strap screw broke off in my bass!

[thehamsterman]

Hey TB'ers. I've got an electra phoenix bass in white, but i have a problem.

I was removing the strap button screws to replace them with strap locks. The bridge side came out fine, and the new screw went in great.

The front horn screw however snapped off under my own hand pressure. Now i've got the head of the screw and the strap button off, but the rest of the screw is buried in the wood, a little bit under the surface of the bass (so there is nothing to grab on to of the screw)

Any advice on how to get this out without ruining the rest of the bass?

Thanks!

[sedgwick1489]

you could try an "easy-out" (Google it). Basically you will drill a shallow hole in the top of the broken out screw and tap the easy-out into the hole lightly with a hammer. The easy-out will put a back bite on hole and you should be able to turn the easy-out to back out the screw.

Good luck!

[Lutuh]

There have been threads about this, have you already tried a search?

[Floyd Eye]

Take a tiny drill bit and drill around the broken screw until you can grab it and pull it out with a pair of needle nose pliers. After you remove the screw, drill a 1/4" hole, dry fit a wooden dowel, mark and cut off the excess and glue it in. Then you can drill a new hole for the new strap button. The button should cover the repair so there is no need for refinishing.

[thehamsterman]

My tax rebate just came back from state taxes, i'm just taking it to a pro shop -_- don't want to mess with accidentally messing up the finish or anything

thanks!

[syciprider]

Originally Posted by Lutuh

There have been threads about this, have you already tried a search?

If you were concerned about saving bandwidth, you could've just NOT posted.

[Bassamatic]

If it broke that easily, it was probably already cracked. You should consider yourself lucky it didn't break off during a performance.