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Got bridges removed from both of my newly built SS. Both had ends that had lifted slightly. Gag me with a spoon!
One (Sitka Spruce) came off pretty clean with a damp rag/wifes iron and an assortment of 3" long spring steel mechanics feeler gauges to work under the bridge. The other one (Cedar top) had some cedar that came up with the bridge. Now I have some tear out areas in the top.What should I use to fill those tear outs to level out the bridge area and prepare the area to reglue the bridges? If I attempt route out the bridge footprint to most of the tearout depth, I'm afraid it might end up too deep. I plan on using titebond to reglue.

When removing the bridges, it looked like I must have gone a bit skimpy on the glue in the first place to avoid too much squeeze out. I will apply to both surfaces a bit more heavily and deal with the extra cleanup next time.
Kent

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Wood Creations by Kent A. Bailey
EXCELLENCE IN SCULPTURE, CARVING, LUTHIER, ARCHITECTURAL MILLWORK AND DESIGN

http://www.kabart.com

Hey Kent;
Been there... You have my sympathy!
There's a quick & dirty way... Epoxy! When pressed, I've had a few repair guys admit to using epoxy when there's too much tear-out for a good bond with more traditional adhesives. Just clean up the splinters & let the epoxy fill the voids.
If you're going to sell the guitar, you should include a note saying that the bridge is epoxied on & may not come off with heat & moisture, should removal be required in the future.
It's not a big deal as long as the repair person knows. Rout off the old one & epoxy a new bridge in place.
You can also rout off the damaged material under the bridge & do an insert repair using hide or fish glue & a thin piece of cedar.
If you go that route, I would make a slightly oversized bridge, & glue it on with the same glue you used for the repair.
Nope... It ain't elegant, but it works.
I hope some of the more experienced repair folks jump in here. They probably have a trick or two up their sleeves.

Check frets.com

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

Depends on the amount of tear out. If it is really stuck to the bridge then you should be able to chisel off clean the top wood pieces off the bottom of the bridge and re-glue them to the top. If the tear out is minimal then don't worry about it. Given the amount of bridge re-glues I've done in my repair shop you'd be amazed how many crappy bridge glue jobs have lasted over the years so if you are looking at some minor tear out, say 10% over the whole surface, then don't worry about it. Thats my 2 cents after 15 years of doing repairs and never seeing one come back.