Stripped the wood on a pickup mounting!!

elpelotero · #1 12-18-2007, 08:07 PM

Hey everyone,

I installed new pickups about a month ago on my Warwick. When setting the heights, I stripped one of the screws and had to pull it out with pliers. The pickups brought their own set of screws, so I figured I'd try them out. I put them in, but they seemed a little too tight for the brass casings that hold the screws into the wood. As a result, the wood got stripped on two of the casings.

I played for a month with only two screws set diagonally from each other holding the pickup down. However, the force of the springs seemed to be too much and it pushed one of the casings right out of its socket.

I now have only one casing available to hold one screw down for the whole pickup...it doesn't work

Can anyone PLEASE give me some advice on what to do? I was thinking of putting wood putty or wood cement of some sorts to fill in the wholes and retap the casings. I would have to order new screws from Warwick and oil them before screwing them in. If anyone has any other suggestions, please help! If I can't fix this in time, I'm going to have to use someone else's bass, which I'm not looking forward to.

GlennW · #2 12-18-2007, 08:42 PM

Is there a chance the new screws have wood threads and the old screws have machine threads?

elpelotero · #3 12-19-2007, 12:15 AM

all the screws look like those black ones in the picture. I should've pointed that out.

WashburnBass · #4 12-19-2007, 03:57 AM

i would suggest and this is only a suggestion but if you can get the screws to fit into the castings then get some good quality wood working glue and glue them into place, then simply screw the pups back in. i doubt it would hurt the wood at all as thats what they usually do with those sorts of things.

Chasarms · #5 12-20-2007, 08:15 AM

The two options I would consider (in order of preference) would be:

1. Go to a hardware store, guitar store or the like and buy a set of screws that match the threads on the brass inserts. Reset the inserts with epoxy or Gorilla glue and then re-install the pickups.

2. Buy coarse threaded wood screws, fill in the holes from the inserts with two-part epoxy, and after drying, drill small pilot holes and re-install the pickups.

dman_113 · #6 12-20-2007, 12:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chasarms

The two options I would consider (in order of preference) would be:

1. Go to a hardware store, guitar store or the like and buy a set of screws that match the threads on the brass inserts. Reset the inserts with epoxy or Gorilla glue and then re-install the pickups.

I would go with this one myself, I would just recommend you use epoxy as gorilla glue foams up when it sets and its a pain to clean up from my experience.

Pilgrim · #7 12-20-2007, 01:21 PM

I agree with the suggestion above, including the caveat that Gorilla glue expands and might push the the inserts out a bit, which would be bad. However, I would only glue in new threaded inserts with threads in pristine condition...because this is a one-time deal. if you have a bad insert, replacing it after gluing it in will be MUCH more work.

I'd order replacement inserts and screws for any of the originals that aren't absolutely perfect, and let the bass sit until I could install them. It won't hurt you to play a different bass for one evening. I have 8 and trade play a different one every time I practice or gig.

elpelotero · #8 12-20-2007, 04:10 PM

I put in some 2part epoxy gel this morning into the one thread that was 100% working. I'm going to install the screw in about an hour or two. The other two housings are messed up inside and do not accept screws. Hopefully I can make it through the show with two screws holding it down. I've done it before, but the real question is will the epoxy hold long enough...

Warwick is already sending me replacement pieces so I can do this more cleanly and professionally when I have time.

Pbassred · #9 12-21-2007, 04:30 AM

Most contries other than USA use metric threads.
Warwick is German and hence a metric thread. I reckon M3. (i.e. 3mm diameter thread), or maybe M2.5 . Your pickups are American? Most likely a UNF thread.
Epoxy is the best candidate for putting them back in, but first;
Make sure that you have screws that fit.
Make sure that you didn't damage the threads. In which case you will need to retap them or buy new parts.
Make sure you screw an OILED screw into each to use for alignment.
Make sure you rough up and degrease them before you glue them to make a good bond.
Leave it for 24 hours - don't "test" it to see if it cured. Just leave it.

P.S. I was writeing my reply while you were typing yours. Good luck.