Thanks for noticing. I think people expect decent visuals on UA-cam in 2025 (and beyond). It's the only way to tell the story or a messed up bridge plate on a Martin guitar, LOL.
Is it not the case that the proper way to solve this problem is to sand the pin until it fits properly. That is what I have done for customers in the past. I just wrap the pin in a strip of sandpaper and twist until I get the fit I want.
That is an interesting proposition. In this case I don't believe the sandpaper solution would not work. The holes were drilled all the way through with an oversized drill bit. Further enlarging the holes to reshape them into conical holes would not work with those pins. Although it would be possible to resolve the issue in this manner with oversized bridge pins. But even in that case I believe the holes could just be reshaped with a conical reamer. Hope this makes sense. Thanks for dropping by and thanks for taking the time to post a comment.
I appreciate that you mentioned problems originating at the factories. Guitars should, at least, be able to handle a set up. Your basic guitar tech, in all fairness, is just that. Different than a repair person. It’s sounds like the tech just pushed his/her envelope from basic set up to fix. Your explanation is basic setup leaning towards repair work 101 and it shows the dividing line between basic set up and basic set/up repair. Fine line. Great explanation of that grey area.
Those bridge pins are still conical. So, even with those bridge pins they wouldn't properly be seated inside of cylindrical hokes. The un-slotted bridge pins would also require slots to be cut through the bridge and the bridge plate, which is perfectly fine when done correctly.
Oh, sure. It can also be used to enlarge the holes for the tuning machines. I actually have three other reamers, of different sizes. I just didn't show them in this video. One of the other reamers is actually the better quality one for the pin holes. I'll be using that one soon on a bridge repair, on the streaming channel, Guitar Quackery Live www.youtube.com/@GuitarQuackeryLive on a Luna guitar. There's already a playlist for that guitar. Next job will be reaming out the bridge pin holes. Probably sometime next week.
Love this video. Reminds me to ask, once you glue on a bridge, remove clamps, clean up, etc., what is your preferred method of cleaning the glue from the pin holes? Thanks for your wisdom!
Thanks for posting. I believe I have at least one bridge reglue video on this channel. My mind plays tricks on me, sometimes, because sometimes I get things mixd up and cant differentiate between the memories of having shot the videos and the memories of having edited and posted the videos that I know I've recorded. I have a whole bunch of bridge reglue videos that I have not had time to edit... yet... but I will... eventually... I guess... I hope... To answer your question. I don't have a favorite method of cleaning up the dry glue squeezeout from the pinholes, after a bridge reglue. I hate all methods equally. Which is why I suspect is the reason why you asked this question. I think you and I are members of the same Bridge Pinhole Dry Glue Squeezeout After Bridge Reglue Hate Club. This Club has so many member we can't possibly all know each other personally. I have a few methods. One method is to minimize the squeezeout by filling up the holes with modeling clay, prior to the glue-up job. Another method involved the teflon alignment pins that StewMac sells. Another method involves cleaning up as much of the glue, while clamping, using Q-tips. This only works with certain clamping culls. I believe I have at least one bridge reglue job on the streaming channel Guitar Quackery Live www.youtube.com/@GuitarQuackeryLive and I know that I have a project that I am currently working on, which has its own playlist on that Channel. It's a bridge fabrication and glue-up for a Luna guitar. The streaming channel can be painful to watch, as the materials are unedited, but I'm sure viewers can scroll through to find the parts they want to watch. Thanks again for dropping by.
Thanks. The important thing to check, when buying a used acoustic guitar, is the bridge plate. If the bridge pins don't come out easily, when attempting to remove the strings, the bridge plate needs to be looked at closely. Bridge plate repairs are in fact costly.
