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I’m about to nitro finish my latest and was wondering about taping off the spot for the bridge and fret board ext.
Do you make a tape mock up of the bridge slightly smaller than the footprint of the real one? Can you make it full size but curl up the edges a bit? Or does any of this matter?
I apologize if this has come up before.

Thanks,
Wade

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Wade
Nashua, NH
http://www.wadefx.com

I mask the fretboard extension, leaving maybe .100" of finish inside. Once the finish is cured I cut with a fresh x-acto blade about .020" from the fretboard and lift the finish with a sharp glue chisel.
I do not mask the bridge. Once the bridge is located after buffing, I drill two 3/16" holes on the outside E strings, bolt the bridge and put masking tape around. Then with a new x-acto blade I cut the finish under the bridge as close as I dare from the edge and lift it with the glue chisel.

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Laurent Brondel
West Paris, Maine - USA
http://www.laurentbrondel.com/

I am doing the same as Laurent for the bridge except instead of cutting the tape tracing the bridge I mark the tape, remove the bridge, and then try to cut about .003" inside my lines. Then my bridges have a channel cut in them that is about .004" in from the perimeter and .003 deep. This lets the bridge sit on top of the finish around the edges and makes for a very neat looking install later.

Also, after I sent this guitar to Joe White for finishing Joe removed the blue tape and replaced it with another tape that the name escapes me now. The replacement tape was recommended by Rick Turner and works better and also because of it's thickness made it possible for Joe to level the finish around the bridge at just .003" thick.

Hopefully our bro Joe will weigh-in here and let us know the name of this tape.

I used to not mask the bridge and after spending too much time scraping and chiseling finish I started making a tape mock-up of the footprint and take off about 1/8" on the front edge and 1/8" off each end giving me just a little finish to have to chisel up. Use the x acto blade as mentioned before and in about 5 minutes I'm ready to glue.

I actually fit and clamp the neck and bridge up prior to finishing, drill my guide holes on the two E-holes and ream to fit snugly two plastic unslotted bridge pins the same size or slightly smaller than the ones I'll actually use later, take off the clamps, mask the fingerboard extension and bridge and go to it. When the finish is complete I can usually glue up the neck and bridge in just a matter of minutes without having to worry about bridge location since I have the plastic pins to guide me. I pull the pins out after about 10 minutes. They will come out if you wait longer but sometimes they grab more than you would think. Just as long as everything quits swimming and is snug.

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"We might not be big but we sure are slow"

Friskit Film. Low tack, 2 mils thick, clear and no "drift" or "puddle" up to the masking tape. Found at art supply stores, Hobby Lobby and Michael's.

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jw ( o)===:::

Thanks guys,
I was wondering if there was a better way than scraping the whole bridge aria.
Especially since we see the hanging bodys with blue tape on them in the "white room" shots.
So I take it the blue tape is not the same that you buy at home depot?

Wade

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Wade
Nashua, NH
http://www.wadefx.com

OOps, Thanks Joe.
Must have snuk that in while I was writing..

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Wade
Nashua, NH
http://www.wadefx.com

Yeah my blue tape is the same that you see at Home Depot......

But thanks Joe, Joe gave me some Frisket Film which is what I will be using from now on.

Here is a shot of the Friskit Film in use.

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jw ( o)===:::

I also mask my bridge area with frisket, you can get it at a good art supply store. I cut the frisket about .03 inside the bridge outline. it works great and saves a bunch of scraping.
Oh, I should mention that I've use masking tape for this also and the frisket works much better IMO as it's thinner.

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

Thanks again Guys,
This seems like the right stuff!
I like the fact that it's clear also.

Wade

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Wade
Nashua, NH
http://www.wadefx.com

Good advice from all, I tape the fingerboard extension as well, works fine. I don't tape the bridge, it's quite easy with a thin finish to scribe the footprint of the bridge once established and then scrape away the finish. I do it this way because I feel that I get a better top
finish, more even, and a better polish with no tape around the bridge footprint. Works for me but I do like that clear material, may try that at some point.

Best
Bruce

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Bruce Herrmann
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."