sometimes while building or repairing a
guitar it is necessary to remove the
bridge there are many ways to do this
one way is to hand playing the bridge
off the top however you may want to save
the bridge and reuse it in this case you
could use a sharpened spatula and a
hammer and hope that the shock of the
hammer blows releases the glue that
holds the bridge to the top without
releasing the center seam or any braces
from the inside yet another way and the
method I prefer is to heat the bridge to
soften the glue and then use a sharpened
spatula to help the bridge separate from
the top if you choose to heat the bridge
you could use just a regular clothes
iron as a heat source some folks use
strong light bulbs I prefer to use a
small heating blanket that I got from
LMI when using a heat source near your
guitar you must think about protecting
the finish if your guitar has one and
also controlling the amount of heat so
as not to do damage to the other glue
surfaces since the LMI heating blanket
is specifically designed for removing
bridges I don't need to worry about
protecting the finish from the excess
heat because the blanket is the size of
the bridge I can also use the LMI
temperature controller to dial in the
temperature and control it during the
bridge removal process I begin by
placing the heating blanket on the
bridge and securing it so that there is
good heat transfer this can be as easy
as just placing some weight on the
blanket to keep it in contact with the
bridge I usually begin on the outer
edges but it doesn't matter and
sometimes the bridge is already
separating from the top if this is the
case then you should begin at this point
slowly work the spatula under the bridge
from both sides make sure the heating
blanket has thoroughly heated the bridge
and allow time for this heat to
penetrate the glue line thus softening
the glue there is a fine line between
just enough heat and using too much use
just enough to do the job but don't rush
the process if you like you could even
heat the space
match Allah before inserting it under
the bridge however care must be taken to
not damage the guitars finish when doing
this
slowly and carefully keep working the
spatula in under the bridge around all
the edges as the glue heats up it
becomes softer and this allows you to
work the spatula farther under the
bridge extreme care must be taken to not
damage the finish the soundboard or the
bridge itself as you insert the spatula
eventually the glue holding the bridge
will release ideally you want no pieces
of the top stuck to the underside of the
bridge when it's removed unless you're
using high glue all excess glue needs to
be removed from the top and the
underside of the bridge before gluing
them together again now that the bridge
has been removed you are now ready to
continue building or repairing your
guitar
you