A Worthy Folly

[Slowy]

Banchetti1.jpg (1.3 MiB) Viewed 1310 times

A worthy folly is how Grantb described my acquisition of this Banchetti dreadnaught.
The bridge had rolled forward. String height and intonation were ok but the sound was weak and lacking dynamics. Some may recall I named it 'Thumper'.
I don't spend much time beating on an acoustic in drunken campfire singalongs anymore so Thumper returned to its case while I pondered what to do.

I decided on a Bridge Doctor and on Waitangi day, Dr. Franken and Mr. Stein otherwise known as Oleg and Slowy, took to the Brazilian Rosewood bridge with a Makita drill, displaying equal measures of trepidation and resigned hope.

Bdoc.JPG (8.43 KiB) Viewed 1310 times

$100 landed seemed a lot for very little but it installed fairly easily (apart from the projectile incident)* and the transformation in the guitar has been nothing short of incredible.
It came alive. The midrange opened up, string to string balance improved and it started responding to input dynamics. In the process, it's become a very pleasing thing to play.
Easily the best $100 I've spent in a long time!




* Ah yes.....
The rod of the Bridge Doctor is seated against the base plate and then tightened with a grub screw. I didn't realise I had seated it on the end of the bridge pin which had been epoxied into its hole.

I'm cranking the thing up, Oleg is crouched down looking for changes in the top. Suddenly, there's an explosive crack and the chunky ebony end pin whizzes past Oleg's head at an astonishing rate of knots.

But the guitar, I did a good thing. I'm really happy with it.
And thanks Oleg, two heads were much better than one.

[olegmcnoleg]

Banchetti1.jpg
A worthy folly is how Grantb described my acquisition of this Banchetti dreadnaught.
The bridge had rolled forward. String height and intonation were ok but the sound was weak and lacking dynamics. Some may recall I named it 'Thumper'.
I don't spend much time beating on an acoustic in drunken campfire singalongs anymore so Thumper returned to its case while I pondered what to do.

I decided on a Bridge Doctor and on Waitangi day, Dr. Franken and Mr. Stein otherwise known as Oleg and Slowy, took to the Brazilian Rosewood bridge with a Makita drill, displaying equal measures of trepidation and resigned hope.
Bdoc.JPG $100 landed seemed a lot for very little but it installed fairly easily (apart from the projectile incident)* and the transformation in the guitar has been nothing short of incredible.
It came alive. The midrange opened up, string to string balance improved and it started responding to input dynamics. In the process, it's become a very pleasing thing to play.
Easily the best $100 I've spent in a long time!




* Ah yes.....
The rod of the Bridge Doctor is seated against the base plate and then tightened with a grub screw. I didn't realise I had seated it on the end of the bridge pin which had been epoxied into its hole.

I'm cranking the thing up, Oleg is crouched down looking for changes in the top. Suddenly, there's an explosive crack and the chunky ebony end pin whizzes past Oleg's head at an astonishing rate of knots.

But the guitar, I did a good thing. I'm really happy with it.
And thanks Oleg, two heads were much better than one.

The Laurel and Hardy luthier show

Really glad to hear the guitar is on its way back now

[NippleWrestler]

Timely! We were chatting about the bridge doctor the other day

I had a look online, saw others had made their own, and decided to try my hand at making one from some old walnut I had along with a spare T nut and bolt. Total cost is about 60c, I just hope it works.

474453864_1366715471429547_5489994846315119284_n.jpg (385.63 KiB) Viewed 1263 times

[jeremyb]

For those like me who have no idea how this works I found this great video!

[Slowy]

Timely! We were chatting about the bridge doctor the other day

I had a look online, saw others had made their own, and decided to try my hand at making one from some old walnut I had along with a spare T nut and bolt. Total cost is about 60c, I just hope it works.

474453864_1366715471429547_5489994846315119284_n.jpg

I see a problem: The push in thread nut is going to push right out again.

[jeremyb]

Timely! We were chatting about the bridge doctor the other day

I had a look online, saw others had made their own, and decided to try my hand at making one from some old walnut I had along with a spare T nut and bolt. Total cost is about 60c, I just hope it works.

474453864_1366715471429547_5489994846315119284_n.jpg

I see a problem: The push in thread nut is going to push right out again.

Good point, a screw in threaded insert would be a better idea

[NippleWrestler]

Timely! We were chatting about the bridge doctor the other day

I had a look online, saw others had made their own, and decided to try my hand at making one from some old walnut I had along with a spare T nut and bolt. Total cost is about 60c, I just hope it works.

474453864_1366715471429547_5489994846315119284_n.jpg

I see a problem: The push in thread nut is going to push right out again.

Ah you might be right. Time for a v2.

[kdawg2a]

I've used these in two old but cheap acoustics and they worked out great. First one was in an early 70s Japanese Yamaha FG-200. Everyone loves the 180, the 200 is just the slightly wider hipped big sister and about 10% of the 180s price. Totally changed the guitar for the better in both tone and playability. The other one went into a 70s Kasuga 12 string dreadnought with equally good results.
These are one of those great tools that while not at all purist, work really well and do what they promise.