1928 Gibson L-00

Background: This Gibson arrived needing a variety of work. Along with a neck reset, there was a lifting bridge.

Restoration: With restorations, sometimes one is presented with a surprise discovery. In this case, once the lifting bridge was removed, we discovered a poorly executed prior repair. It seems that the bridge had lifted before, removing some of the spruce top as it lifted. Someone put different spruce bits in to fill the hole, applied glue, and clamped the bridge down. This ultimately failed.

What was worse – the top has significant runout and was cracked under the bridge area. This was not evident prior to bridge removal. Repairing such an issue is complicated. Inside the guitar, the bridge plate was removed so a larger maple bridge plate could be installed to mitigate a split and weakened top. Pin holes were plugged with spruce. The top was then routed for a recess that would take a cross-grain bridge patch providing both top strength and a solid gluing area for the bridge. Correct bridge location was then measured (for proper intonation) and the bridge reinstalled with 315g hot hide glue. Finally the pin holes were redrilled.