HELP- Strap Button Broke/ Screw broke off inside

wearethunders · #1 12-06-2007, 08:15 PM

I am in dire need of some help. I play a mexican fender jazz bass and recently the bottom strap button broke. This happened before to the other button and I was able to repair it without a problem but the actual screw broke off inside and I cant get it out. I have been using the same DiMarzio ClipLock Strap for over 7 years. Any recommendations? Is it possible to drill a new hole? Any help would be much appreciated.
-Andy
wearethunders@gmail.com

ToneRanger · #2 12-09-2007, 06:35 PM

If you can drill a hole very close to the broken screw, the new starp button should cover it. If not, most strap buttons come with a felt pad - just enlarge one of these until the broken screw is hidden.

Of course you could try to remove the broken screw, but since it's not a 'vintage collectible' bass, I'd just keep it simple.

treebranch13 · #3 12-09-2007, 07:21 PM

use a small metal drill bit to drill the screw and use that hole to remove the screw. then fix it normally.

Nitto · #4 12-09-2007, 09:42 PM

Give it to a pro to fix man, i own a mexican jazz too, never encountered that problem myself but i know that proper screw extraction (I had to learn it at mechanic school) usually involves something like this:

a hole is drilled in the middle of the screw and a tap is used to make a thread in the hole, then a special left hand thread screw extractor is used to wind the screw out, then if you're lucky and the wood isn't damaged you won't have to re-drill the hole... better left to someone with the equipment to do it.

Hope this helps

Stuggi · #5 12-11-2007, 12:07 PM

The above method only works well on larger bolts, so it might be a tad troublesome to get it out that way. I would suggest a pair of metallic tweezers or pair of pliers (leatherman works quite well) and try to manually unscrew it, if the end is near the surface. An other option if it's broken of inside about an inch in from the top is to jam a wood dowel in there with glue, plugging the hole above, and drilling a new hole with a metal drill bit right next to the old hole so the strap button covers it.