Broken guitar?
 

I've had this really nice Fender acoustic-electric sitting in the back of my closet for ages now, and I would love to be able to play it... there's just one problem.

It's missing part of the bridge and the nut is completely gone. My ******* "friend" broke it when I told him he couldn't have it. Other than him dropping it, I don't think it's sustained that much damage.

I've looked for instrument repair places... There's none in my area, and the local music stores aren't very helpful, either.

Any advice is much appreciated. I'm sure the people here know far more than I do. (:

so... your friend dropped the guitar when you wouldn't flat out give it to them? i'd be expecting repair funds from their pocket, but then again i don't make friends with poop chutes.

weird that the local music stores aren't helpful. a replacement nut isn't complicated, normally pretty cheap, any kind of glue will help fasten it in place as well. i've used plain white school glue before (the strings hold it in place for the most part, the glue is mostly so it stays in place when replacing them).

missing part of the bridge is a bit more of an issue. is it just the sliver of bone that fits into the bigger part? or a couple of the pegs? or something completely different? again, replacement components shouldn't be that hard to find. worse case, get some steaks and a sharp knife and start whittling yourself a new bridge piece while you're digesting.

Yeah, he was supposed to be helping me move. He saw the guitar, assumed I didn't want it, and asked. I said no, he "accidentally" dropped it.

The part of the bridge is the ivory part that holds the strings. I'll look for replacement parts online; it could just be due to unobservance but every time I've been somewhere like Guitar Center I haven't seen them for ****. Thanks loads.

If you find out exactly whats missing just order the parts of ebay/allparts. If you cant figure that out just take a picture of it and im sure someone here i.e Mr Dave can tell you what to order.

yeah the ivory part is what i was half joking about in regards to the steak and sharp knife action. the proper term being the 'saddle'.

a full new acoustic guitar bridge shouldn't cost more than $20 either. at least, that's what google is telling me. just getting a replacement saddle should be cheaper than a coffee.

You'd have to check, but I'm pretty sure you could find what you need at STEWMAC.COM : Guitar, Bass, Banjo, Mandolin, Parts, Tools, Supplies, Free Information. I've used them to order four potentiometers, a set of Grovers, the metric wrenches for Floyd Rose, and a few other hardware pieces for the Rose, I'd be surprised if you couldn't find what you're looking for there. Good luck, I hope she sounds/plays nice after the repairs. It would also be sweet to carve you're own too! :)

The plastic replacements for the nut and saddle are very inexpensive. You will need to chisel them yourself however. A touch of wood glue when you install them also helps. Professional luthiers will carve these parts out of bone.