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Should I use a crush bushing under a hartail bridge

I'm using a 3 sting hardtail bridge. My old box is fairly soft. I'm worried the bridge will get smashed into the box. I plan on using a hard wood block under the lid to secure the screws.

I know they sell a ferrule at the hardware store that goes inside a small plastic tubing so you don't crush it. This looks a lot like a string ferrule. I thought I could use this to go through the box and into the hard wood. Then that might keep the box from getting smashed and be a more secure way for attaching the hardtail.

God this was hard to explain,,,lol. You guys with me. Good idea or am I over thinking it again.

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Permalink Reply by Dan Sleep on December 1, 2015 at 6:02am

I install hard tail bridges all the time and I have never had any problems. As long as the bridge is snug, you should be fine.

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Permalink Reply by Calvin Wallace on December 1, 2015 at 4:41pm

I think you are misunderstanding what I want to do. I was just using those furrels as an example for what I can get at the hardware store. All thought they look the same.

I would put them down through the lid, under the bridge for the mounting screws to go through the ferrules into the hardwood block. I think it would keep from sinking the bridge into the soft lid.

Just thinkin,,,,lol.

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Permalink Reply by Cause the Blue rat on December 1, 2015 at 4:33pm

The only numbers I could find on crushing plywood is 3011 pounds per square inch. Or think if it as the entire weight of a full size pickup truck balanced on a 1x1 inch block of metal. This is for ply in good shape. Unfortunately this number was the failure mark for 3/4 inch plywood. Crushing all the way threw. Not the more common 3 ply 1/8 or thinner cigar box.

Your ferrules will eventually crush down into the wood underneath. Starting with those closest to the front of the bridge. Think of your bridge as a lever. The strings are pulling up from the back. Forcing the front into the body of the guitar. The small area of the ferrules will direct all that pressure to a point. Causing more damage to the box. The screws themselves have more 'area' then the ferrules. Think of the entire area of the threading verses the the flat head of the ferrule. This increased area keeps the screw from crushing down into wood.

Not really sure what to tell ya. If the box is soft there may be some denting. If it's brittle it wont hold up under normal playing conditions.

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Permalink Reply by JL on December 3, 2015 at 12:57am

One half of an idea for you from fixing a stripped out door hinge screw hole in a soft wood door jamb...

If you are using a hardwood block under the lid to screw the hardtail into..

Drill some 1/2 in holes through the lid and into your block under the lid where the mounting screws would go, plug with hardwood dowels (glued in), and trim them flush with the lid.