Official Luthiers Forum!

This is a first for me. How would you guys approach removing a damaged bridge plate that was glued on with fish glue?

Closed instrument? Bridge on?
Does it really need removal? There are ways to fix string ball damage without removing the plate
If it's a top not on an instrument yet, I would just plane it down to the glue and scrape.
Is the center seem fish glue?
Fish glue should turn loose pretty easily w/ moisture. I've had great success with hide glued maple by sitting a moist sponge cut to the size of the plate with the instrument face down. I put a piece of plastic on top of the sponge so more of the moisture goes into the plate instead of evaporating out the other side. I don't let the sponge contact any surrounding braces. leave it all day and check every few hours to see if you can slide a thin spatula or feeler gauge into the glue line. I might take 8 hours or more. Thanks to John Hall of blues Creek for this method. If that's not enough, I break out the hot chunks of plate shaped aluminum screwed to a bridge clamp and the excitement begins.

Thanks David.

John was actually nice enough to share that technique with me on the phone yesterday, and it worked a treat! Sponge overnight, heat blanket this morning at 150 degrees, it pried off in about 2 minutes with no damage to the guitar whatsoever. Now I'm going to let everything dry out fully, scrape any residue and get a new plate in there. Big load off of my mind!

Right on!