This Taylor
came to me with a simple enough problem of the bridge lifting.
However, from the looks of it, the instrument seemed to have been left standing somewhere with dust, grime and their entire clan having made their home on it!
In addition to all that it seemed that the instrument was very dry and in urgent need of some TLC.
I took it in but failed to notice the three Allen screws sitting comfy behind the saddle. These, in fact, were three pickup sensors, with Allen screw adjustments to calibrate their position, I learned later. Now, this was a problem. But we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it – pun intended!
So I took off the crusty old strings and tried pulling out the saddle. To my amazement, it would not budge. It was then that I noticed the three Allen screws. I thought maybe it’s a new mechanism to hold the saddle in place so that it does not fall out.
On a hunt I went to find a wire-thin Allen wrench which would fit the screws. I rummaged through my entire collection of Allen wrenches – believe me, I have a few – but could not find one as small as the screws.
Disheartened, I turned to the e-commerce giants, and THERE IT WAS!!! However, the giants wanted half a kidney, quarter of a lung and a knee cap – or the monetary equivalent of those organs. With the job at hand, there was no other way but to purchase the thingy and be done with it. So, I bit the bullet!
The Allen wrenches arrived within a few days and it got the job done.
If the size of the wrench did not surprise me, the size of the screws certainly did.
Yup! Those are not rat droppings but Allen screws!
Also, imagine my amazement when this dropped into the guitar
This distinctly looked like some kind of a pickup, which should have nothing to do with holding a saddle in place. However, when I tried removing the saddle, it easily slipped out, no problemo!
Anyway with the road ahead now clear, I proceeded to take the bridge off, which came off very cleanly.
A little bit of scraping and cleaning and it was ready for the glue-up job.
A healthy dollop of glue, some trustee clamps and enough time was how I did it.
And as is the customary practice, while the glue cured, I cleaned up the guitar and oiled it . After two days, the clamps came off and the instrument was ready to receive a fresh set of strings.
