JLD Bridge Doctor

Every guitar is made different, so my installation was not as clean cut as expected. 4 Stars as I feel the plug could be thicker to accommodate curved bridges. Also, a model specifically made for shallow acoustics would be awesome. Trying to modify did not work as anticipated. Would not waste the efforts on a laminate guitar again, but then again, I found multiple other structural issues on the Yamaha I was repairing.

I have used several bridge doctors over the years and have had total success...I wished someone would design one that would fit the Ovation guitars! If there's already one out there, please let me know.

I received a Washburn Cumberland in for setup and repairs, but the pot-belly was huge, and the saddle had already been filed down wafer-thin. The action was too high to even think of correcting it. I discovered the JLD system online, ordered 3 (!) and installed it. It brought down the back of the bridge only, and I figured it was not going to work properly. I restrung and set up as best I could, but was not happy with the result !! I left it overnight, and when I checked it the next day, the string tension had positively affected the cantilever design of the JLD! The front of the bridge had pulled down overnight, resulting a really slick action that I NEVER imagined I would get on this guitar! Great innovation for a big problem!

This is the second JLD I've installed; good instructions and it completely removed the belly the guitar had. Now if only it'd work on mine.... It also sounds much better. More projection, and fuller sound.

First, thanks to Stewart-MacDonald for very prompt shipping.

I had some trouble installing this on my old Yamaha FG, 12string, but it was a success in the end. I drilled the hole near the back of the bridge, behind where all of the strings attach. That was my mistake. I realized when trying to install it that the wood piece nearest to the sound hole was blocking two strings’ pin holes, oops. The JLD Bridge system needed to be moved forward slightly. So I drilled another hole between the two rows where the strings attach. Now the wood was out of the way, but the white cylinder shaped piece was preventing one string and pin from seating correctly. So I used my drill to "whittle" away the top edge of the white cylinder piece, carefully without increasing the size of the string hole.

I ended up with an extra hole, but after installing and adjusting the rod, the belly was flattened out to almost flat. The wooden rod did slip off the interior tail piece of the guitar, the first time I tried to tighten it, but I readjusted and got that sorted. That could be a problem for a guitar with a more narrow interior tail piece.

I made a video, and plan to upload it to youtube. Just search and you should find it.

I repair guitars as a hobby. I have installed the JLD Bridge Doctor in three guitars to correct minor belly bulge, and two were factory installed in my Breedloves. Each time there has been a noted improvement in sustain, volume, and clarity, as well as taking care of the bulge. As effective as it is easy to install, I don't use them just for repair anymore.

I applied the screw-mount Bridge Doctor to my vintage Epiphone FT-130. The bridge had lifted about 5 degrees, with the corresponding bulge below. It now sits flat, and ready to go for another 40 years. I hope I am. This device is simple, inexpensive, and works like a charm. That, to me, is elegance.

Installed the screw mount version in a Harmony Sovereign H1203 with one of the worst belly bulges I've seen. As others have noted, it did bring the bridge down, but did not completely flatten the top - but I didn't expect it would. Nice improvement in playability and tone. BUT, I have large hands and doing the install was much more difficult for me than for others who have rated this device. As for so many through-the-soundhole techniques, think twice if you have very large hands.

JLD Bridge Doctor brought my old Yammie to life again without the hassle or expense of other solutions. The guitar sounds great and holds stable. I Highly recommend the product

I have installed a Bridge Doctor on two guitars: a late 70’s Ibanez Concord—which is a copy of a Gibson Dove—and a 2010 Gibson SJ200 Studio. The Ibanez got the screw mount model of the Bridge Doctor while the Gibson got the brass pins. The Ibanez was bellying a bit and the Bridge Doctor corrected that quite easily. The Gibson got the device primarily as a preventative measure—I saw a vintage Gibson Jumbo that was bellied quite badly so after the positive results with the Ibanez, I figured the Bridge Dr. would be a good way to protect my more expensive guitar. I didn’t want to drill a hole in the Gibson, though, so that’s why I went with the brass pin version.

On neither guitar did I notice an astonishing improvement in tone as some people have reported, including the manufacturer; to be fair, it’s hard to imagine anything astonishingly improving the tone of a Gibson Jumbo. I had read some discussions of this device in which people were wondering whether the lessening of the string break angle over the saddle when using the brass pins instead of the regular bridge pins might adversely affect tone, so I did a little experiment: I initially installed it using three brass pins (6th, 4th, 2nd strings) and three (5th, 3rd, 1st) regular pins. This did not result in any kind of unevenness in volume or tone quality or response from string to string. I see that one reviewer did have problems with the change in break angle in the case of a low saddle, but on a standard saddle there shouldn’t be a problem.

I recommend the Bridge Doctor if your guitar has a belly problem or if you'd like to keep it from developing one.