Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I probably also was not using a high quality drill bit when I was trying it.

Gary's strap bolts are perfect!

Unfortunately the thread of one of my bass' holes broke when I unscrewed the original strap bolt. Maybe the wood was a bit too old and dry, the thread came out together with the screw as saw dust.

I'll have to fill the hole and tap it again. Can anybody give a recommendation how to properly do this?

Sebastian, if the hole is just a loose fit and not stripped out, with a dropper, you can add a 2 or 3 of drops of water, Then screw in the bolt. The water will make the wood inside expand and hold the bolt. That's a trick John Hall told us about.

Here's how I fixed the same problem on my Model 460:

1. Using a rasp and a scrap piece of maple or pine (I used pine, as it was handy), make a small amount of sawdust. It doesn't have to be extremely fine, but not too coarse, either.

2. Take a small amount of the sawdust, add a little bit of carpenter's wood glue to it, and mix them together to form a paste. The consistency should be similar to that of toothpaste.

3. Add more glue and/or sawdust as needed to make about 1-2 mL of paste.

4. Using a small knife, wood splint, etc., put some of the paste into the hole needing repairing. I can't remember how much I added, but it was maybe 0.5 mL. I tried to make sure that the material went deep into the hole.

5. Using the knife, slather some of the paste onto the threads of the bolt and put the bolt into the hole.

6. If the bolt doesn't fit as far in as it can go, there is too much paste in the hole, so remove the bolt and remove some of the paste from it. Reinsert the bolt, making sure it goes in as far as possible.

7. Wipe excess paste from the area of the hole with a clean damp cloth (repeatedly if needed - you don't want to leave any glue on the finish around the hole, obviously).

8. The bolt should feel secure in the hole at this point (that is, after putting it in, it seems to fit snugly). If it seems loose, there probably isn't enough paste in the hole to fill the existing gaps; remove the bolt and add more paste.

9. Allow the paste to set up and dry at least 24 hours (I let mine go 72 hours just to be sure!) before checking that the bolt is now secure (a gentle tug on it will show that it is 'stuck' in there).

I can expand on this if necessary.

@Joey: The water trick is nice indeed. But it won't help in my case I think, the hole is just too wide. The screw slides in and out easily without any actual screwing.

@Gary: I'll try that, sounds fairly easy to do. I should have saved the original Rickenbacker saw dust that came out when I unscrewed the original strap bolt :)

cran wrote:... I should have saved the original Rickenbacker saw dust that came out when I unscrewed the original strap bolt