palestine48 - 6-20-2005 at 05:00 PM
Hey guys, A friend on this forum was kind enough to give me his spare floating bridge from his foad jihad oud.
The problem is that the height of the bridge is higher than mine. I imiaginbe if I used this brridge, it could have an effect on the action. Can
anyone please tell me if this bridge is useable or not?
Thanks
Dr. Oud - 6-22-2005 at 01:18 PM
It's usable, but needs to be lowered. You need to determine how much to remove from the bridge. Tape a spacer block of wood or anything 2-3mm high at
the neck joint. (Lower will be faster but higher will be louder, your choice. )Untie a string from the tail block and measure the height to the face
at the bridge location when this string just touches the spacer at the neck joint. Measure your bridge and subtract the first measurement to determine
how much to remove.
Before you cut the bridge down, be sure to lap-fit the bridge to the face first. There should be a shallow relief or clearance in the center of the
bridge base, about 1/4 - 1/2 the length will do. This will form "feet " at each side so the bridge will rest securely on the face and not rotate on a
high spot. (like a violin, mandolin, arch top guitar, etc.) Hold some sandpaper (80-100 grit) on the face, hold one end of the bridge and rub the
other end back and forth until it fits the face. Now repeat for the other side so that both feet of the bridge are snug on the face without any gaps.
If the bridge still needs to be lowered to meet the action measurement, you can take it off the bottom or top, but if you cut the top off, mark the
string groove locations first as you'll need to re-cut the grooves to keep the strings in place. Good luck, have fun.