untune Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 Completely shielded and rewired my CIJ precision on Monday. Everything surprisingly worked, no more buzz, nice and clean and quiet. I replaced all the wires with cloth covered just to look nice and also swapped the bridge ground wire. I must have tinned the wire under the bridge a little too heavily... there was a groove in the finish where the old one sat and I tried to sit it in there. It was a bit thicker and hence when screwed down, the bridge didn't sit flush with the body. Thinking that it just needed a little bit of compression I tightened the middle screw in the bridge (which was the only one in) a bit *too* much and seemingly stripped the thread. Now it's spinning loose in the hole. Gutting, but hopefully not a massive issue. with the bridge plate between the body and the screw head I should be able to lift it out. Any tips on the most effective way to sort it? Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloodaxe Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 Cocktail/match stick & superglue. Poke stick in hole, flood in superglue, allow to dry, trim stick, screw it in. It's a time-honoured repair technique, countless basses have little bits of stick in them - usually in the bottom strap button hole as that's very prone to working loose. P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveFry Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 [url="http://www.stewmac.com/tsarchive/ts0113.html"]http://www.stewmac.c...ive/ts0113.html[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lettsguitars Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 (edited) We generally use wood glue as it wont adhere to the metal screw. Matchsticks are made for this type of thing. Matchsticks and glue and you can put the screw straight back without waiting for it to dry. Just screw it in, when the glue dries in an hour or so, you can then tighten it up a bit more. There was no need to tin the ground wire either, as long as it is in contact with the bridge, jobs a groovy one. Edited October 3, 2012 by lettsguitars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete1967 Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 [quote name='lettsguitars' timestamp='1349251997' post='1823747'] Matchsticks are made for this type of thing. Matchsticks and glue and you can put the screw straight back... [/quote] Bryant and May extra long matches seem to be made from a superior grade of timber, produce the best result and you get more fixes per match... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_Stu Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 I use half/half of those two remedies. Wood glue and cocktail sticks. Wood glue takes a while to dry if you dab too much in so just wipes off with a damp cloth, and cocktail sticks are made of harder wood than matches. Once had a strap stud rip completely out of a guitar, made such a mess that I ended up drilling it out and using a wooden BBQ skewer. Gibson make a cherry touch-up pen which hid the fix around the edges of the stud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
untune Posted October 3, 2012 Author Share Posted October 3, 2012 Thanks for the tips folks, think there are some cocktail sticks in the cupboard somewhere. Shouldn't have tinned the wire I realised, but I cut/tinned them all in one go and it was just force of habit! Trouble is, I didn't leave a great deal of slack as I grounded everything to the vol pot as opposed to the tone as it was wired previously, and that little bit of extra distance means I may have to open it up and redo the wire unless I can managed to 'un-tin' the bridge wire... Shouldn't be hard, got some braid somewhere, may be able to heat it up and flatten it out a bit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lettsguitars Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 You can ground everything to the cavity insulation which the earth should also connect to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
untune Posted October 3, 2012 Author Share Posted October 3, 2012 Well the screw head has broken off and left the remainder in the body. So I'm quite happy at the moment, as you might imagine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete1967 Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 Bummer.... Sounds like a job for a screw/thread extractor a steady hand and a lot of patience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
untune Posted October 3, 2012 Author Share Posted October 3, 2012 Indeed it does. None of which I have at the moment, typically. I thought things were going a bit too well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
untune Posted October 14, 2012 Author Share Posted October 14, 2012 (edited) If anyone is interested - we ended up sorting this today at last. First tried to cut through just the thread of the screw using a small piece of brass tube (taken from an old aerial) with filed teeth in one end. This just blunted the tube, wasn't enough strength in it. After that we decided to just take the plunge and drilled it out - 3mm bit, same size as the original screw hole, drill press, going very very slowly and carefully. Took a good 20 mins to half an hour but we got it all in the end. We were going to use wood glue and cocktail sticks but then found a slightly bigger piece of wood, ground it down so it made a snug fitting plug, and tapped it in with some glue. That's going to dry overnight and we're going to drill it tomorrow and mount the bridge as though nothing ever happened. Won't even be able to tell! Edited October 14, 2012 by untune Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iiipopes Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 On my P-style fanned fret bass, which I keep the bridge ashtray on just for looks, and after all the string changes over the first few years, the screw holes on the body gave out. So I drilled them out cleanly, installed sleeves, also known as anchors or barrel nuts, with internal machine threads, and replaced the two wood screws with small hex-head machine screws of a similar size to the original screws to fit the sleeves. They're small enough that no one can see them, but they will now last the lifetime of the bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete1967 Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 [quote name='untune' timestamp='1350254263' post='1836569'] If anyone is interested - we ended up sorting this today at last. First tried to cut through just the thread of the screw using a small piece of brass tube (taken from an old aerial) with filed teeth in one end. This just blunted the tube, wasn't enough strength in it. After that we decided to just take the plunge and drilled it out - 3mm bit, same size as the original screw hole, drill press, going very very slowly and carefully. Took a good 20 mins to half an hour but we got it all in the end. We were going to use wood glue and cocktail sticks but then found a slightly bigger piece of wood, ground it down so it made a snug fitting plug, and tapped it in with some glue. That's going to dry overnight and we're going to drill it tomorrow and mount the bridge as though nothing ever happened. Won't even be able to tell! [/quote] Sounds like a great job getting out of jail there.... It's a bit late now but I have 5m of 3mm basswood dowel. You'd have been welcome to a bit! P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
untune Posted October 15, 2012 Author Share Posted October 15, 2012 [quote name='iiipopes' timestamp='1350276167' post='1836636'] On my P-style fanned fret bass, which I keep the bridge ashtray on just for looks, and after all the string changes over the first few years, the screw holes on the body gave out. So I drilled them out cleanly, installed sleeves, also known as anchors or barrel nuts, with internal machine threads, and replaced the two wood screws with small hex-head machine screws of a similar size to the original screws to fit the sleeves. They're small enough that no one can see them, but they will now last the lifetime of the bass. [/quote] That's an interesting idea - reminds me somewhat of using threaded inserts in your neck to bolt it on more securely. There was always the option of cutting round the original hole, boring it out and fitting a dowel then re-drilling. But I didn't want to harm the original finish or damage/widen the screwhole which has stayed completely as it was before. Plus with the proximity of the holes to the edge of the bridge, there was always the chance that the fix would be visible. [quote name='Pete1967' timestamp='1350320767' post='1837274'] Sounds like a great job getting out of jail there.... It's a bit late now but I have 5m of 3mm basswood dowel. You'd have been welcome to a bit! P [/quote] Not to worry! i think it has done the job, thanks anyway Pete Bridge wire has also been chopped and remade and I'm using a new set of screws from an unopened Fender Vintage bridge. This time - candlewax for lubrication! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
untune Posted October 15, 2012 Author Share Posted October 15, 2012 Basschat top tip #1248 An old birthday candle found lurking at the bottom of a kitchen drawer makes an ideal lubrication aid to prevent screwing-related bass accidents Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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