Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

having removed/replaced the tailpiece, bridge pup surround, etc. many times recently trying to fix a wiring issue, a couple screws are 'loosening' their grip when re-installed.

any suggestions of how to remedy this? wood glue or filler in the screw hole?

(yes - i'm aware of the potential innuendos in the thread)

Try putting a couple of drops of Elmer's glue into the hole and a small piece of toothpick ... then screw in the screw ...

having a screw loose is not so bad just don't loose you marbles ...

The tooth pick trick is a good one. Go with that. I have lots of maple scrap around so I like to nip off maple splinters with my front cutters and stuff them in the oversized hole with a little wood glue. Then twist the screw in and go.

I used the toothpick trick fixing the many stripped screwholes on my baby grand piano along the hindge on the cover...

I'd agree with Jeff that some wood glue might be a good idea - a few of the holes there was not enough meat after the toothpick and the screw still spins. But since there are 50 of them I'm not worried much about 2 or 3 in that condition.

On a guitar there are far less screws, and each play a more enhanced role.

Toothpicks are made of soft birch...endgrain has the least resistance to pull-out...

I use sharpened maple dowel rod. I taper the dowel on a disc sander, nip it about 1" long before inserting into the oversized hole with a drop of gap-filling super glue, and pound it in with a small hammer a few strokes, before the glue takes hold.

Then cut off with side cutters, close to the surface, trim with a sharp chisel, re-drill the hole undersized, and re-insert the screw.

I hope there is no one out there that disbelieves Paul W.

Anything short of what he described is a half measure. They work for a while but................

I came to know this through hours of watching Norm (You know, that Yankee dude), and the Furniture Guys, and.........

Aaahhh...The Furniture Guys....good times!
Those guys were hilarious! I wish they were still on somewhere.

great - thanks.

Dowels work nicely on larger screw holes (#6 and up)

Here's one thing I learned from the Furniture Guys: Use a golf tee to tighten up a door hinge screw hole. You pound it in and cut it off. It wedges nicely with the taper!

Ahhh....... Norm Abram and the New Yankee Workshop. It used to be my favourite Saturday morning show on satellite TV until they took it off for some reason.

I would just about kill for his workshop..... and some of his ability!!

It was always one of my favs!

He is truly a master craftsman! Of course, I can think of a few guys on this forum that meet this criteria as luthiers!