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Today I got the bridge off. There was a rather large filler under the bridge. It appears that some of the filler wasn't glued well can lifted out on the bridge. I check to make sure that what was there was solid. In this case I will fill in the void and glue in with HHG , this filler will stay clamped overnight. I will then do another filler so that there is a matrix , this will give this more structure. The filler is down to the plate but is will be structurally ok.
Once that is fixed I will be able to glue in the new bridge. I also measured the neck and there is a forward bow in it. I pulled 5 frets and work to get us some back bow to improve the neck relief.
here are the pics of what we are up to . With the old Tee bar non adjustable necks we use a heavier tang to back spring the neck to make the relief adjustment

When I got into making the bridge I found that the old one was not original. The holes were not even close to center. Since the bridge plate and now the bridge are not original I talked to my customer and we are going to make this back to original. I did find there was some damage also under the bridge so now we can take care of all the issues.
I am making the bridge plate about 1/8 in larger to the front and rear for structure. I will make a new bridge once the footprint is repaired. You can see there is a hole in the top and there is a filler under the bridge. Once the new plate is on I can repair all of this also. Here are some pics for you and you can see the process of repair.

In all repair issues structure is a key element.

Wow! You can actually fix that? I'm impressed.

Ed

yes it can be repaired.

Today I got the clamps off from the plate and had to inlay another patch.

Interesting stuff! How did you get the old bridge plate off? Were the old patches in the top going thru the soundboard? In a case like this would you lay in a spruce veneer if the defect didn't go thru the board? Plugging the pin holes is for adding to the board integrity before attaching the new bridge? Thanks for showing this!

There is a knack to get out a plate. I think we did a video on that and it will be up after editing. I will take a photo essay on what I did to show you guys.
There were a few patches under the bridge and one was through the top. I had to replace the plate as the holes were off location and this allowed me to reglue the fillets in and through layering the patched I can create and strengthen the area. More of that process will follow as I have one more layer to do .
When I pull a plate I make a sponge in the shape of the plate and let that soak on the plate about 4 hr then use a heater and steam out the glue through the wet wood , this allows easier removal and cleaner work offing the plate.

The top under the bridge was in pretty bad shape but with all the l fillers it is now pretty solid. Tomorrow I can put the top filler on. Here is what it looks like so far. As you can see it is fill glue fill glue repeat.
No I will also tell you that I am using fish and hhg glue for this. The reason is that down the road if ever it has to be worked on , the fillets can be removed easy with out causing damage. Had I used epoxy or CA that would seal the wood grain and not allow a proper reglue. This is a museum style repair in that all the work is totally reversible.

That's amazing. I'm anxious to see how it turns out.

Ed

It is feeling very strong I am thinking of loading meds on it. Tomorrow I place the top fillet. Pics will follow to the end.