Anyone know anything about guitars?

[yellowmadness54]

I have a 1970 Gibson J200 my dad finally let me handle.

However, its old, and has aged a bit.

But the issue is that the bridge is cracked, and I'm not sure how serious the damage is, and whether it is safe to play or not. He wants to take it to get it fixed up soon, however I still wish to play this for the time being, as that'd probably be weeks or months until it is taken anywhere.

I want to know how serious this crack is an whether or not the tension of the strings will hurt it. Whilst not playing, I do down tune it a lot, having to retune it every time I want to play.

I'll take pictures later, if anyone can help.

[yellowmadness54]

It plays alright, minus the E strings buzzing, and sometimes rather wonky sounds, as the strings are also pretty old.

-All strings were tuned a whole note down, DGCFAD-

EDIT: Heres a few pictures

[Technician]

The bridge will probably hold up -- you can't do much more damage, and if the crack gets worse, it doesn't really matter as the whole bridge need needs to come off. When you get a new bridge put in, I suggest you oil it every blue moon to prevent the wood from drying out.

I suggest signing up at the Gibson forum; it's a very nice community, and will always entertain questions.

[bcwood16]

I dont know anything about musical instruments at all. I have also been told I am pretty much 'tone' death :(

So no help from me......actually I didnt even need to post this.....as thinking about it, it was pretty pointless.

Soz :(