lower gypsy jazz guitar bridge height

Bones · December 2021

https://djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/109537#Comment_109537

If u r not sure about your abilities and you have a luthier in the area that knows GJ guitars I'd take it to them

Mondoslug · November 19

My lame content continues!

So I sanded down the bridge. I didn’t do a fantastic job but it sounds pretty good, pretty solid. I know it should have been sanded on the guitar so that the feet would follow the arch of the top. There was so much I wanted to take off though that I didn’t want to be sanding right on the guitar forever, I should have though.

So the bass side is making good contact, the treble side’s a little weird, there’s a little gap. The foot makes contact closer to the inside arch of the bridge than the outside. Maybe I could slide a really thin shim in there but I really doubt it would make that much difference. It sounds pretty good and intonation is decent.

The original bridge that came on this was a nice piece of ebony(?) but way too high (for me) not enjoyable. I put on a lower height bridge from a previous Latcho Drom that I had but the string spacing was narrower so figured I’d try to tweak this one. It’s not bad. Surprised myself that I didn't totally butcher it. :)

Buco · November 19

@Mondoslug you still could sand it to fit the top. Tape a piece of sand paper where the feet rest and go in the bowtie or snow angel motion. Mark up the bottom of the feet with a pencil so you can stop as soon as you see it gone. Then if the action is now too low, use shims, I think that'll affect the sound to a lesser degree.

Mondoslug · November 20

I may try that, thanks. Are you still using the adjustable bridge? I saw that in a thread somewhere!

Buco · November 20

I am. Majority of the time it sits at its lowest. The guitar is fairly stable. A few times a year, in winter, I raise it a touch to get rid of the slight buzz.

Eventually I'll have a few bridges made in small increments.