Removing a bridge - alternative methods?

[Mel O'Dantrix]

Hello there, a mod from another forum pointed me to this site.

I'm in the middle of rebuilding a ~90 year old parlor-guitar,
and i hit a problem - the bridge will not come off.
I found multiple tutorials but i wasn't able to do the job.
Most involve heating up the bridge,
this method worked perfectly for the fretboard using a iron,
but does not work at all on the bridge, it's quite uneven and doesn't get hot enough as it seems.
The heating blankets from LMI are just not within my budget,
and i mostly only did damage with hot blades.

I'm grateful for every other possible method that i may not have seen so far,
if not i will not have a choice and will make a copy, and destroy the original,
by taking it off with a chisel/router which i want to avoid.

If anyone got a idea, i would love to hear about it,
even if i can not use it on this one; i'm always happy to learn.
Here is the bridge:
http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp26/Xaromir/cu2.jpg

Thanks a lot in advance. :)

[Ned Knepp]

If you don't mind me asking, why are you removing it? I can't see anything in the photo to indicate that it needs to come off.

Ned

[Mel O'Dantrix]

For several major and minor reasons.
It's a lot easier to refinish, i ruined the finish when i removed the fretboard,
which i had to do since both, the neck and the fretboard where in a very bad shape.
But i believe i can make major improvements by doing this.
It's hard to tell what wood it's made of really but rosewood or ebony should be a better choice
so i would love to make one from ebony.
The saddle was a piece of fretwire, and i would have to do a lot of work anyway if i would like to have a bone saddle,
so i don't see a problem with making a new one. And i can learn while doing that, which is the main purpose of the project.

I love this guitar, but it would have been best in a stove or on a wall if i would not have decided to rescue it.
It's not like i'm going to mess with a priceless early martin, i guess it was a DIY project of someone at some point,
since there is no name or serial number on or in it.
The people at my local guitar shop where literally laughing at me when i showed it to them.

[David Houchens]

If it sounds anything like the windsor I just finished, when you're done you can stop by that shop and you'll have the laugh. Good luck.

[Mel O'Dantrix]

Thanks for the encouragement, they are usually good guys, but sometimes they can be a bit mean.
I love that parlor of yours, looks really sweet, looks "restored" mine will look shinier,
but i doubt it will have that great "antiquity" vibe to it.
BTW: I finally got the bridge off, i got quite a bit of the top on the bridge now,
but no new holes, should be a easy fix.
Already did a bit of sanding and scraping.
http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp26/Xaromir/parlor-2s.jpg

I just hope the inlays won't be to much over the top, but it will be a good exercise,
and i like them anyway.
http://www.luthiersupply.com/image_update/Weymann-FB-Sale.jpg
I will get those in white - gold was sold out.

Just some background info. :)

[Pierre-Antoine Roiron]

Good luck for the job. By the way, take the time to file cleanly your inlays (I order sometime from them), because usually they are a bit rough. Well cut but a bit rough.

[David Houchens]

I think its going to be a nice instrument. If you want it to keep an older look, you can get that fairly easy by french polishing but leaving it a little rough. A sound clip would be nice when your done. I really wanted to do one with the windsor but I didn't get to it in time. Shes only 3 hrs away so I may yet. Again, keep us up to date.

[Jeff Highland]

If you are going to make a new bridge anyhow you could just plane this one off till it becomes paper thin then scrape