This late 1950's Gibson 160E just came in for repairs. It's ladder braced with an adjustable bridge and a plywood top. The owner wants me to address some severe bellying and several loose braces.
The pickup is gone and the electronics are also missing, but the owner has supposedly bought a kit to replace them and will deal with that himself. There is also some serious finish damage but I don't expect to be tackling that.
The big issue I face right now, is removing the bridge. This has the small screws and bolts holding it place which were easy enough to remove as well as the larger height adjustment screws at the end of the ceramic saddle. The problem is that I can't get the adjustable saddle to come out. The adjusting screws seem to screw into brass inserts in the top which just spin with the adjustment screws rather than raise or lower the ceramic saddle.
I've been able to remove the bolts and lock washers from the brass inserts on the inside, but that makes no difference. The entire brass insert just spins and won't back out of the top. I've re-attached the bolts and lock washers and tried unscrewing the adjustment screws out, but the bolts simply unscrew and spin and do not raise the saddle or come out. I've tightened the bolts as much as possible, but I'm concerned about putting too much pressure on the ceramic saddle by overtightening.
I'm going to need to replace the very damaged bridge plate, but don't want to add any more damage to the top getting the bridge off. Any suggestions????
Thanks!
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