Bridge Vintage
Posted March 4, 2010
By admin
Mandolin and guitar bridge question?
Ok, I got two items from ebay: an expensive A-Style mandolin and a cheap travel guitar. Both have bridges right below the sound hole that hold the strings. My question is, why are they movable?? If they move around all the time, how is my instrument supposed to stay in tune? Please tell me if I should glue them onto my instrument or do something else. Is this true for all mandolins? Please help I'm really confused.
p.s.: A mandolin bridge looks like this (notice it is different from a guitar's bridge. For guitars, the bridge is where the strings are connected to; for mandolins, the bridge "supports" the strings that go above):
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bridges,_tailpieces/Mandolin_bridges/Randy_Wood_Vintage-style_Mandolin_Bridges.html
Good question.
The reason the bridges are movable is because it is easier to keep the instrument intonated. Let me explain.
Intonation is the ability of the instrument to play in tune with itself. This relies on a relatively complex trigonometric formula but can be achieved using a simple method...
1) Once the instrument is tuned, measure the distance from the bottom of the nut (closest to the fingerboard) to the center of the 12th fret.
2) Now, match that measurement from the center of the 12th fret to the bridge saddle, right where the strings touch.
3) Play a harmonic on the 12th fret of the low string and compare that note to that when playing the fretted note at the 12th fret. If the fretted note is lower move that end of the bridge away from the fingerboard. If it is higher, then move the bridge towards the fingerboard... it won't take much!
4) Do step 3 again using the high string. You'll probably notice that the low string side will be farther back than the high string side.
Why aren't the bridges glued in place? On short scale instruments like a travel guitar or a mandolin, they are particularly sensitive to changes in temperature, string gauge, and even humidity. This allows the instrument to provide slight adjustments that wouldn't be possible if glued in place. On top of that, gluing things in place changes tone pretty radically.
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