Underneath a layer of overspray was this beautiful, original Martin 1931 OM-28 bridge, with all the contours and craftsmanship that we admire in these vintage guitars. Jim slowly cleaned out the over-cut string slots in order to fill them with new pieces of ebony to correct the breakover angle. While the shop has fabricated hundreds of replacement belly bridges over the years, and have all gotten quite good at it, we’re always striving whenever possible to save the original appointments and details of vintage guitars such as this OM.

Repair Shop luthier Trey Durkin looks on as Mass Street Owner Jim Baggett discusses his approach to repairing the belly bridge.

 Jim using a razor blade to prep the original ebony for the new pieces

Filing the slots in order to clean up the edges 

One ebony patch started, 5 more to go

By the next morning Jim had completed all six slots

When viewed at an angle the patch is almost invisible