03-15 Kay / Samick MIK OM Rubber Bridge (1980s - Natural)

Quick Specs

Model: 559-1222
Strings: Stringjoy 10s
Tuning: E-Standard 
Finish: Natural
Playability Grade: C - Decent player, but GREAT tone. Due to the age of the guitar, the action is slightly raised, but it is still comfy to play. Likely a better studio model than live / gigging guitar. Perfect singer / songwriter RB!

Full Story

THE NASHVILLE RUBBER BRIDGE SOUND!

You guys asked and we listened. RUBBER BRIDGES ARE BACK IN STOCK! From now on, we will be posting our rubber bridge guitars up on our Reverb store and website once quarterly. Check our social media for the date of our next drop.

If you follow my shop at all, you know I have been making the electrified parlors for a while. About a year ago, I got repeated (and I mean REPEATED) asks for set-ups with rubber bridges. At first I was like "wtf, how would anyone do that?" After some careful research and development, I finally cracked that nut! I now have rubber bridges of my own design -- you can hear a sample on my Instagram: @jacksguitarcheology

SIDE NOTE: Contact me if you are looking to have your guitar converted to a rubber bridge. We can convert certain models for a fee. We will no longer be selling "a la carte" rubber bridges as they need to be tailor made for the guitar in question, and it is hard to do that without the guitar on hand.

As you might notice, my design differs from the "Old Style" or "West Coast" rubber bridges. This is on purpose. My first draft of the design was much closer to the Old Style bridge (btw, Reuben, if you read this, big fan of your work and no hard feelings, I hope) but, I was having issues getting that style of bridge to intonate, and honestly, I wanted my design to be it's entirely own thing and it's own unique sound. So, I came up with this bridgecraft method of my own that uses a wooden core saddle to create an intonation point and mimic the shape of the original wooden bridge this guitar would have had. The result is a tone that is still bouncy and "bongish," but not quuuuite as muted out as the LA bridge design. You can hear a sample on my Instagram in the Story Archives: @jacksguitarcheology

*NOTES*- Decent player, the neck is at a slight pitch which means the action is slightly raised from a modern guitar, but it is still perfectly playable. I have seen FAR worse, and this one has a really great, full RB tonal response.

As always I oiled the board, changed the strings, polished the finish and tweaked the set up. These old girls were not meant to handle large amounts of string tension, so getting light gauge strings on your first string change is CRUCIAL. I recommend .10-.50 for standard tuning and .12s / .13s for Baritone tuning. 

This guitar is set up in E-Standard tuning.

As with all of my pre-1980 acoustic guitars without adjustable truss rods, this guitar is being sold "as is" regardless of condition. (See my shop policies for more information.) This guitar doesn't comes with a gig bag or case but, I pack my guitars up tight and insure every package for the full purchase amount.

If you want a good example of what my rubber bridge guitar sounds like, check out the "Rubber Bridge" story archive on my Instagram: @jacksguitarcheology

Got questions? Shoot me a message, I love nerding out with other gearheads!