Refinishing a Strat, do the stud anchors have to be pulled out?

E

erikm5150

New member
So I'm refinishing my 96 American standard Strat, which has the 2-point tremolo...
the existing poly finish is gonna get stripped using a heat gun.

do i need to pull out the 2 stud anchors/inserts/bushings for the bridge?
i'm not sure if that's what they're really called, but it's the ones that are sunken tight into the body.

i'm hoping i don't have to pull these things out, coz i'm not changing the trem and i don't want to compromise anything there.

would they survive the heat gun treatment? or are they gonna melt?

Thanks in advance!
 
Re: Refinishing a Strat, do the stud anchors have to be pulled out?

Nah, you´re good to go. I´ve never pulled the anchors out on any guitar for finishing :beerchug:

I strip with coarse grit paper and not a heat gun, but I´ve never met a heat gun that can melt brass... before you melt the inserts you`ll have turned the guitar into charcoal (unless your heat gun is in reality some sort of light saber, but that will also strip off a lot more than just the finish) :laugh2:

Assuming of course they´re fit properly so that any glue that may be in there isn´t necessary to hold them.. otherwise they may randomly fall out at some point. But if that happens just glue ´em back in when you´re done ;)
 
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Re: Refinishing a Strat, do the stud anchors have to be pulled out?

yeah, you are good to go. trying to remove them would be way more detrimental than just leaving them in.
 
Re: Refinishing a Strat, do the stud anchors have to be pulled out?

Thanks for the advice, guys.
That's what I was hoping to hear :)
 
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