I too, was pleasantly surprised with the price and quality of these tuners. I'd be happy to post the seller info if anyone wants me to.
Yea - if I go after substantial work into this bridge situation I'll have to pay a luthier to do it. That's something well beyond my skills. And I'm probably looking at spending close to what I paid for the whole guitar to begin with. So there's plenty to think over.
I'm wondering about the ramifications of replacing a bridge that's been in place for 30+ years. If I understand correctly how this works with acoustic guitars, the 'sweetening' process that solid top guitars go through as they age has more to do with how often they're played over time than just the aging process itself. It's about the way the top settles in
as it's played over the years that brings about the better sound, or sweetening that we always associate with aged solid top acoustics.
So, if the bridge gets moved or replaced - how much of this 30+ years of aging and sweetening process is put at risk? If any? This is one thing I wonder about because I just don't know. I mean, this thing sounds really good (to me at least) and I don't want to risk messing with with that. I'm sure I could find Taylor 12 strings that would put it in it's place - but not for the price I paid for
this guitar.
Another idea I'm wondering about is keeping the bridge in place as is, but finding a way to remove this metal saddle holder thing completely. Then having the slot totally filled in permanently with a piece of ebony and then cutting out a whole new slot for the saddle(s) that makes the intonation as spot on as possible.
This idea appeals to me the most, but I'm not sure how realistic it is. I've already tried to remove this metal saddle holder and I have no idea what's involved in taking it out. It may require the bridge to be removed anyway.
Something I've noticed on the newer high end Takamine 12 strings is a split saddle configuration where they have the E & B strings on their own compensated mini-saddle and the remaining strings on their own separate compensated saddle. This seems fairly intelligent for acoustic 12 strings if you want them to play in tune really well anywhere on the neck. So - I've got plenty of stuff to investigate before I go there.
If someone could figure out how to make an adjustable saddle for acoustic guitars that still did a good job of transferring tone to the top - it might be the biggest development in guitar bridges since the Floyd Rose tremolo. You read it here first.
