Members bluesrock70's Posted November 13, 2007 Members Share Posted November 13, 2007 I have this Dean Traditon 1, it had a great sound. I started to get some fret buzz after I had it a couple years so I took it to my trusted tech for a set up. He told me the bridge was pulling up and it needed a bridge doctor. After I picked it up and brought home and played it, lost its full acoustic tone. I went back to him, but the guy was kicked out for not paying his rent. So does anybody know what I need to do to regain the full acoustic tone back? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted November 13, 2007 Members Share Posted November 13, 2007 Look around for a new tech, preferably with a better reputation. What he should recommend is that the old bridge will have to be removed and re-glued. Much as I like the JLD (I put one in my Tak and it helped the tone IMO) it sounds like he didn't know what he was talking about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted November 13, 2007 Members Share Posted November 13, 2007 What Neil says.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Samilyn Posted November 13, 2007 Members Share Posted November 13, 2007 Sorry to hear about that. I do hope you find a competent tech that can undo the damage. But I know that's not always an easy thing to do -- really good techs seem to be few and far between in some towns. My Martin was recently the victim of a bad setup by a so-called tech, but fortunately, the situation was easily reversed by me, thanks to expert instruction from Freeman. Best of luck with the Dean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members totamus Posted November 13, 2007 Members Share Posted November 13, 2007 I have seen some "techs" take too much off the saddle and then shim back up. In fact it is not uncommon. Some techs even prefer it because the saddle can then be adjusted by adding/removing shims. I personally dont want any shims, but that is beside the point. The point is that I have seen saddles that were cut too low and then shimmed back up with a soft material (paper/matchbook covers). You can imagine what that would do to the sound of the guitar (suck the life right out of it). From the description of the tech you ran in to, it might be worth looking under the saddle to see if he put something goofy there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bluesrock70's Posted November 14, 2007 Author Members Share Posted November 14, 2007 Thanks, I'll see what I can get done on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted November 14, 2007 Members Share Posted November 14, 2007 Just curious, did he actually put a Bridge Doc in it? If so, is it the kind that bolts through the bridge (uses the stock pins) or does it have funky brass pins with holes in them (the string balls will be on top of the bridge)? IMHO the first kind is much better - the screw will help hold the loose bridge on (it should be removed and reglued, however) and probably won't hurt the sound too much. My experience with the second kind is that it reduces the break angle so much that I would expect your guitar to sound dull. And while I know Breedlove uses the JDL in all their gits, it is engineered in from the beginning. When I think about what it is doing (structurally tying the top to the end block and not only stiffening it but I would assume dampening it) I can't see any way it would "improve" the tone. In my opinion it is a mickey mouse way to cover up any one of several serious problems that the tech was too lazy (or cheap) to do right. (I actually speak from experience, I tried one in my old 12 string before I had it fixed right) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jd-drafter Posted November 14, 2007 Members Share Posted November 14, 2007 And while I know Breedlove uses the JDL in all their gits, it is engineered in from the beginning. When I think about what it is doing (structurally tying the top to the end block and not only stiffening it but I would assume dampening it) I can't see any way it would "improve" the tone. i actually intended to write the same thing- it seems that if you design the guitar with a thinner more resonant top knowing you will ad the bridge doctor- vs adding it to a guitar that already has a top that's braced to hold up as it is- you can't help but dampen the sound by adding the mass of that bridge doctor block of wood under the bridge- it seems inevitable- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bluesrock70's Posted November 14, 2007 Author Members Share Posted November 14, 2007 Just curious, did he actually put a Bridge Doc in it? If so, is it the kind that bolts through the bridge (uses the stock pins) or does it have funky brass pins with holes in them (the string balls will be on top of the bridge)?IMHO the first kind is much better - the screw will help hold the loose bridge on (it should be removed and reglued, however) and probably won't hurt the sound too much. My experience with the second kind is that it reduces the break angle so much that I would expect your guitar to sound dull. And while I know Breedlove uses the JDL in all their gits, it is engineered in from the beginning. When I think about what it is doing (structurally tying the top to the end block and not only stiffening it but I would assume dampening it) I can't see any way it would "improve" the tone. In my opinion it is a mickey mouse way to cover up any one of several serious problems that the tech was too lazy (or cheap) to do right. (I actually speak from experience, I tried one in my old 12 string before I had it fixed right) It is a bridge doc sorta he had told me he made it himself and now I'm thinking what kind of wood he used, it looks redish and has a bolt that goes thru it with a hex nut. My Dean has one of those funky pointed on one end type of bridge. Still has the same pins but at the back of bridge there is a little silver cap covering a hole I guess? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted November 14, 2007 Members Share Posted November 14, 2007 OK, that sounds like the kind that would keep the string break angle correct so it should have minimum effect on the tone. However the whole concept of the JLD is somewhat bogus in my book and a home made one would be even more suspect. So, if I understand your initial post it sounded OK before your tech worked on it but had some fret buzz. Now after it was worked on it has "lost its full acoustic tone". So even if the bridge was loose before it had "its full tone", only buzzed a bit? I guess I would start by taking the darn thing out. Then I would check the bridge and find out if it really is coming loose and I would fix that. Next I would figure out why the frets were buzzing and fix that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members totamus Posted November 14, 2007 Members Share Posted November 14, 2007 Here's an interesting article on the bridge doctor http://www.bobandbonnie.com/out_of_my_mind/jld_review.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted November 14, 2007 Members Share Posted November 14, 2007 I read that article a long time ago, and in fact, that was one of the reasons I decide to waste money on one, er, try one on my D12-28. Here was a recent discussion about Bridge Docs and my humble experience with it http://acapella.harmony-central.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1782716 Seriously, look at that picture and tell me that critter is going to allow the top to vibrate more freely or somehow make the guitar sound better. Then look at the cutaway side view and tell me the one with the "pinless bridge" is going to improve the string break angle over the recommended 45 degrees. there was also a recent thread where someone was looking to buy a twelve string that had the "bad" kind of doc installed - I wish I had saved the picture. Obviously milage will vary, but mine was very bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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