Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 5567
Location: Blue Ridge Mountains | When the mothership refurbished my '89 TS-01-5, they installed a new bridge; it did not have the original Abalone dots so JB sent me several and I set out to install them Monday afternoon; the bridge, while it looks like ebony is actually rosewood with an ebony stain; this means that in order to drill holes (I use an adjustable speed Dremel w/a small router bit) the speed of the Dremel must be kept down...I drilled both holes and fit both dots; and then i was deepening the dot under the G string...my Dremel speed was too fast and suddenly the bit hit a grain in the wood and jumped backwards tearing a chunk out of the bridge :eek: ...Just Perfect! At first I thought about sending it to JB and crew, but really didn't have the money for the new bridge and shipping both ways...so I called on my knowledge from my repair shop days; got my materials and tools and got to work. I took a broken piece of ebony bridge and cut a very small flat piece to go over top of the string barrel channel; drilled a piece to obtain some ebony dust (yea I could a/maybe should a used rosewood - explanation coming); placed the dust in the hole where the chunk was (the chunk disappeared...I have no idea where it went) placed two drops of Cyanoacrylate on the dust and let it cure. After curing, I used very fine wet/dry sandpaper and hand sanded the repair flat...that’s when I discovered the bridge was actually rosewood and not ebony (I was so upset when this had happened that I senior momented that fact originally :mad: )...no problem, I just went to the local Sherwin Williams store and got some ebony stain ($9) which I applied today. Here is the result: 
The repair is very nearly invisible (honestly from directly over top you cannot see it...from behind the bridge the flat ebony edge is a bit shiny but again no one would notice) and I am more than pleased! The bridge dots are correct now and all is well!
In hind sight, always check what kind of wood you are working on and assume nothing!
And children, do not attempt this at home!
;)
Blessings... |
Snake Repair