stripped out phillips bridge screws

[miner49er11]

Friend just realized that his luthier never ran a ground wire to the bridge on his high dollar boutique bass. He also stripped the bridges six phillips screw heads sometime in the past. what's the best way to get the screws out? Do they make easy-outs this small for bridge screws?

[mongo2]

Stripping one screw wasn't enough, he had to strip all 6? What made him think that was a good idea?

I wouldn't let him near the bass with an easy-out since he's demonstrated so much ineptitude. Tell your friend to take it to a real pro.

[Kitsapbass]

I know the local hardware store has ez outs for bridge size screws...maybe Lowe's/Home Depot?

[cliffbass1]

tisk tisk he must have used a drill i found this
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...5x000001&aff=Y
or you could us a drill to drill out the heads the use a pliers too unscrew whats left. hope this help :

[Pilgrim]

Originally Posted by mongo2

Stripping one screw wasn't enough, he had to strip all 6? What made him think that was a good idea?

I wouldn't let him near the bass with an easy-out since he's demonstrated so much ineptitude. Tell your friend to take it to a real pro.

I agree. I try to be polite, but it takes a real ham-fisted type to bugger up all six screws and not wise up during the process. Be kind to him and get it out of his hands and to a pro before he tries to fix it. Turning him loose with a drill or other tools would probably result in permanent damage to the instrument.

And give him some coaching on how to match a screwdriver to a screw and give him some practice on a device you can throw away afterwards.