Considering an ebony bridge on MM50

[Nicholas]

(I posted this in general - sorry for the repeat but it fits better over here :^) thanks!)

Forum, I have an Epiphone MM50. I would like to improve the sound quality.

1) Would an ebony bridge upgrade help?

2) Would I have to have the new bridge fitted to notice a difference?

3) Could I fit the bridge myself or is it too hard? (I'm poor)

[mmukav]

In my case it made a big difference on my MM50. Louder, more clarity. It's not really hard to fit, but it does need to be custom fit for your mando. What I did is take off all strings, tape a piece of saran wrap over the top to protect it, then tape a piece of sandpaper over the area where the bridge goes. Sand the feet of the bridge (slowly), by moving it back and forth over the arched top to sand the feet smooth and evenly with the top at the spot where the bridge seats on the mando top. Do it a little bit at a time, then you have to take the plastic and paper off the top and check how well the bridge sits on the top. When you have a reasonably good fit, (no light coming through the feet of the bridge when held up to a light) you're ready to go. The downforce of the strings under tension should be enough to seat the bridge well. String it up, do the light check again and when the feet look well fit you're done! Good luck.

[Nicholas]

mmukav,

Excellent! That's pretty much all the encouragement I need to try it myself. In the end, does a lot of the wood come off the bridge or just a very little? Oh, and what grain sandpaper do you use? (edit)

Also do you use a special tape (like painters tape) to protect the finish?

Thanks!

Nicholas

P.S.: I'm thinking of getting the pre-slotted ebony bridge from Janet Davis co.

[mmukav]

Painter's tape would be great, I think I just used regular masking tape. The job didn't take that long so there wasn't much residue to worry about. I think I used 200 grit initially, then 400. #You're not going to be taking very much wood off. Go very slowly, remember you can't put wood back on once it's gone. #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif (also make sure you don't let the bridge rock back and forth when you sand it so that it's as flat as possible)

[Doug Edwards]

That's good advise. To help get your courage up do a web search on mandolin set up. There are several site that give simular instruction and photos. I put an ebony bridge on my MM50 last year. It made a big difference from the stock bridge.

[Martin Jonas]

I did it myself as well, replacing the rosewood bridge on my Washburn M3-SW with an ebony bridge. On mine, there was rather a lot of wood to take off -- the arch of the Washburn was much shallower than on the Cumberland (Loar-repro) bridge. Not very difficult, but time-consuming. My bridge didn't come pre-slotted, but putting the slots in was the easiest part of the job. I just very slighty scored the saddle and let the string tension do the rest.

Martin