Correct. The removal process and/or ease of removal, of any dried up (or cured) adhesive will vary, depending on the type of adhesive, surface, etc... I can share some thoughts based on my own experience, although I cannot guarantee that all the technical aspects of my thoughts are 100% correct. The removal of hide glue (or any other type of protein glue) is usually relatively easy. That is because protein glues don't cure, they only dry up, so reintroducing water will soften them up. Reintroducing water basically (and literally) will reactivate those adhesives. So, sometimes it is not even needed to fully remove all the glue residue, if one is doing a re-glue job. But the adhesives that go through a curing process will actually go a chemical change (which is what curing is) so it will not be possible to turn them back into their liquid state by reintroducing a solvent or water. That said, some of the cured adhesives are actually fairly easy to remove with water, from some surfaces. For example, cured Titebond residue is fairly easily removable with water, from most types of guitar finishes. So, even if dried up Titebond cannot actually be reactivated with water (in other words, it is not possible to turn it back into its liquid state) it is still fairly easy to wash it off from guitar finishes, using water. I believe this is because Titebond Original is not water resistant, which means that water can still damage it. When water soaks into dried up Titebond Original, it becomes compromised and you can easily remove it from most finishes. That is the reason why they developed Titebond II and Titebond III. It is my understanding that Titebond will go through a chemical change (i.e. it will cure) when it dries up. When I do a glue-up job on a broken-off Gibson or Epiphone he headstock, I will usually go for Titebond Original. I will still wipe off as much of the liquid Titebond as possible, but in some cases it is not possible to get it all off, when the clamps or clamping jig are in the way. In those cases I will be able to remove dried up Titebond residue with a moist towel or a most Q-tip, making sure I am not using too much water, as I do not want to water to soak into the glue joint and weaken the bond. There are some advantages to using hide glue, in those cases, instead, but that's a longer story for another discussion. Hope this helps.
Excellent photography :)
Thanks for noticing. I think people expect decent visuals on UA-cam in 2025 (and beyond). It's the only way to tell the story or a messed up bridge plate on a Martin guitar, LOL.
Is it not the case that the proper way to solve this problem is to sand the pin until it fits properly. That is what I have done for customers in the past. I just wrap the pin in a strip of sandpaper and twist until I get the fit I want.
That is an interesting proposition. In this case I don't believe the sandpaper solution would not work. The holes were drilled all the way through with an oversized drill bit. Further enlarging the holes to reshape them into conical holes would not work with those pins. Although it would be possible to resolve the issue in this manner with oversized bridge pins. But even in that case I believe the holes could just be reshaped with a conical reamer. Hope this makes sense.
Thanks for dropping by and thanks for taking the time to post a comment.
I appreciate that you mentioned problems originating at the factories. Guitars should, at least, be able to handle a set up. Your basic guitar tech, in all fairness, is just that. Different than a repair person. It’s sounds like the tech just pushed his/her envelope from basic set up to fix. Your explanation is basic setup leaning towards repair work 101 and it shows the dividing line between basic set up and basic set/up repair. Fine line. Great explanation of that grey area.
Could the problem be mitigated by using Bridge Pins that don't have a string channel in them?
Those bridge pins are still conical. So, even with those bridge pins they wouldn't properly be seated inside of cylindrical hokes. The un-slotted bridge pins would also require slots to be cut through the bridge and the bridge plate, which is perfectly fine when done correctly.
thak you for explaining the purpose of the conical reamer
Oh, sure. It can also be used to enlarge the holes for the tuning machines.
I actually have three other reamers, of different sizes. I just didn't show them in this video. One of the other reamers is actually the better quality one for the pin holes. I'll be using that one soon on a bridge repair, on the streaming channel, Guitar Quackery Live www.youtube.com/@GuitarQuackeryLive on a Luna guitar. There's already a playlist for that guitar. Next job will be reaming out the bridge pin holes. Probably sometime next week.
Love this video. Reminds me to ask, once you glue on a bridge, remove clamps, clean up, etc., what is your preferred method of cleaning the glue from the pin holes? Thanks for your wisdom!
Thanks for posting.
