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Have any of you seen the bridgeplate that Sloane made for his guitar in 'Making Steel String Guitar' IMHO it is very nice. Any comments pro & con. Has anyone made or use this bridge? Does anyone have jig?

I made a bridge like the one in Sloane's book for the first dred I built. It is actually a pretty nice sounding box.

I didn't know enought to make templates or jigs then so I have nothing to offer. I just took a chisel, as I recall, and started hacking away at a chunk of ebony till I thought it looked like Sloane's.

Haven't made one like that since.

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Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

Bob, are you referring to the Bridge? OR the bridge plate?
Bob C has made one and did a darn nice job.

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

Question on bridges - Obviously they are of quarter sawn, but what direction does the grain go? Of the books I have (Cumpiano, Sloane, Williams, and Siminoff), none say anything on this point. Does the grain flow lengthwise? That would seem to make it weak along the saddle. I need some clarification!

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DES - Shepherd, MI

grain is lengthwise. Yes, a furniture builder would choke. In my limited experience, I've never seen a bridge that was anywhere close to breaking. Of course, I have a Gibson J50 acoustic that was made the day after they banished the last vestage of quality from their Nashville factory, so if it could be made badly mine was, and that bridge didn't break.

Actually, they sanded a ridge into the top around the bridge. It just happened to line up with the pickguard, so the top cracked for 1/2 the length of the guitar. It also had their lattice bracing and finish that was considerably more than a 1/16 of an inch thick. In retrospect, that guitar shouldn't have been able to make noise. They should track down the owners of those guitars and give them a new one.

bridges do break, particularly along the straight line of the pin holes. i've just finished replacing a through saddle bridge on a martin the crack in this manner, and have an early harp guitar awaiting the same fix.

having the pin holes in something other than a straight line helps prevent this. but if for esthetic/tradional reasons you want a straight line of holes, having the grain run at an angle to the long axis of the bridge and off quarter will also help minimize the risk. same goes for the bridge plate.

michael mcclain crazymanmichael38429.859375

I seem to recall Al Carruth mentioning he uses skew-sawn wood for bridges because of it's split resistance, although that could be my mind confusing things. I know he uses skew cut for bridge plates. It's the most crack-resistant and flexible cut, compared to flat and quartered wood, methinks.

Thank you all. Yes, th picture is the correct bridge plate