Proper Shim Glue under Bridge?

B25Gib

What do the luthier's books say about what type of glue to use for permanently glueing a shim under the bridge? It seems intuitive that a hard glue should be used, so as to not soak up any of the vibration down thru the glue joint and into the voice box of guitar. But, is there such a thing as too hard of a glue such as "Resorsinal" (sp) that boat builders use? This glue sets up hard as glass and is waterproof? What about Gorilla glue which is very durable and hard?

Thanks, Rocky

lmntry

Hi:
I am far from being a luthier...but I seem to remember that the consensus for adhering the moustaches to the top was double sided tape
(carpet tape)

I would imagine that would also work well with your shims ?


David

Scotsman

I have used both wood glue and superglue with equal success. As long as you have good contact to both the top of the guitar and the bottom of the bridge with the shim the tension of the strings are going to ensure good sound transmission to the guitars top.

All the best,
Steve

Jack

A luthier I know uses plain old Elmers Glue. Why? If humidity etc. change, and you want to remove the shim, just put the bridge in a microwave for a few seconds.

Best,
Jack.

djangology

jack, thats a great tip. I think the double sided tape would be my choice for a temporary job but to get better transmission of sound from the strings to the top I think that hard glue would work better ya think?

to make the example extreme, try putting a thick piece of cloth in there as a shim and then tell me how loud your guitar is. :-)

Jack

I'd imagine that a harder glue would work better, but I doubt most of us could tell the difference-it's such a tiny bit of glue, and such a tiny piece of the puzzle.

Best,
Jack.

B25Gib

.....Thanks to all for the ideas. I had made some temporary shims out of popsicle stick (spruce wood) but it is a soft wood and when I installed some made from Purple Heart wood, I got significantly better sound. Purple Heart is very hard and is used for the dead woods(bow and stern) in boat building.

Rocky

djangology

nice! i am glad that we are disconnecting with the popsickle stick story... personally I dont believe in them...

djadam

Currently I'm using two layers of cut-up credit card material and it works fine. I can't tell a difference in tone with/without it. However, I'll be putting on some real wood shims and I wonder - is it even necessary to glue them to the bridge? Seems the tension from the strings holds everything exactly in place. Plus you can change/add/remove them depending on the weather.