I believe I have at least one bridge reglue video on this channel. My mind plays tricks on me, sometimes, because sometimes I get things mixd up and cant differentiate between the memories of having shot the videos and the memories of having edited and posted the videos that I know I've recorded. I have a whole bunch of bridge reglue videos that I have not had time to edit... yet... but I will... eventually... I guess... I hope...
To answer your question. I don't have a favorite method of cleaning up the dry glue squeezeout from the pinholes, after a bridge reglue. I hate all methods equally. Which is why I suspect is the reason why you asked this question. I think you and I are members of the same Bridge Pinhole Dry Glue Squeezeout After Bridge Reglue Hate Club. This Club has so many member we can't possibly all know each other personally.
I have a few methods. One method is to minimize the squeezeout by filling up the holes with modeling clay, prior to the glue-up job. Another method involved the teflon alignment pins that StewMac sells. Another method involves cleaning up as much of the glue, while clamping, using Q-tips. This only works with certain clamping culls.
I believe I have at least one bridge reglue job on the streaming channel Guitar Quackery Live www.youtube.com/@GuitarQuackeryLive and I know that I have a project that I am currently working on, which has its own playlist on that Channel. It's a bridge fabrication and glue-up for a Luna guitar.
The streaming channel can be painful to watch, as the materials are unedited, but I'm sure viewers can scroll through to find the parts they want to watch.
Thanks again for dropping by.
Great presentation, you’ve earned my subscription sir.
And that you for taking the time to post your comment.
Hopefully this was helpful.
Interesting problem, and an even better solution to it. Thanks!
Thanks. The important thing to check, when buying a used acoustic guitar, is the bridge plate. If the bridge pins don't come out easily, when attempting to remove the strings, the bridge plate needs to be looked at closely. Bridge plate repairs are in fact costly.
I really appreciate your sense of humor!
And I really appreciate your taste in humor, LOL.
Removing dried glue from anywhere depends on what kind of glue. Yes----No?
Hide glue=easy. anything else usually not so.
Correct. The removal process and/or ease of removal, of any dried up (or cured) adhesive will vary, depending on the type of adhesive, surface, etc...
I can share some thoughts based on my own experience, although I cannot guarantee that all the technical aspects of my thoughts are 100% correct.
The removal of hide glue (or any other type of protein glue) is usually relatively easy. That is because protein glues don't cure, they only dry up, so reintroducing water will soften them up. Reintroducing water basically (and literally) will reactivate those adhesives. So, sometimes it is not even needed to fully remove all the glue residue, if one is doing a re-glue job.
But the adhesives that go through a curing process will actually go a chemical change (which is what curing is) so it will not be possible to turn them back into their liquid state by reintroducing a solvent or water.
That said, some of the cured adhesives are actually fairly easy to remove with water, from some surfaces. For example, cured Titebond residue is fairly easily removable with water, from most types of guitar finishes. So, even if dried up Titebond cannot actually be reactivated with water (in other words, it is not possible to turn it back into its liquid state) it is still fairly easy to wash it off from guitar finishes, using water.
I believe this is because Titebond Original is not water resistant, which means that water can still damage it. When water soaks into dried up Titebond Original, it becomes compromised and you can easily remove it from most finishes.
That is the reason why they developed Titebond II and Titebond III.
It is my understanding that Titebond will go through a chemical change (i.e. it will cure) when it dries up.
When I do a glue-up job on a broken-off Gibson or Epiphone he headstock, I will usually go for Titebond Original. I will still wipe off as much of the liquid Titebond as possible, but in some cases it is not possible to get it all off, when the clamps or clamping jig are in the way. In those cases I will be able to remove dried up Titebond residue with a moist towel or a most Q-tip, making sure I am not using too much water, as I do not want to water to soak into the glue joint and weaken the bond.
There are some advantages to using hide glue, in those cases, instead, but that's a longer story for another discussion.
Hope this helps.
Hello.
Yes, this might be one of those cases, dried glue in the pin holes-maybe?
Question.
Does fresh Tightbond adhere to dried tightbond?
Good video
Thanks. I'm glad to hear you like it. And I hope it also helps people identify potential problems.