After the guitar has had its final polishing it is returned to the humidity control room
where it will remain for a few days to bring the guitar back to the same conditions under
which it was made, this is especially important for the top. This minimizes stress when
gluing on the bridge. A small vacuum clamp is used to attach the bridge to the body. The
bridge is shaped from a standard blank and decorative and protective bindings are added to
the tie block. The numbers seen on the bridge as it is shaped are the weights at various
stages. The final weight of the bridge, and the stiffness is very important to the sound
of the guitar.
The bridge pictured here is the Gilbert style bridge. I use both the Gilbert style and the standard style, it really depends on the sound requirements of the customer. The Gilbert style bridge tends to be a bit stiffer and this raises the cross grain modes of the top more than the traditional bridge, and increases the brightness of the instrument.
After the bredge has been glued to the top, the glue is allowed to dry for at least 24hours.
The guitar is then strung up and tested before it is polihsed. If you polish (apply the finish)
before testing, you have no idea what the guitar sounds like and if there are any problems.
If there are problems, like short notes or wolf tones, it is possible to correct them by
changing the top thickness in the correct places. When I am satisfied with the sound of the
guitar, the strings are removed and the guitar prepared for final polishing. This involves
a final sanding down to remove any imperfections and then french polishing or lacquering.
«French Polishing»
