Installing new bridge over old holes

[Tim Benware]

I had to do something similar once as well. Put tape along underside of bridge, filled holes with epoxy, then levelled. No problems with redrilling.

That works very well too as long as there is no damage around the old holes that would allow the ball end to roll and dig into the old hole.

[Ken Hundley]

Any of the damage that was there got filled in by the epoxy....the tape just prevented it from dripping into the guitar, and held it tight to the bottom of the guitar. You could probably do even better putting some wood flour in the epoxy, but I wanted it to ooze into those grooves and any tear-out that occurred during the original drilling.