Reuben Cox, an independent luthier out of California, didn’t know at the time that he was changing the sound of indie rock when he modded a guitar with a rubber bridge 20-some years ago. Inspired by Blake Mills’ banjo playing, Cox took a DIY-approach to see if he could get a similar sound out of a guitar.
“I was taking photographs of Andrew Bird and Blake Mills at a recording session,” Cox told Acoustic Guitar. “Blake had this ’50s Harmony banjo that had a kind of muting system… It had this wood and rubber kind of thing. I listened to playback, and it was one of the most exciting things I’d heard in a long time.”
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Cox took to Home Depot looking for pieces that would aid him in achieving the sound he wanted. He found what he was looking for in the most unlikely of places: the toilet aisle. Cox hasn’t revealed exactly what it was, but using it to build a bridge directly into the guitar, this mystery item helped him unlock the acoustic character he desired.
“I was like, ‘Oh, well, let’s try this and see what happens,’” Cox commented to the Los Angeles Times. “It ended up being a bull’s-eye.”
Since then, rubber guitar bridges have exploded in popularity, especially in the indie rock scene. Jeff Tweedy of Wilco explained to Guitar Player how the innovation took his most inexpensive guitars and gave them new character, crediting Cox.
“They’re terrible old ’40s stencil cowboy guitars or cheapo beginner guitars, but you put a rubberized bridge on them and they have this crazy quality that just leaves so much more room for my voice,” says Tweedy. “I don’t have a real sustaining voice so I tend to like guitars that aren’t showing me up.”
Cox has since told the Los Angeles Times that he has considered taking legal action against other manufacturers that have begin producing guitars with rubber bridges, but has decided to be content with the influence he has had on the industry.
