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PostPosted: Fri Dec 02, 2011 1:20 pm 
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Koa
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I've looked and can't really seem to find much for bridge plate removal. My immediate first instinct is to heat up a palette knife with a heat gun and just go for it. Just seems like a hard procedure working blind. I'm guessing someone has some good tricks to share.


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PostPosted: Fri Dec 02, 2011 1:26 pm 
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I'm sure someone's going to ask "why?". The plate is MUCH too big. It's the first guitar I ever built, and it's a basket case, relatively speaking. As an exercise and practice, I thought it would be fun to see just how well I can rehab it into a really nice guitar. First step is a bridge replacement, and while I'm at it the bridge plate is just humongous so I may as well fix that too.


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PostPosted: Fri Dec 02, 2011 1:37 pm 
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duh duh duh pays to read all the words , u said bridge Plate . duh duh nevermind laughing6-hehe

I was talkin bout the Bridge itself

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Last edited by WudWerkr on Fri Dec 02, 2011 2:35 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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PostPosted: Fri Dec 02, 2011 2:22 pm 
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To remove a bridge plate .. you will want a piece of steel or aluminum roughly the same shape as the plate itself .. heat that up on the bottom of an iron, or in the oven, and then with gloves on get it inside the guitar and clamp it in place .. to heat the glue under the plate. Take a look at the stew mac plate on a handle rig .... something lke that would work as well. I doubt that just heating a palette knife wold do it, but you can certainly try and let us know how that works. Check the frets.com site, I am sure Frank Ford has something on there about the subject as well.

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PostPosted: Fri Dec 02, 2011 4:06 pm 
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WudWerkr wrote:
duh duh duh pays to read all the words , u said bridge Plate . duh duh nevermind laughing6-hehe

I was talkin bout the Bridge itself


Shoot, I don't mind pointer on removing a bridge too. I'm really just starting to seriously get into repairs and I'm trying to soak it all up. It's a whole different discipline from building...almost completely different in fact.


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PostPosted: Fri Dec 02, 2011 4:33 pm 
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Try the Johns, Hall and Arnold.

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PostPosted: Fri Dec 02, 2011 5:09 pm 
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The plates are not hard to pull , Do you know what glue was used ? Also what year guitar and maker or is it one of yours.
I use a few methods to pull them out. My favorite method is to use a sponge that is the same shape of the plate and wet it. Place this on the plate and let set overnight .
I use a heat plate and set it for 170 degrees. After about 3 minutes you should be able to get a pallet knife under it and remove the plate. Don't force it and be sure the knife is well rounded so it won't dig into the top. The technique requires a feel and touch. The heat will soften the glue and the water will help to activate the glue.
A good practice is to glue some maple to a piece of spruce and play with it to get a feel of how much force it takes to pry them free.
Once off I let them dry for a few days before I do anything.

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PostPosted: Fri Dec 02, 2011 5:18 pm 
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Thanks for the tips, John. It's an OM I made myself. At that point, the glue was either Titebond I or LMII's glue. I only used LMII's glue for a very brief time, but I know I used it on this guitar in at least a couple of spots because I can see just a little bit of clear glue residue that I didn't quite completely clean right at the bridge. Maybe I used it on the bridge plate too. Anyhow, it wasn't anything ridiculous like epoxy or gorilla glue :)

Do you heat from the outside after removing the bridge or do you heat the plate itself?

Thanks again.

-John


re: removing the bridge
I think this one will be easy. It's not a very good joint AND it's cocobolo, glued long before I knew how to work with cocobolo. I'm surprised it hasn't fallen off on it's own yet.


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PostPosted: Fri Dec 02, 2011 8:34 pm 
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Brazilian Rosewood
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I have had a few where I had to pull the bridge , that was on a BG Rich . Most Martin styles will come off with the water soak and heat . The key is not to overheat the plate.

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PostPosted: Sat Dec 03, 2011 3:10 am 
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Here's Frank Ford's method http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Luthier/Technique/Guitar/Structural/NewBridgePlate/newbrplt1.html

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