Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Mark Werner on January 1, 2010 at 6:28am

Cedar is pretty soft; most folks working with wood for the saddle use harder stuff like mahogany, ebony....

I make "Red Henry" style bridges (with no separate saddle) from hard maple...They work well.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Dan Sleep on January 1, 2010 at 6:55am

What is a Red Henry style bridge?

Mark Werner said:

Cedar is pretty soft; most folks working with wood for the saddle use harder stuff like mahogany, ebony....

I make "Red Henry" style bridges (with no separate saddle) from hard maple...They work well.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by surffrogg on January 1, 2010 at 7:16am

iggy i use the scraps from inside for bridges quite often and works realy well' I am sure several others have also

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jkevn on January 1, 2010 at 12:48pm

Pros v/s Cons...
Pro - Free...scrap in box anyway
Pro- Shape...the box "linings" take little to make them the perfect shape/size
Pro-Box retains more of it's Mojo....ok, thats a stretch, but it was part of the box to start...
Pro - Did I mention Free already?

Con - Might be too soft for acoustic only....electrics are more forgiving in that aspect
Con - It aint bone, ebony, mahogany etc.
Con - can't really think of another...

If you spend an hour making the perfect saddle from the cedar linings from the box...and you dont like it...you have not wasted any money, or an hour...you have learned how to make the perfect saddle...Try it...then tell US how it worked out.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Dan Sleep on January 1, 2010 at 1:19pm

I just try to use whatever I have on hand, and not buy anything unless I have to. I have scraps of red oak and/or poplar I could make them out of too, I just thought the cedar might be a little easier to sand to shape. I have a drum sander attachment for my drill press that works pretty well for shaping.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Ronnie Retherford on January 1, 2010 at 1:38pm

Follow this link to Red Henry Bridge: http://www.murphymethod.com/redbridge.html
Steve Tourtellotte also makes them: http://www.mandolinbridge.com/bridges.htm
I'll go ahead and recommend the picks from Steve also.
RR

Iggy said:

What is a Red Henry style bridge?

Mark Werner said:

Cedar is pretty soft; most folks working with wood for the saddle use harder stuff like mahogany, ebony....

I make "Red Henry" style bridges (with no separate saddle) from hard maple...They work well.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Diydc on January 1, 2010 at 6:42pm

Cedar, as mentioned, is really a pretty soft wood. You could always try mounting something harder onto it like bone or metal, or use oak, ebony, wenge, or just about any hard grain wood and lay your strings cross grain.
If you are doing a floating bridge system you can experiment with a few different types.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Roger Martin on January 1, 2010 at 7:10pm

I use the same wood from the boxes all the time. I've never had a problem yet.In fact I used that wood on 2 builds just today. I use it and never look back.
However I DO use a bolt on top of the wood to help offset the soft wood somewhat.I hate to throw that wood away and I use it whenever I can.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Wichita Sam on January 2, 2010 at 3:03am

do it... don't glue it... nothing to lose

I've done it... ok, just ok

the best,

Wichita Sam

• ▶ Reply