I would start with a Stewmac 9" soundhole clamp for the center of the bridge and a pair of Stewmac guitar repair magnets on the wings.

Another option might be to use a Stewmac scissor jack on the inside to support the top, then add a weight the bridge to squeeze it down to the top. The downside to this solution is that at ~$100 the scissor jack is pretty pricey.

Hi Mark,

Here's a couple of pics of the 7" clamp in my Elite. I had to remove the lower screw and snake it through the hole in the treble bout sideways. Then, once the clamp is in the hole I'd re-install the lower screw to provide the necessary stand-off to clear the braces on the inside.

If I were to attempt to use the 9" clamp through the largest hole in the bass bout, I would have to remove the preamp.

The second photo doesn't show it, but the clamp is slightly off from the center of the bridge. It would work okay for clamping the bridge while the glue dried. The 9" clamp through the big hole in the bass bout would work better.

I tried the 5" clamp, but it's too short to reach the wing and the 7" are too long. So, your best bet would be to use the 9" clamp on the center and the magnetic clamps on the wings.

I should add that the magnets might not work due to the thickness of the top and the bridge wings.

I don't have any on hand so I couldn't test them.

An alternative might be to use the 9" clamp in the center of the Stewmac Bridge Clamping Caul.

You'll also need a caul on the inside. When I glued the bridge on the 1717 I just finished I used a flat piece of plywood on top of the fan braces. This works okay because you only want to use enough force to keep the bridge in place. Too much clamping force will squeeze all the glue out resulting in a starved joint.