Buzzing moustache pieces/bridge

AmundLauritzen

I have a problem with the moustache pieces that are on both sides of the bridge. When I got the guitar they were glued on very lightly and started buzzing after a short time(vibrating against guitar body making a kazoo like sound). The guitar maker said they are glued on lightly so as to be easily taken off for repositioning the bridge. This makes sense.

So I superglued them on like recommended, but now they start buzzing again.

So I want to ask how others deal with this. Obviously, you don't want to apply too much superglue, because what if you need to reposition the bridge? It will then be a hassle to remove it! Any tips and tricks on how to do this right so that I can get rid of the buzzing?

My temporary remedy is to use painters tape and to tape the moustaches to the guitar body. This tape doesn't damage the finish of the guitar and I use this to keep the bridge in place when I change strings on my archtops.

Any tips and tricks I can try?

crookedpinky

The middle section of the bridge should be able to be repositioned without taking off or moving the moustache ends. They may need to be moved if the original location is wrong in terms of the scale length and/or across the body central placement but I have never had to remove mine to adjust the intonation, that's part of the beauty of the design. I wouldn't use super glue for this but either use Titebond (for wood to wood) or a contact adhesive (for wood to varnish/polyurethene contact) which could be removed if necessary with a bit of heat and gentle lifting pressure. Did you clean the bottom of the moustache ends and maybe even lightly roughen the top of the guitar where the moustache ends sit before gluing and did you apply a gentle pressure to make sure there was good contact between the two surfaces ?

Bones

You could just take them off. I never put mine on. Doesn't look as cool but doesn't buzz either.

AmundLauritzen

crookedpinky wrote: »

The middle section of the bridge should be able to be repositioned without taking off or moving the moustache ends. They may need to be moved if the original location is wrong in terms of the scale length and/or across the body central placement but I have never had to remove mine to adjust the intonation, that's part of the beauty of the design. I wouldn't use super glue for this but either use Titebond (for wood to wood) or a contact adhesive (for wood to varnish/polyurethene contact) which could be removed if necessary with a bit of heat and gentle lifting pressure. Did you clean the bottom of the moustache ends and maybe even lightly roughen the top of the guitar where the moustache ends sit before gluing and did you apply a gentle pressure to make sure there was good contact between the two surfaces ?

Thank you for the advice.

There was very little glue applied originally. I don't remember if I scraped it off, it's a while ago, but I think I applied quite an amount of glue when gluing the pieces back on

#-o


Either way I'm considering doing what Bones suggests, just removing the moustache pieces altogether and keeping them in a safe place.

Bones

Hi Amund,

I think that a lot of builders these days put them on with double-stick tape so that they are pretty easy to move/remove. If you've glued them on with superglue be careful getting them off so that they don't pull up the lacquer or even worse any of the wood on the soundboard. I'm not sure how to do that but maybe a little heat from a hair dryer (not too much!!) and try to slip a thin spatula between the moustache and the top. Work slowly and don't force it. Make sure that the spatula does not have any rough or sharp edges that will scratch the lacquer. If you doubt your skills, take it into a luthier if it is a nice instrument.

Good luck