Bridge Removal

[mjmeehan]

Well I did it this time!

Somehow I missed the center on my bridge and the strings run off at an angle. It's playable but unsightly. I'm going to remove the bridge. I found John Hall's chisel technique through a search and am hoping to find a video.

But what do I do about the holes that are already reamed through the bridge plate? It looks like I missed the center by about a 1/16".

[tippie53]

There are a few things you can do. There are a few options . Maybe the easiest and a good simple fix is make an ebony plate about 1/2 inch wide. Glue this to the plate , then fill the holes in the plate and top with dust and ca.
You may need to make a new bridge to off set the foot print and drill the holes where they need to be but make the wings wide enough to hide the old foot print.
Creative solutions can make for design enhancement opportunities

[tippie53]

like the plugin
I have the stew mac under plate plug cutter for this , It works well but your system is also good. its all about structure.

[Ken Hundley]

Those are great suggestions, and definitely the more accepted route. I have also just used epoxy mixed with sawdust. I taped the holes across the bridgeplate, filled them with the epoxy/dust putty from the top. Once cured, levelled it, and redid the bridge. Has worked fine for 5 years now.

[mjmeehan]

Thanks for the help. I took John's advice and applied a plate patch and filled the holes with dust and CA. I also popped the bridge off with a small hammer and a chisel. Talk about a "what am I doing?" moment!
As soon as my dremel recharges I can go to town on the bridge.

Ken- Does the epoxy get as hard as the CA? Because I had to re-drill through part of the filled hole.