I found this old Riviera acoustic today and the bridge had come off and was hanging off the strings.

So I cut the strings off and polished it up.
The tuning pegs are a little rusty but still turn ok.

What I want to know is what's the best way to reattach the bridge and is there anything else that needs to be done to the guitar before it's playable (other than new strings)?

Here are some pics so you know what i'm talking about:

Since I don't know how it came off, Im guessing it was natural.
If, however, it was wiggeld off, or snapped off, it could be the string tension, or the warping of the neck.
In which case, I would go to a music shop, and see if its all AOK. Otherwise, I don't think theres much else to check on it. Other then the string stuff at the top.

Check for holes?

Thanks for the advice.

There doesn't appear to be any stress or cracking or anything on the bridge; it looks like it just fell off.

My friend suggested it might need new machine heads but the current ones turn well enough.

I'll probably take it to a music shop and get it checked.

Just one more question:

Does anyone know what sort of adhesive you need on the bridge?

nah dude.....just get some simple, good ole'-fashion Elmers Wood Glue....

glue it on, then clamp it down in place and let it dry for about 2-3 days......afterwards, it should be purdy goddamn sturdy.....Elmers Wood Glue is purdy strong stuff.....i cracked the head on my ovation acoustic a few yrs back, i just wood glued it back together and itz been A-Okay since....still stays in tune, still plays beautifully.....

you can buy some new Tuning Keys at a music shop....i recomend it.....old keys can get loose and harder to tune and yaddah, yaddah, yaddah......

from the picture, it looks like the guitar's a Classical-Acoustic....rather than a standard acoustic....(is the neck kinda fat? fatter than normal acoustics?....it looks like it).....but yeah, it looks like a Classical-Acoustic....in which case, buy "nylon" strings rather than regular acoustic/electric strings.......

the strings on it, were they nylon (plastic like) or electric (copper, metal, etc...?)

other than that, the only thing you gotta worry about the neck bein' warped....

that reminds me of the first time i took off all the strings at once off my Gibson elec and the bridge fell off because it's only held in place by the strings. I thought I broke it and my heart literally stopped. haha. that was so many years ago. ahh. memories.

The strings were metal, not nylon and the neck doesn't _look_ fatter than usual.

Thanks for the advice about the glue.

Ideally you need a urea formaldehide glue (don't call me geek) because of the direction of the tension. Also, plastic based glues dampen the sound. Clamping it isn't going to be easy so think it well through before a drop of glue hits the wood.

If sound quality isn't a big issue just use 'no more nails'.