Watching one of Mark's recent workshop streams prompted this thought.
It just took a few weeks for the thought to make it as far as a forum post ...
On an acoustic, the bridge/tailpiece is "just" glued to the top - and the top is a pretty thin piece of wood (albeit supported by the bracing underneath). Doesn't seem like there's a huge amount of strength in the join, or in materials being joined.
In contrast, on an electric, we sink metal posts 20mm (ish) into the solid body to anchor the tailpiece.
Questions;
- Is one approach seriously over-engineered for the job?
- Is the string tension force on an electric really that much more than on an acoustic?
- Is glue really that strong (obviously it is, because none of my acoustic bridges have moved. Yet).
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Thanks for watching ? - good Q's.
I think that acoustic and electric bridges are doing completely different jobs...
An acoustic bridge is designed to transmit maximum vibration into the soundbox whereas electric guitars have a solid body and the sound comes from the pickups.
Acoustics need to be finely balanced and able to move in order to be responsive and produce sound - in the case of an electric the strings just need to be held as firmly as possible at both ends - The main advantage of an electric guitar bridge is adjust-ability
The string tension on acoustics is greater than electrics (usually) as the strings are thicker - but use the same gauge and you'll get same tension (same tuning also obvs - some variation on brands etc - also extra low or high tension strings are available if you search).
Wood glue is one of the miracles of the universe...It is plenty strong enough Maybe I'll do 'Gluing and Clamping' on Saturday...
Measure twice, cut once...
@markbailey
Thanks for the reply Mark.
Understand that the tailpieces are doing a different job, in terms of transmitting the vibration of the strings.
I suppose I was really musing on the difference between the apparent strength of the fixing mechanisms - ie glue vs 20mm of metal posts. I’d have thought that the posts would able to withstand a lot more tension that the glue. If that’s so, meaning that the posts method is unnecessarily strong?
But I’m not about to start gluing acoustic bridges onto my electric builds.
probably not.
Online guitar making courses – guitarmaking.co.uk