First, I am not a professional luthier, so this is just the observation of an engineer and amateur woodwoorker:
There are extremely handy vacuum clamps that can be used to glue a bridge down without removing the top. They are used in some guitar repairs where the intricacies of the bracing and/or the geometry of the soundhole make a conventional clamp unusable. They consist of a frame that fits over the bridge with about an inch clearance in every direction (except upwards); a layer of neoprene is then stretched over this frame. A vacuum pump removes the air from within the frame, pulling the neoprene tightly down to the soundboard - and pulling anything else in the way, like a glued-up bridge, with it. Of course, these are a fairly recent invention compared to lutes, and people have been removing the lute belly to fix the bridge for hundreds of years, so YMMV. Take your lute to a professional and see what they advise. - Michael On 7/8/07, Wayne Cripps <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > When the bridge came off my lute I took it to a well respected lute > repairman, and he did not have to take the top off! He used a > yellow glue instead of hide glue. He said it was stronger. > > Wayne > > > > From: Gernot Hilger <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Subject: [LUTE] Re: lute repair question > > > > you'll need to take the lute to a luthier. To reglue the bridge, the > > top must be taken off. This is beyond ordinary workmen. > > > > And, as you will probably be aware off, this is quite a critical > > joint and you don't want somebody to botch with it. > > > > g > > > > > > On 08.07.2007, at 17:59, Laura wrote: > > > > > > > > Hi! > > > > > > I've had my ren lute for 7 years, had no problems at all until > > > yesterday > > > night when it decided to "mute itself"... > > > The bridge cleanly separated from the body, spontaneously. No > > > previous sign > > > of being unglued, anything. > > > The bridge separated from the body cleanly, and didn't even splitted. > > > The luthier who made it is far from where I live, so I'll need to > > > evaluate > > > other person to fix it. > > > Could anyone tell me which is the best approach for fixing this > > > type of > > > problem, so I can talk to the repairmen with a minimum knowledge? > > > Is it necessary to separate the top? or just re-glueing the bridge > > > is ok? > > > thanks, > > > Laura > > > > > > snif.... > > > > > > > > > Laura Maschi > > > > > > > > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > > > > > --
