Help: replacing strap pins

phlemmy · Post by **phlemmy** » Sat Jun 09, 2007 5:32 am

So I went to take out the original strap buttons on the bass I picked up from Pick of the Ricks to put Dunlops on and noticed that someone had drilled out the hole previously and stuck the strap pin back in with a coating of teflon tape. So now the hole is far too big for the Dunlop screw.

Suggestions? I really REALLY want to have that straplock system on there to match my others.

Why are people so stupid sometimes?

Thanks for any suggestions.

charlyg · Post by **charlyg** » Sat Jun 09, 2007 5:35 am

some people are stupid all of the time! The real experts will be along, but I would find a small dowel-ish looking piece of maple and fix it the way I do a hinge screw hole that has gotten too big.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Sat Jun 09, 2007 6:48 am

most of us are stupid when it comes to certain topics ...

The Rickenbacker straplok is a modified Schaller strap lock ... instead of a wood screw it has a machine screw ... you have a few choices ... get a set of scaller straplocks and find a larger wood screw to hold it in, or fill the hole with toothpicks and wood glue, or drill out the hole and glue in a wood dowel which you drill out for the correct Rickenbacker part ...

I would use the dunlap straploks ...

rickfan60 · Post by **rickfan60** » Sat Jun 09, 2007 7:01 am

Dowel the hole and re-drill. That is the easiest way. I added Dunlops once by drilling out the bottom of the Dunlop buttons large enough to accept a machine screw (one that matches the RIC strap button). No mods to the wood were necessary. The screw heads had to be ground down a bit to fit inside the Dunlop button. The only difficult part is the drilling of the Dunlop button. The metal is pretty hard.

phlemmy · Post by **phlemmy** » Sat Jun 09, 2007 11:35 am

I took it to Bass Emporium. They did a good job on my other oen that had a similar issue.

Thanks guys.

baltimucho · Post by **baltimucho** » Sat Jun 09, 2007 3:10 pm

I used the Dunlop strap-locks, and went to Home Depot and bought machine screws that were the same length and thread size as the RIC strap pins then used a belt sander to grind down the size of the screw head to fit inside the strap-lock receiver... It was masterful.

bails · Post by **bails** » Sat Jun 09, 2007 6:03 pm

I've always just used match sticks and wood glue to fill holes for screws, replacing the screw when the glue is still wet...
Dowel is much more work. It requires a clean, usually freshly drilled hole for the dowel to fit snuggly. You then need to wait until the glue is dry , and then after all that work, most of the dowel gets drilled away when you re-sink the hole.