Someone advised: >Remove the screws, drill out the dowels, and hit the bridge with a rubber mallet. It should pop off.>> The person seeking advice, with good intentions, wrote back: <<I think I will obtain some acetic acid, build a dam around the bridge, pour the acid on and let it sit awhile to soften the glue first.>> My opinion ------ the first advice was right. By trying to soften the glue line you will add water to the glue and it will toughen up and defeat shattering the crystalized glue line. One method or the other will work, but don't use them together. I would also not use a rubber mallet, though in most cases it might work fine. Use a regular hammer to get the highest "G" forces impacting on the glue line. Light hits with a regular hammer, starting on the loose end, should work as well or better than greater hits with energy absorbing rubber hammers. Since you might want to save the bridge, try another idea first. Clamp a big Vise Grips pliers, or something similar, vertically on the end of the bridge where the failure starts. Then gently wiggle it, or torque it, back and forth, increasingly using more power and travel. You might be able to unzip the whole bridge that way. ---This method works very well on removing old sharps when they are clamped in a vise. Just remembered one time I was removing an apron type bass bridge that was truly stuck well. To get the impact forces in the fight direction, namely to pop it off rather than sideways, I drilled a 1/8" hole through the soundboard at one end of the bridge under the apron, put a punch through onto the apron right next to the attached bridge and gave it a small hit. It come off easily. Go for the weakest point. Bill Simon Phoenix
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC