ok, i was adjusting the bridge on my epiphone and the screws which held the bridge to the body just come clean out. there's a gaping hole where the thing used to be and all i can see is the wood. when i put it back in and tighten a string it just pops back out. do i need a specialist>??? please help i'v got a gig tomorrow!
Get a razor knife, plain yellow wood glue, and some hardwood, preferrably the same variety as your bass. Flake tiny sections of wood off, dip them in glue, and shove them in the screw hole. No really, shove more wood in there than you think can fit. Wipe excess glue off with warm water, and carefully trim any wood sticking out of the hole. Don't allow the glue to dry, just screw the part down in the existing holes, and walk away for a day. You now have new screw holes, which shouldn't pop out if this was done right. If someone has come up with a better way to do this, I haven't heard of it (although I'd certainly love to!)
That's what I'd do, except I use toothpicks when available. Make sure you pay attention especially to what he said about waiting for the glue to dry before trying to use it, and also getting as much wood into the holes as possible.
Cool, i will try that. but i surely dont just fill the hole all the way to the top with glue and wood? about halfway?
Yeah, fill it all the way and put the screws in immediately, then let it dry. Having the holes already full will assure that it's a tight fit and will have very little chance of ever going bad again.
IMO the old match stick trick is quickest an easiest, similar to other suggestions just glue a match stick or two into the hole(strong wood glue or super glue), trim of the head and any stick still protruding from the body once dry and then just screw the brige back on and the screw will bite into the match stick. prob solved
And don't tighten the screws so hard! Assuming that's what happened the first time. Go for snug & firm, don't try to compress the bridge to the bass.
The problem is, it's not a screw as such, its just a piece of metal which the screw screws into. it's not supposed to come out!
I think that's different from what I'm thinking. Like a t-nut or something? Still, you don't want to crank any screws.
Moo - Carlos has an Epiphone EB-0 ( http://www.elderly.com/new_instruments/items/images/55N/EEB0-BK_body-front.jpg ) The bridge is mounted on three fairly large bolts which allow height adjustment, with the string tension holding the bridge against them (and if the geometry isn't quite right, the bridge can pivot on the front bolt causing tuning and intonation problems, but that's another story). The bolts go into threaded inserts, and it sounds like the threaded inserts have come loose from the body. Carlos, you can probably get by with filling the hole as best you can, or doing the toothpick trick, but you're probably best to get a luthier to look at it and do a proper repair.
An insert that came out changes everything but you may want to remember the stripped threads in wood repair for future reference. Putting the insert back in properly is something that even those of us who would feel comfortable doing such a repair would feel more confident in giving an appropriate reply if we could see a picture. See if you can get a good close-up with the part that needs to be reinstalled included in the photo.
