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12-26-2010, 06:04 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Dayton, Ohio | | | Broken strap button screw
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I was attempting to install strap locks on my bass and the screw snapped off almost flush with the body. Does anyone have any suggestions for extracting it without digging it out?
The body is made of Ovangkol. Thats what I get for buying budget knockoff strap locks.
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12-26-2010, 06:10 PM
|  | Sick and tired of being sick and tired. | | Join Date: May 2005 Location: Belfair, WA | | | How big is the screw? I know with larger screws you can get a bit which will bore into a screw and then you can back it out. Other than that, you may just have to drill it out. |
12-26-2010, 06:16 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Dayton, Ohio | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Kitsapbass  How big is the screw? I know with larger screws you can get a bit which will bore into a screw and then you can back it out. Other than that, you may just have to drill it out. | It's pretty small. I've had a string of bad luck with this bass. I might have to downgrade it's status to "back up bass". I thinking of taking just enough wood around it to grab with some needle nose pliers and putting a washer in to to bring it back to level. Or I can just sit all the time. Love the feeling of sitting on a bass amp.
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12-26-2010, 06:19 PM
| | Sick and tired of being sick and tired. | | Join Date: May 2005 Location: Belfair, WA | | Quote:
Originally Posted by davec629 It's pretty small. I've had a string of bad luck with this bass. I might have to downgrade it's status to "back up bass". I thinking of taking just enough wood around it to grab with some needle nose pliers and putting a washer in to to bring it back to level. Or I can just sit all the time. Love the feeling of sitting on a bass amp. | Ouch man. You could also get the countersinked version of the Dunlop Straplock. That way, you still have straplocks, and you don't really have to worry about using a washer... |
12-26-2010, 06:23 PM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Columbia, SC | | | if it was me, i'd leave it, and install the strap lock about 3/4 of an inch up from where the screw broke off. no one would see it unless you pointed it out to them, and it shouldn't affect the way the bass hangs too much.
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Originally Posted by wabbit I would have listened to the first couple of bars and then headed straight for the nearest one.  | |
12-26-2010, 06:28 PM
| | | | the "right" way is to get a little brass tubing from the hobby shop or hardware store that's just bigger around than the threads of the screw in question.
cut yourself a 2" length of it, then file little teeth into one end with a needle file.
chuck this piece into your drill, set the drill to reverse ("unscrew") and proceed to carefully drill around the busted screw with it.
chances are, the tube will grab the screw shaft and back it out before it drills all the way down around it.
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Walter Wright
Guitar Repair Gnome
Alpha Music, VA Beach
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12-26-2010, 10:22 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Dayton, Ohio | | | Thanks for the replys. I'm off to the hardware store and will give it a try.
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“Where words fail, music speaks.”
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12-26-2010, 10:36 PM
|  | Mr. Pompous A$$ | | Join Date: Apr 2000 Location: Los Angeles area | | | I had this happen - I bought some bits (hollow bits?) that cut around the screw then just filled it with a dowel - I was refinishing the body anyway - it turned out fine. Same thing happened with a bridge screw on my '77 P-bass... same surgery - same great results. |
12-27-2010, 03:08 AM
| | | Quote:
Originally Posted by davec629 I was attempting to install strap locks on my bass and the screw snapped off almost flush with the body. Does anyone have any suggestions for extracting it without digging it out?
The body is made of Ovangkol. Thats what I get for buying budget knockoff strap locks. | Just how flush is "almost" flush? A last ditch effort can be made if there is enough of the broken screw sticking out that you can grab it with diagonal cutters. Grab the end with just enough pressure to dig into the screw body and then attempt to turn it to back it out. If you don't apply enough pressure the jaws will slip around the screw. If you apply too much you end up snipping the end off level with the body (and then you have to drill it out). The hardest part is the first couple of turns. After that it sticks out more and you can just use pliars or the like to remove it the rest of the way.
Like I said, this is last ditch! If you it fails, well, you had to drill it out anyway.
Another option is to cut/grind the screw off flush and install a second screw (pilot hole!) right next to the old one. Hopefully the bottom of the button would cover the old screw.
Good luck. |
12-27-2010, 08:25 AM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Virginia Beach, VA | | Quote:
Originally Posted by walterw the "right" way is to get a little brass tubing from the hobby shop or hardware store that's just bigger around than the threads of the screw in question.
cut yourself a 2" length of it, then file little teeth into one end with a needle file.
chuck this piece into your drill, set the drill to reverse ("unscrew") and proceed to carefully drill around the busted screw with it.
chances are, the tube will grab the screw shaft and back it out before it drills all the way down around it. | This is just so flippin' cool...but I hope I never have to go that route!
I've had only limited success with the conventional screw extractors, expecially when addressing #6 screws (stock Dunlop mounting hardware).
Riis
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12-27-2010, 12:53 PM
| | Sick and tired of being sick and tired. | | Join Date: May 2005 Location: Belfair, WA | | Quote:
Originally Posted by walterw the "right" way is to get a little brass tubing from the hobby shop or hardware store that's just bigger around than the threads of the screw in question.
cut yourself a 2" length of it, then file little teeth into one end with a needle file.
chuck this piece into your drill, set the drill to reverse ("unscrew") and proceed to carefully drill around the busted screw with it.
chances are, the tube will grab the screw shaft and back it out before it drills all the way down around it. | Wow - thanks for the info Walter! Good to know!!! | | Thread Tools | Search this Thread | | | | 
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