Never happened to me before but for any of the guitarists here, have you ever had a guitar bridge just totally come off, had a little play in the morning and when I reached to take it off stand for or five hours later was met by this. Good job its not a expensive guitar, though its still within the warranty period.
Windows 10 (64bit) M-Audio Fast Track Pro, Band in a Box 2024, Cubase 13, Cakewalk and far too many VST plugins that I probably don't need or will ever use
Looking at this from a carpenter's point of view .. the wood under the bridge has torn. It doesn't look like the glue gave out but rather the glue held strong enough to sheer the wood. The bent metal retaining bar is another clue.
To me it looks like the guitar went thru some type of event. Doesn't look like a defect to me, more like the guitar got damaged. Maybe it happened three months ago and it weakened over time until today, but no, I've never seen a guitar bridge come off like that. Show us the bottom of the bridge. Is the missing body wood still stuck to it?
Make your sound your own! .. I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Someone knocked over my PA speaker column into the guitar - a 1972 Yamaha Red Label FG500 (a gorgeous sounding guitar)... putting a hole in the guitar front a couple of inches below the bridge. Several months later, the bridge gave loose - taken wood with it (like yours only worse).
That was 1975. Being young and foolish like I was at the time, I glued it back together with Elmer's Wood Glue. (I close the hole with it, too)
It has held together since. And the guitar still sounds AMAZING. I would never give it up. I recently went "guitar shopping" and a $5000 Taylor was the ONLY thing I played that came close to the sound...
Its one of their cheap and as I hoped for cheerful Harely Benton, their own in house brand.
When I got it first, the strings were all covered in guitar paint, as if the factory that made the guitar simply put the strings on before they finished it, but hey I thought a set of strings doesn't cost much so wasn't going to complain about that.
Definitely never had any accidents with this guitar, I thought the piece of metal you refer to is part of the pickup system that just sits under the saddle, its just like a wire really.
I did a web search on bridges lifting and it seems some guitar do have a bridge plate inside to strengthen the bridge but I think none inside this guitar
Anyway they do seem to be a very reputable company otherwise, really big and do offer a three year warranty on all their products (just got it last July) so hopefully I will be ok, only thing is if they mend it, there lingers the possibility it might happen again, or almost as bad you are waiting for it to happen
If it happened out of warranty I would be tempted to glue it myself, but any videos I have looked at always end up using guitar clamps to hold it together while the glue sets and they are not the cheapest just for a one off job.
Windows 10 (64bit) M-Audio Fast Track Pro, Band in a Box 2024, Cubase 13, Cakewalk and far too many VST plugins that I probably don't need or will ever use
Yes a I've seen a few in my life, as here matter of fact here is some "how to's" if planning on doing your own repair - just be careful with that pickup (and yes that IS what that metal "BAR" is) - if unsure what to do take it to a luthier/guitar repair shop (not a Stratocaster relic’ing expert or metal head shop - LOL) - repairs for something like that are routine and usually inexpensive.
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That repair will cost probably as much as a replacement guitar in the same price range as the Harley Benton. Because it’s not just a reglue. The wood was not up to the task and classical gut strings don’t exert nearly the force of steel strings. You didn’t restring it with steel strings did you?
Thanks a lot for replies, No I only used nylon strings to restring it,seems the consensus is, that the wood wasn't up to the task other than the glue coming away.
Thomanns did ask for pictures so have the original packing handy to send it back, will see how it goes.
Windows 10 (64bit) M-Audio Fast Track Pro, Band in a Box 2024, Cubase 13, Cakewalk and far too many VST plugins that I probably don't need or will ever use
Bummer. In this price range I think they'll just send you another guitar. At least I hope so. But, if they do glue that bridge back on and do it properly it will likely be fixed for good with no worries. Often a proper repair is stronger than the original build and usually has no noticeable effect on sound quality (timbre) or volume. The wait for the repair would be another bummer. Their cost for these guitars is probably well under $50 and the warranty with replacement is close to break even for them. Most "made for" distributors, and I don't know if Thomann is, usually have a warranty contract with the builder that gives them a debit memo/rebate/credit percentage on purchases in lieu of actual warranty per item basis. This reduces their labor costs including shipping and processing warranties which allows them to toss that guitar in the trash and send another one to you with zero to minimal loss on their part. They just need to get it back to hold the end user accountable for the return and so they can get a photo of the damage and the serial number so they are accountable to their builder/s. This type of warranty contract is where we get the no questions asked type of warranty on many products so I'm speaking generally but this is very common for made in China, Indonesia and other products that get distributed around the world.
