Bridge Glue

cornfedgroove · Sep 17, 2009

I know you are all going to say hide glue...but what are some good alternatives so I dont have to cook it. I wanna attach this bridge

http://www.lmii.com/CartTwo/thirdpr...and+Pins&NameProdHeader=Pre-Made+Wood+Bridges

I've been using Elmer's waterproof exterior glue...works great for what I've needed so far. I do have some Elmer's nano, but the set time is like a year and a half

Does longer set time generally mean stronger bond?

nic579 · Sep 17, 2009

good fit and clamping means strong. Your Elmers will work but you knew that. Do the search lots of posts here on that question.

Moore Bettah Ukuleles · Sep 17, 2009

I use Titebond Original (red cap) for almost everything.

Pete Howlett · Sep 17, 2009

Titebond - it meets all the criteria and above all, it's simple.

RonS · Sep 17, 2009

cornfedgroove said:
I've been using Elmer's waterproof exterior glue...works great for what I've needed so far. I do have some Elmer's nano, but the set time is like a year and a half Does longer set time generally mean stronger bond?

When it comes to epoxy, a longer set time means a stronger bond. I'm not convinced that applies to yellow or white glue.

Another vote for TB Original (TBI)

RevWill · Sep 17, 2009

Liquid Nails.

Okay, I'm only kidding.

Matt Clara · Sep 18, 2009

cornfedgroove said:
I know you are all going to say hide glue...but what are some good alternatives so I dont have to cook it. I wanna attach this bridge

http://www.lmii.com/CartTwo/thirdpr...and+Pins&NameProdHeader=Pre-Made+Wood+Bridges

Are you getting one of their bone saddles, too?

cornfedgroove · Sep 18, 2009

no bone saddles for now...first gonna get this bridge thing down. I've always done a free floating bridge with a tailpiece, very makeshift

Matt Clara · Sep 18, 2009

cornfedgroove said:
no bone saddles for now...first gonna get this bridge thing down. I've always done a free floating bridge with a tailpiece, very makeshift

Extra four bucks gets you a nice bit of unbleached bone...
jk

dave g · Sep 18, 2009

Titebond (red)

eleuke · Sep 18, 2009

I've been using Titebond III (Green) a long time now, but I see the real luthiers all are recommending red. Could someone educate me? What makes the red better?

cornfedgroove · Sep 18, 2009

$4...maybe I'll retro fit some if I order more bridges. Or hit the butcher and work my own like an original gangsta:music:

until then...looks like i'm going to try tightbond red cap. elmers seems a bit weak to me with all the tension and little surface area

hoosierhiver · Sep 18, 2009

I've played around with attaching the bridge with some small screws from the inside of the box and glueing it as well. The screws don't seem to adversely affect the sound.

eleuke · Sep 18, 2009

I rebuilt a tiny pineapple that was in pieces. Body, top, neck, fretboard, bridge, all seperated. I coutersunk some small bolts into the top of the bridge and used large, thin washers on the underside to spread the stress and plugged the holes with some synthetic bone. Worked great and sounded great and I didn't even use glue at all. The cool thing was, that since I didn't know how the intonation was when it was in one piece, the slots I put in the top allowed for slight adjustment in the bridge position, which I used to place it perfectly after a couple of tries. Adjustable bridge!

cornfedgroove · Sep 18, 2009

hoosierhiver said:
I've played around with attaching the bridge with some small screws from the inside of the box and glueing it as well. The screws don't seem to adversely affect the sound.

I could always do this, but I'd like to try it proper like...if I get too aggravated, you can bet your sweet bippy that I'm just gonna say "screw it!:music::rock:"

cornfedgroove · Sep 21, 2009

alright...got me some red cap tightbond. Glued it this evening since I'm busy most tomorrow, it should have plenty of time to set up. I'll string it tomorrow, but wont put any tension on it until tuesday.

I gotta build some others anyway

Kekani · Sep 21, 2009

eleuke said:
I've been using Titebond III (Green) a long time now, but I see the real luthiers all are recommending red. Could someone educate me? What makes the red better?

Creep.

Not you, the glue.

cornfedgroove said:
alright...got me some red cap tightbond.

A little moot at this point, but, once I went to LMI (sets clear, sets hard - guess that's why they call it "Luthier's Glue"), the Titebond spoiled.

-Aaron

ukulele2544 · Sep 21, 2009

Just use wood glue or something. Thats wood right? Wood glue is the best for wood.

Sigmund · Sep 21, 2009

This question is a bit of a drift, but not entirely unrelated.

I'm in the middle of a Stew-Mac kit build that I thought I'd do before trying a scratch build and I'm about ready to set the bridge plate. They provide screws and recommend using them, but I'm sort of morally opposed to using screws if they are not necessary. From the instructions it almost seems that the screws are used to avoid having to clamp the bridge, but I have lots of clamps so that is not a problem. Am I missing something and should I really use the screws or can I get by without them?

RonS · Sep 21, 2009

I didn't like screws either.

Besides making for easy clamping, my guess are the screws are used to make sure the bridge doesn't shift while the glue sets.

I used two brads to hold the bridge in place then used a clamp. Once the glue dried I removed the brads.

Over the years I've removed bridge screws from a few friends (cheap) guitars and found that the instrument sounded better without them.

Bridge Glue

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