Gibson 160-E Bridge Replaced

A Gibson J-160-E Bridge Replacement

The original factory Gibson bridge had been previously replaced a long time ago. That replacement bridge later had split throught the string holes, and peeled up from the body of the instrument.

The guitar was later taken into a music store to have the guitar's split bridge repaired. At the music store there was some problem getting the proper replacement bridge, and that they could not do the job. A call to Gibson put the owner in contact with us.
This is how the instrument looked when it arrived.

Gibson sent us a bridge that had the right footprint, but was too high for proper string height for an easy to play guitar.
Rather than using the bridge as is, which would have required resetting the neck angle, a bridge modification was in order.
Here, the bridge had already been cut to match the original over-all bridge height, to yield the proper playing string height. Now, the bridge is setup on the Bridgeport to cut the bridge bone slot to the proper depth.

Here you see the bridge with the slot cut, glued on the instrument. All that is left is the polishing of the rosewood bridge, and some touching up of the finish on the top.

Here you see the rosewood bridge is now polished and oiled. A new set of strings and bridge pins is all that was needed to complete the job.

With some finish touching up on the wear spots, a little hand rubbing and some polish, it almost looks brand new. Not bad for being 40 years old.

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