Fitting Bridge Pins on Vintage Martin D-12-28

The thing about 12-string guitars is they take 12 tuners and 12 bridge pins.  Which is why I've hesitated on buying new tuners - with twice as many on the guitar, they cost twice as much.

Same for the bridge pins.  I really wanted bone pins, but they're a little too pricey for a full set of 12.  So I settled for some lovely ivoroid pins from Stew-Mac.  They're made of galalith, and look like ivory, which is a good thing.

I just reamed out the holes with my trusty bridge pin reamer.  Five turns exactly got them sitting flush to the top of the bridge.

The top is dirty from all the handling.  I cleaned it with a very weak mixture of Simple Green and water and got the grime off.

Then I used medium, fine, and swirl remover hand polishes to rub it out.  I would have loved to use a machine on it, but I wanted to be gentle with the original finish.

Not the best picture, but you can get an idea of the gloss.  The top looks really nice now and the grain has a nice depth to it.

During the polishing, I heard a 'widgy-widgy' squeak from behind the bridge.  Turns out the very end of the brace I reattached is a little loose.  You can see the small gap in the picture.

I need to reglue the end so it's solid.



The Complete Martin Guitar Restoration Saga
Restoration begins
Repairing heel break
DIY chisel for bridge plate removal
DIY bridge plate removal iron, Pt.1
DIY bridge plate removal iron, Pt.2
Steam removal of bridge plate
Bridge plate removed
Tongue brace removal
Crack repair and brace scallop
New bridge plate Pt. 1
New bridge plate Pt. 2
Patching hole in top
Final fitting of top patch
Installing carbon fiber rod
Fret removal
Fingerboard crack repair, Pt. 1
Fingerboard crack repair, Pt. 2
DIY fret bender tool
Refretting Pt. 1
Refretting Pt. 2
Tuner shaft repair
Neck reset - dovetail fitting
Measuring neck set with DIY jig
Gluing the neck with hide glue
Tortoloid Pickguard
Fitting bridge pins (This page)
Brace reglue
Making bone saddle
Making a buffalo horn nut
Restoration completed