Guitar Making: A Bridged Version

Old piano keys are wonderful things. The true, solid black ebony of an old piano key is a treasure. I decided to make my own bridge rather than use a purchased one. There are two reasons for this; the first is because any bridge I buy will have to be modified to fit the curve and height of my guitar top anyway, and the second is the fact that I wanted something that evoked an old-fashioned kind of look.

Before cutting the ebony away from the key lever, I fixed it to a straight board and carefully (and fearfully) cut the channel for the bone saddle.

 After a little more shaping (you can see I cut the back end of the ebony to match the angle at the front end) I then cut it away from the wood.

After a few more cuts on another piano key I glued the pieces up. This is the rough shape before refining. The finished piece will be less chunky looking, tapering out toward the ends.







As of May 30, this is what the bridge looks like:

 The ends have been tapered out and I added feet.

The bottom may appear to be flat, but there is a gentle arch between one end and the other. I obtained this arch by gluing sandpaper to a flexible piece of wood and curving is slightly as I ran the feet of the bridge over the surface. I had to stop and check it often to see if the curve was right, otherwise I ran the risk of over sanding it and making it too arched.

Next will be to add the bone saddle, but I'll wait until I have the neck set in place before doing that, so as to be sure the height is correct. Those strings have to be exactly the same distance from the neck all the way down, or the action will be off.