolts. Look in the description of my video and I left a link to a video of a guy showing how to make the jig. Thanks for watching!

[@hobiecat901]

Chris, Russell here, I have been keeping up with your build. Fascinating watching all the things you have come up against. You definitely have perseverance. I heard you say in this # 15 , that the front of your guitar has a 30 ft radius, is that what you have on the back as well, or is it different. Hope you have time for a reply. I am thinking of attempting one myself. MAYBE- Ha. Thanks

[@CMRWoodworks]

Thanks so much for watching and commenting! Yes, the top has a 30‘ radius. The back has a 15‘ radius.

[@louisgriffin1785]

Chris, just watching this again and wondering how you determined the intonation angle before you cut your slot? Would it be better to install the bridge and align the saddle slot after finishing? Kinda like Jerry of Rosa String Works does? I haven’t watched the setup videos yet of my course so forgive me if that’s a dumb question…. 😎

[@CMRWoodworks]

Robbie gave a measurement for it. He had a measurement for where the cut should start above the high E and where it should end up above the low E. I can’t remember off the top of my head those measurements. Afterwards, during final set up he teaches how to compensate the saddle by filing at each string.

[@XD7RALPH]

The measurement of the fingerboard projection on the Martin makes more sense if the strings do not exert any pull on the neck, right?

[@CMRWoodworks]

I guess it does now that you mention it. The Martin was strung up. Haha, thanks for pointing that out! I guess the gap would be a little more with the strings relaxed. Maybe my measurement on my guitar wasn‘t so bad after all. Hmmm…

[@XD7RALPH]

The projection from the fretboard to the bridge (plus fret size) should end at the top of the bridge. Then add 3 - 4mm bridge inlay and you have a super string action 😊😊👍👍 I don't know how much previous woodworking experience you have, but you are doing a great job! And the fact that you are not afraid to redo some things to improve the quality I think it's great!!! That's how I tick!!! 🤟🤟

[@michaelburkmier488]

What model are you building d 28? Are your sides 5 inches and 3 inches

[@CMRWoodworks]

The plans used are based on a Martin OM. The body is around 105mm at the lower bout and about 85mm at the upper.

[@doubledarefan]

Not saw dust, not sand dust, Wood dust!

[@CMRWoodworks]

Indeed!