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I have done quite a few Red Cedar top guitars but one problem with them is after 3 or 4 years the bridges lift on them. I usually use titebone and allways the new stuff. I check the date on the bottle when I buy it. I know cedar is softer than spruce. I have not had a problem with any spruce guitars so far. Ayn ideas on what I might try? A friend has a Lowden 0-25 and his bridges need gluing every 2 years or so. I use light strings on them too..
Thanks GaryGCote38804.6567361111

Never had that problem with a cedar top. But I don't use Titebond, I use LMI white.

Hey Gary, are you in FL now, or home running the restaurant?Don Williams38804.660625

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Are you gluing to bare wood? No sealer or filler?

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

Hey Don... I am back home in NH and back to work for another 159 days.. but who's counting.. I would much rather be back in Key West in my hammock.
I will have to try the LMI glue...

Joe.. Bare wood after scraping off the lacquer..

Gary

Gary, there are those who feel that hide glue is the best glue for bridges for one very important reason...it sticks to itself better than any other glue, making a bridge re-glue a lot easier. I would consider trying it.

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

I will try Hide as I allready have some.

Gary

Gary, did you shape the bottom of the bridge to conform to the top? If you don't you may have some trouble down the line.

HI Gary

I've no direct experience of this on cedar, but I do remember someone here saying about a Lowden that had a problem like this, the problem was diagnosed as the bridge riding on the edge of the small amount of lacquer left under the edge of the bridge and the absence of a small bevel on the underside of the bridge.

When th bridges pull are they tearing the Cedar or coming away clean ?

Hey Gary.
I've had one bridge lift and it was spruce and titebond.

Since then, I hide glue two places, the dovetail and the bridge.

Just as important as the fit and a clean top, is the clamping pressure. A perfectly fit inside caul is tremendously important. That was the issue with the spruce and titebond guitar.

Hmmm for lunch, maybe a sharp cheddar with jalapeno stuffed burger. Everytime I see you online, I think of food! And Rosewood....

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

The bridges are sanded to the same radis as the top.
They are also coming off with a bit of the top but just a very very thin layer that the glue absorbed into..

Gary

Hey Bruce...
I think of Food all the time too... I was sanding some brazillian the other day for a 000 and boy did that smell good, then bent some of the EI we bought and the smell of that in the bender.... I was getting hungry.

I think we will have jalapeno and blue cheese burgers on the grill tonight, jeez I ate breakfast 3 hours and over 10 hours till dinner and I'm allready hungry..

Gary

Hi Gary

I would say it sounds like a bond problem, whan I was talking about is where you scrape back the lacquer it leaves a little lip where you go from the finished surface to the bare wood, the thickness of the lacquer.

So therefore you effectively pushing the bridge into a hole (ok the lip is tiny, but you are asking the glue to fill this thickness, what many peole do is put a very slight chamfer on the edges of the bridge to allow a clean contact all round.

I have recently changed to hide for bridges, and am very happy with it, or though of course mine haven't served the test of time yet, but I also think it makes a difference tonally.

Hope my rambling is of some help.