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That exact same thing happened to an Ibanez BTB that I owned. I didn't have a fancy screw extractor, (nor did I know of their existence) so I took a small drill bit and drilled all around the broken screw, then took a utility knife and cut away at the wood until I could grab the screw with some pliers.
After that, I bored the hole out with a bigger drill bit, then filled in the hole with lots of toothpicks and snapped them off flush.
Next, I used to wood glue to secure them and it was good to re-drill the next day. Worked perfectly! This was also a single mono rail bridge route, so not a lot of room to work with. Good luck to you!
After that, I bored the hole out with a bigger drill bit, then filled in the hole with lots of toothpicks and snapped them off flush.
Next, I used to wood glue to secure them and it was good to re-drill the next day. Worked perfectly! This was also a single mono rail bridge route, so not a lot of room to work with. Good luck to you!
As a veteran pro, I've had to repair many broken-off screws in basses. Bridge screws, pickguard screws, neck screws, and the teeny tuner screws. I've tried the standard Screw Extractors; where you drill the hole in the stub and try to turn in the Extractor. Those work fine for that broken exhaust manifold bolt in your old Ford. But I've never been able to get one to work extracting a wood screw from a Fender. If someone has actually done it successfully, please let us know how!
I've always ended up using the Core Drill method, as many of you have described above. I started out making the core drills from pieces of steel tubing, and filing the little saw teeth on the end. They worked pretty well and got the job done. Then I'd plug the hole with a wood dowel and re-drill it. Making sure the pilot hole was the right size this time....
But I have a machine shop, so after the first few times with the tubing drills, I machined up a few custom core drills, specifically for extracting broken wood screws. Same general idea as the tube with the saw teeth, but a better design.
Here's the one I made for removing broken pickguard screws. The hole in the end is sized to slip right over the shank of a #3 wood screw. But the inside is hollow, to a larger diameter than the screw. It will pilot on the stub of the screw, and cut away all the wood around it. Then the stub will pop free, and be rolling around loose inside the core drill. This small one has only two teeth, filed sharp with good relief angles. The OD cuts slightly over 1/4", so a 1/4" dowel will slide in the cleared hole.
That's how we pros do this repair. If you don't happen to have a metal lathe available, you can do the tube with the teeth on the end. I've done it and it works.
I've always ended up using the Core Drill method, as many of you have described above. I started out making the core drills from pieces of steel tubing, and filing the little saw teeth on the end. They worked pretty well and got the job done. Then I'd plug the hole with a wood dowel and re-drill it. Making sure the pilot hole was the right size this time....
But I have a machine shop, so after the first few times with the tubing drills, I machined up a few custom core drills, specifically for extracting broken wood screws. Same general idea as the tube with the saw teeth, but a better design.
Here's the one I made for removing broken pickguard screws. The hole in the end is sized to slip right over the shank of a #3 wood screw. But the inside is hollow, to a larger diameter than the screw. It will pilot on the stub of the screw, and cut away all the wood around it. Then the stub will pop free, and be rolling around loose inside the core drill. This small one has only two teeth, filed sharp with good relief angles. The OD cuts slightly over 1/4", so a 1/4" dowel will slide in the cleared hole.
That's how we pros do this repair. If you don't happen to have a metal lathe available, you can do the tube with the teeth on the end. I've done it and it works.
I did the same a few times but filled the hole with a large hardwood dowel pin and clear epoxy glue. Works perfectly every time and quite often more robust than the original hole.
A Yamaha Pulser is a HELL of a bass so well worth the effort IMO. The one I tried a few years ago did put to shame many USA Fender precision basses !
Use the good screws and then find a short, fatter one with the the same looking head for the bad hole.
Thanks for all the suggestions 
I will try to find the tube for core drilling in an hardware shop, since I can’t find nothing online (in Italy). I don’t have the hardware neither the skills to build one on my own…
Or, I’ll go for the more “handmade” solutions…or I’ll surrender and take it to a luthier
I will try to find the tube for core drilling in an hardware shop, since I can’t find nothing online (in Italy). I don’t have the hardware neither the skills to build one on my own…
Or, I’ll go for the more “handmade” solutions…or I’ll surrender and take it to a luthier
@scuzzy has the fix. leave it alone. The bridge aint not gonna fly off the bass with 4 out of 5 screws holding it. If you're really
concerned or if the bridge seems "loose" with only 4 screws . . . then just drill another hole near the broken screw location, and
add the 5th screw back. But I would just leave the thing alone. You should be playing that bass, not working on it. Don't overthink
it or over-work it. One other note ; I modded a Glarry bass years ago. The body wood was soft like styrofoam. The screws of pick guard
and bridge were all stripped and could not be tightened. What to do? I went from #6 sized screws to #10 (I think that's what size I used).
They added enough diameter that the screws could be torqued-down without spinning in the wood. The have bigger head size, better
connection to screwdrivers. No problems with this bass now! If you used fatter replacement screws on your existing bridge, you probably
can forget about the broken screw without any concern or loss of sleep.
concerned or if the bridge seems "loose" with only 4 screws . . . then just drill another hole near the broken screw location, and
add the 5th screw back. But I would just leave the thing alone. You should be playing that bass, not working on it. Don't overthink
it or over-work it. One other note ; I modded a Glarry bass years ago. The body wood was soft like styrofoam. The screws of pick guard
and bridge were all stripped and could not be tightened. What to do? I went from #6 sized screws to #10 (I think that's what size I used).
They added enough diameter that the screws could be torqued-down without spinning in the wood. The have bigger head size, better
connection to screwdrivers. No problems with this bass now! If you used fatter replacement screws on your existing bridge, you probably
can forget about the broken screw without any concern or loss of sleep.
You may find an appropriate brass tube in the plumbing section of your hardware store. You can also try to find a piece of steel brake line from an auto parts store. You can cut the teeth with a hacksaw or a file. This is a one-time-use tool so it doesn’t need to be perfect. It’s not as difficult as you think.Thanks for all the suggestions
I will try to find the tube for core drilling in an hardware shop, since I can’t find nothing online (in Italy). I don’t have the hardware neither the skills to build one on my own…
Or, I’ll go for the more “handmade” solutions…or I’ll surrender and take it to a luthier
Lo-Es suggestion about brake line is a good one.Thanks for all the suggestions
I will try to find the tube for core drilling in an hardware shop, since I can’t find nothing online (in Italy). I don’t have the hardware neither the skills to build one on my own…
Or, I’ll go for the more “handmade” solutions…or I’ll surrender and take it to a luthier
You can also look for metal drinking straws. Just be aware that they are often stainless steel, so they may be a bit harder to file.
The teeth doesn't have to be super fancy. it may be enough to file each half of the pipe at an angle. That will create two teeth as seen in Bruce Johnsons example. You don't need the large teeth that you see on the commercial variant. Just be aware that smaller teeth will fill up quicker with sawdust so you need to stop often to blow out the chips. For one hole it should be just fine.
