Removing a Bridge

[Kevin Sjostrand]

hmm
well if it works for you great. I can't see the benefit. My bridges lay flat on the top surface and I get all the squeeze out I want, which isn't much.

[scamp]

I have seen a few cases where luthiers create a very shallow rabbet ( the thickness of the finish ) around the edge of the bridge. The supposed purpose is to ensure the bridge makes good contact with the wood top and isn't held up above the top by the finish, which to some extent goes under the edges of the bridge. I, for one, am a bit skeptical this is necessary. My reason is that the finish on the guitar top is probably only 3 to 6 mils ( 0.003 to 0.006 inches). A typical Titebond finished glue seam is in the order of 0.006 inches. So... I don't think it makes sense to reduce the surface area of the bridge for this reason. Just my opinion.

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Scamp
I've heard some builders do that and it's probably a good idea.
I never have.

[BlindBo]

Scamp, I do something similar. Due to my vision limitations, getting a clean razor cut around the perimeter of a bridge, especially a belly bridge, is almost impossible. Removing the finish precisely to the edge of the razor cut was equally difficult, usually resulting in a pretty ugly bridge/finish intersection. Thanks to John Hall’s advice, my technique is greatly improved.
After tracing the correct bridge footprint on masking tape applied to the top, I draw another bridge footprint 1/16” inside of the actual footprint and carefully remove the masking tape inside that reduced footprint area. I then use my die cutter with 1/6” bit to remove all the finish in that area which produces a 1/16” finished border around the perimeter. Using the same depth setting on the die grinder, I cut a ledge around the underside perimeter of the bridge. Generally, the bridge drops right into the pocket, producing good bridge to top contact, and leaving no finish “scares” from the install. The primary precaution is to “creep up” on setting the die grinder depth. You don’t want to remove top wood, just the finish. I’m very pleased with the results.
Since this is such a critical joint, under a lot of tension, I do the old school method of adding bite to the surfaces. With a scratch awl, I put tiny piercings all over the bare top wood and then scrape the bottom of the bridge with the edge of a fret slot file to create tiny groves on the bridge bottom. This may be overkill, but, it’s what I learned in wood shop a 100 yrs ago in middle school!😜

This is truly thread creep and way too much info probably, but, I hope it’s helpful to someone who is struggling with bridge installs like I was.
Cheers.