So I use my iPhone to get a couple of lousy shots of the interior. Having a feel around inside gave me a idea of what the bridge plate is like but I couldn’t reach the back where the strap button is fixed. If the StewMac ‘Bridge Doctor’ is going to work, I need to know what the internal structure of this guitar looks like but I can’t see in there. A fret dressing would probably be a good idea but as the frets are already pretty low I may have to give it that a miss. This gave them a nice shine very quickly and made it easy to spot the quite deep grooves worn into the first few frets from years of open chords. Sheen before using my abrasive rubbers on the frets. I gave the guitar a bit of a polish with Mr. Because of the high action caused by the ‘twisted’ bridge this guitar hasn’t been played above the 5th fret for years leaving most of the frets dull and covered with a layer of grime. With the strings off I was able to have a close look at the fretboard and the frets. Finding a replacement is proving difficult at the moment because I don’t know the radius of the neck. I tried to remove the cracked white saddle piece but it snapped. This – according to some – interferes with the transmission of the strings vibration to the rest of the guitar…or some such. The ability to raise or lower the saddle to set the action to suit you sounds good but the price is a bridge that only makes contact with the body through the screw at either end. It’s an unusual arrangement but – according to some research – not a popular with some players. The peg holes have a small amount of string wear at the front and the floating aluminium saddle holder came out without too much trouble. Further examination revealed why: it is riveted on in three places. The bridge looks to be in good condition and no sign of it lifting off the wood. The warping of the soundboard in front and behind the bridge isn’t going to go away in a hurry – if it even goes away at all. I could almost hear the wood sighing with relief as the load came off. The first thing to do with Paul’s 1988 Eko 12 string was take off the strings and examine the bridge and the neck. You could almost hear the sigh of relief as the strings came off

Eko ranger 12 string