I need quick advice please!

[Sigma.xiria]

My friend purchased a used Bass yesterday. It is in great condition and plays awesome.

the dude he got it from was an idiot who was completely high... and I am pretty sure was completely stoned out of his mind when he figured this was a good ideal...

So my friend wanted to install strap locks and we were unscrewing the screws for the original strap pins when suddenly the head broke off. I was pretty shocked and I looked inside the hole (the rest of the screw is in there but not too deep) and it looked like the screw was glued in. So, my buddy texts the dude and he replies, "I glued them so the strap wouldn't pull off on stage." Yeah, something like that could make sense, but this is why I think he was completely baked when he did this, he wasn't using strap locks... just a regular strap. So, we ask him, "Did the screws ever pull out?" he replies, "No. I just figure the glue would make it sturdy and the strap would slip off less."

WHAT THE HELL? Does that make any sense? I could see it making sense if you were using strap locks and you would be afraid the screws would pull out, but thats still pretty unlikely... at least, it never happened to me. *Please note that I adjusted his spelling and grammar* haha.

So, my question, what can we do to get the rest of these glued in screw pieces out? normally, I would say just move the new screw over a little, but this bass is an ESP LTD forest 255 and the upper horn part for the top strap pin is a little thin....

[toneseeker]

Re: I need quick advice please!

Not too sure about the broken screw, but the other ones, you should be able to heat them up with a soldering iron and the glue should release so you can get them out without breaking.

[Sigma.xiria]

Re: I need quick advice please!

Not too sure about the broken screw, but the other ones, you should be able to heat them up with a soldering iron and the glue should release so you can get them out without breaking.

haha. I should have specified, both heads broke off. He was unscrewing the top one and I taking care off the bottom... no homo... we were double teaming that **** haha... (had to get some of the jokes out of the way)

That, was stupid on our part.

[SabbathFan0220]

Re: I need quick advice please!

Wow, what an idiot (the original owner, not you). The soldering iron idea is great for the other glued screws. For the already broken one, you might need a screw extractor. How deep is the screw? Is the shaft broken right at the surface or deep in the wood? A pic would be really helpful if you have the bass handy.

[toneseeker]

Re: I need quick advice please!

Ah. Hmmmm......
I have no idea. You could move the screw holes over and use new screws with no glue! Or, on the upper horn, put the strap button on the back.

[Snoogles]

Re: I need quick advice please!

you broke the screw heads off? you didn't strip the screw slots?

[Sigma.xiria]

Re: I need quick advice please!

you broke the screw heads off? you didn't strip the screw slots?

Nope. Just a quick twist and the heads snapped off.

[Sigma.xiria]

Re: I need quick advice please!

Wow, what an idiot (the original owner, not you). The soldering iron idea is great for the other glued screws. For the already broken one, you might need a screw extractor. How deep is the screw? Is the shaft broken right at the surface or deep in the wood? A pic would be really helpful if you have the bass handy.

it broke off in the wood, but its not horribly deep. I will see if he can send me a picture

pretty dumb of the original owner, huh?

by the way, I enjoy your profile picture thing. ATHF is awesome!

[JOLLY]

Re: I need quick advice please!

I've had that happen before. Just screw it in right above or below where the old one was. It will be covered up and you'll never be able to see the old hole with the broken off screw.

[Left_Hand_Strat]

Re: I need quick advice please!

other thing I would say is measure the hole diameter, get the right drill bit and try drilling it out. risky but might work.

After that fill the holes with wood glue, let it harden off for a few days then drill new pilot holes for the straplocks for whatever size the screw is.

If people say this idea is stupid then don't do it, lol

[SabbathFan0220]

Re: I need quick advice please!

You really have three choices:
1. Drill a new hole next to the original one (the strap pin will probably hide the original hole).
2. Extract the broken screw and use the same hole.
3. Drill out the broken screw with a drill bit slightly larger than the screw hole. You'll also remove a small amount of wood in the process, making the hole too large to use. At this point, glue a small dowel (or bunch of toothpicks) in the hole and redrill.

I would go for option 2 personally, but option 3 is a last resort if you can't get the screw out. I don't like option 1 because I feel like it makes a new problem to fix an existing one.