i tuned it by ear last night and took it way up, only to realize this morning that:
- it was still in tune. sort of. the five fret (except that weird g/b) test worked, but you played a chord and it was nowhere close
- i had tuned it an octave down
- the glue job on the bridge was awful and it's going to go if it stays tense, which is no doubt why it was tuned down
so, it was in tune. but an octave down...and you can't do that on a guitar and expect it to stay in tune. it's all relative - chords don't just transpose down like that. you can maybe take it up or down two or three steps before the intonation gets fucked.
i took it up another octave, and it wouldn't hold tune, but i wouldn't expect it to given the bridge. and, the more i tuned it up, the more obvious it was that the bridge was going to snap off...
the person seems to have used crazy glue rather than wood glue, and probably did not clamp the guitar. it's not going to hold tune unless i'm able to take the bridge off and put it back on properly myself.
so, i've actually overtuned it with the hopes that it will ease, but i'm concerned that it's going to take part of the wood off with it.
do not put crazy glue on a guitar - that is dumb.
....but, if i can get it off clean and sand it down, i can probably salvage it - with the original bridge.
see, i've read up on this a little now, and these action screws don't exist anymore because they create tuning problems. but, i don't care - i want the original hardware on here, and i'll make it stay in tune by playing it.
a fifty year old guitar with a battered bridge like this isn't going to stay in tune unless you play it every day for a month.
so, that's step one - let's get the bridge off. then, let's check the neck properly. and let's get the bridge back on with a new set of strings.
on second thought, if i'm redoing the bridge anyways, i should keep it as an acoustic guitar and plan to do the acoustic project with it. i mean, it's a solid top guitar - that's potentially a ridiculous upgrade.