I've repaired a few lifted bridges. The "proper glue" will not adhere to the wood to the extent that it splinters it like that. Looks like it and the top were not prepared correctly in addition to the wrong glue. With the correct glue it will typically just shear off and you only need to clean the old residue apply glue and clamp. In summary it does seem to be made to be repaired if that makes sense.
one more comment that that is the undersaddle pickup and simply reglueing will need care as the pickup needs to sit absolutelty square and level under the saddle. but in terms of the repair make sure you get it done under the warranty so you get a properly repaired guitar. agree that it might be easier for them to send you a new guitar.
nylon srung guitars don't have the same problem as steel strung ones as the tension is much lower but lifting bridges is not unknown even on quality guitars. my 1971 Martin D35 had a tiny gap beneath the back of the bridge but it was easily repaired by a local luthier.
he put that down to leaving the guitar in sunlight in the conservatory on a very very hot day so now unles I'm playing, it lives in its case.
I lot of brand names are now Made In China I would counter sink 2 bolts with tapered heads and put a 1/4 wooden plate on the underside with nylock nuts and washers.
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If you can get Valencia branded classical guitars in Ireland go for it. I have a solid cedar top one from them with a Shadow P-7 pickup in it for $150. Sounds fantastic, a little heavy compared to the multi thousand dollar stuff but pretty bullet proof. In the US you can buy them from Rondo Music
I wrote the lyrics a few nights ago as a self-improvement tune to help me remember not to be a slob. Because of this thread, I decided to use my Valencia C30E which I paid something like $150.
I also wanted to record a vintage Hohner alto melodica I bought a few weeks ago for 5$.
My classical guitar technique is pretty hack-job, just be warned!
Windows 10 (64bit) M-Audio Fast Track Pro, Band in a Box 2024, Cubase 13, Cakewalk and far too many VST plugins that I probably don't need or will ever use
Wow Scott that's brilliant, everything including guitar sounds good, vocal came over very well.
If they do give me a choice and want to refund me, I will have to keep that Valencia in mind when looking for a replacement.
Thanks again.
Scott put me on to Rondo music and I did purchase a Valencia classical guitar from them a number of years ago. It still sounds great and is still in mint condition. I also bought a number of electric guitars from Rondo music. You get real value for little cost at Rondo music.
Me, it's not about how many times you fail, it's about how many times you get back up. Cop, that's not how field sobriety tests work.
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I lot of brand names are now Made In China I would counter sink 2 bolts with tapered heads and put a 1/4 wooden plate on the underside with nylock nuts and washers.
This is exactly the method a guitar shop used on my 12 string acoustic guitar. I was lucky as I noticed the bridge coming loose when it first began separating and quickly got it to a repair shop. The shop even painted the bolt heads almost the same color as the bridge so the bolts are not noticeable at a glance. The guitar was purchased in 1972 and the repair was made in 1975.
I lot of brand names are now Made In China I would counter sink 2 bolts with tapered heads and put a 1/4 wooden plate on the underside with nylock nuts and washers.
This is exactly the method a guitar shop used on my 12 string acoustic guitar. I was lucky as I noticed the bridge coming loose when it first began separating and quickly got it to a repair shop. The shop even painted the bolt heads almost the same color as the bridge so the bolts are not noticeable at a glance. The guitar was purchased in 1972 and the repair was made in 1975.
That happened to a 1975 Takamine steel string guitar I bought new. I cleaned the area underneath and used a light weight glue by gorilla glue. Clamped it carefully, and then when it dried I ran two small thin bolts through a thin piece of very hard ash wood cut to match the saddle. Both pieces had been predrilled. I also added glue to the new “backing plate” and fastened it with as Pipeline said nylon nuts. That was around 2003. 17 years later it is still holding and the sound is even better than before.
Another fun alteration was to remove the rear strap button, and drill the hole out and add a cord plugin, and solder to it a small glue on dean markley round pick up right behind the saddle on the inside.
Sometimes it is actually fun to work on something like this.
Wow just realized that it broke 28 years ago, and is now 45 years old. I need to play the old gal more often.
Last edited by Rob Helms; 02/25/2012:05 PM.
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Thanks once again for all replies, nice guitar Jim.
Well after a few emails and calls with Thomann's they will replace the guitar once they get the old one back, I did find no matter what it says on the website about customer after care, you still have to strongly put forward your case, but seems to to be working out ok.
Seems if you are going to go about this job yourself, getting a proper clamp is very important, I was looking at this one on ebay, but just dont understand how this one could work as nothing goes inside the soundhole of the guitar if replacing the Bridge
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