TWANG Posted November 5, 2008 Share Posted November 5, 2008 when I worked on my sheri the bridge/tail studs came right out.. pretty easily. But the lp studio seems to have them glued in. so before I go applying any universal hammer techniques.. I thought I'd ask if anyone in here has a method for getting those suckers out. I haven't done anything except pull on the bolts a bit...the inserts are really solid! I know a couple of ways to do it.. but hey.. I don't know everyway and there's always a chance I'll pick up a new trick.. so fire away! the lp studio will have grover locking tuners.. just installed. bone nut. black dunlop straplocks.*it's sunburst and the chrome ones just stood out too much for me* cts pots, sprague caps, cavity foil shielding. KA p90 and KA humbuck. Bigsby whammy with roller bridge. I haven't decided on what to do to fill the tail holes yet.. the bridge holes are my current concern as the pieces there have different bolt sizes and they have to be pulled. I think I could fill in the tail holes with caps, probably just black. maybe chrome! and that will look alright. I'd like to pull all the parts out though. so I can sell off the stock bridge and tail. I bet I've got the most loaded up customized lp studio in the country. *G* Talk about a goofball! TWANG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcwillow777 Posted November 5, 2008 Share Posted November 5, 2008 I dropped a piece of wood dowling in the hole, just so it is shorter than the top of the bushings. Short enough so I could get the stud threaded. Then I just screwed the stud into the bushing. As I tightened the stud the bushing came right out for me. Must have pics when it's done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackbird Posted November 5, 2008 Share Posted November 5, 2008 The best way to do it is to drop a screw in head facing down. It needs to be slightly shorther than the hole. Then start to screw your tailpiece back in as normal. As your screwing it back in the pressure will force the bushing (or whatever it's called) out of the hole. I hope that makes sense I did it on my Gibson SG with no problems I'm also sure that there a video on you tube about this Let me know how you go on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted November 5, 2008 Share Posted November 5, 2008 Actually, I'd just leave them...and cap them (or not)...BUT, if you want to remove them... Find a small bolt, that will screw into the studs, and then use locking pliars on that bolt, to gently wiggle the studs out. Shouldn't take much, unless of course, they're glued in? That's what I've always done, in that situation. But, you may have already tried, or thought of that? You can get plugs, in black, chrome, gold, or a variety of colors...or do what some do, and go to a trophy shop, and get a placque made, that says "Custom" or something. ;>) Just a thought... CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesman345 Posted November 5, 2008 Share Posted November 5, 2008 Hi, I mentioned elsewhere that my tech installed the "U"-shaped Bigsby B5 vibrato on my Epi '56 Goldtop LP, as the long-tailed models kinda stuck out too far at the bottom. Although it is mounted on a slight rise due to the maple cap, it is pretty flush and is secured with 4 screws. With a Gotoh bridge and GraphTech nut, she's a sweet little machine. I don't care what anybody sez, this guitar plays like any Gibson I have owned (ES 125, ES 335TD, SG, Les Paul Deluxe). I haven't yet got around to filling in the stopbar tailpiece holes (probably cap with perloid), so the threaded sockets are still intact. Either way, this axe looks real good! Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rpach10115 Posted November 5, 2008 Share Posted November 5, 2008 Try leaving the tailpiece on and running the strings through the Tailpiece. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stan 58 Posted November 5, 2008 Share Posted November 5, 2008 I got a piece of MOP cut out circles and fitted them in the holes, looks pretty sharp! Stan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitmore Willy Posted November 5, 2008 Share Posted November 5, 2008 TWANG, There are two popular methods for removing bushings. Most ideas (and some of them are good) are variations of them. You put pressure on the back of the guitar from the inside middle....ala...JCwillow and Blackbird. (Hey JC....love the dowel idea....cushions the pressure.) or.... You put pressure on the front surface of the guitar.... C.B. is doing that when he puts one hand on the face of the guitar and pulls with the other on a set of pliers. (sort of like pulling a tooth)..... Technology to the rescue (yea right)... stewmac has a "knob and bushing puller" for about $40. Looks promising, if I did as much work with parts as you do. However if it was me, I would be looking at making my own. I would like to see a larger and broader and more cushioned "footprint" on the face of the guitar than what their cylinder provides..... Go to stewmac and type in ...knob and bushing puller.. in the search ( tried to make a link but it dosen't work) Whether you deside to fill and finish or cover, cap, modify...etc.... With your knowledge and experience I sure the final results will be 1st rate...Looking forward to pics... Willy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWANG Posted November 5, 2008 Author Share Posted November 5, 2008 dowels did it. came right out. scary though.. makes you feel like your going to push through the back! used softwood. mistake! use hardwood otherwise, the holes being so big and deep, the wood just crushes and you add another dowel.. it crushes you add another dowel.. took me three trips to the shop to get the dowel cut to size. sheesh. and all that hardwood scrap laying there. what am me, stoopud? I'm going to try those plastic caps .. like the Vj amps have.. that shoud cover them. if it looks bad, I'll make some caps out of chrome. most of both the tail holes will be covered anyway, so the chrome should blend in alright. I'm going with this roller bridge.. but it has a problem too.. it's studs are smaller.. so I'll have to fill the holes in and redrill.. but that's really no biggee just a little more work. thanks whitmore.. I think I'll check out stew mac.. though I understood exactly what you mean.. good description. That was my first idea.. but I was going to make some kind of plate to cover the top.. wouldn't need to though with the right tool design. tuners are on.. gotta fix a bad tone pot.. will also dress the frets out just a tick more.. and buff em up real shiny. and yeah. right now, I have masking tape on the top so all my experimenting doesn't ruin anything.. but I'll do pics without the tape once I get ready to do the install. You're great you guys.. good ideas freely shared.. solving problems. making things better and easier.. thanks everyone. TWANG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWANG Posted November 5, 2008 Author Share Posted November 5, 2008 bridge bushings completely stuck. wont budge a bit. screw the bolt in.. stops.. tightens.. then just creaks and wont move a bit.. no matter how hard I turn. I'm kinda scared of just using a bigger screwdriver to be honest. I could get a monster driver on it with a bigger handle, but man.. what the heck could be holding it so tight a grown man straining can't move it a bit? stew mac bushing puller looks interesting. but it's just a wing nut on a longer bolt.. pics don't show how it connects to the bushing so I can't really tell how that works. It seems the little platform fits around the bushing. then you turn the wing nut and it tightens on the bolt that runs down to the bushing.. which would mean pushing really hard on the finish with that little platform. that's scary, too, considering how much pressure I'd have to be using, and the smallness of the platform.. looks to me like I'd scar the finish for sure. what a drag. they must have drilled the hole small, and really hammered that bushing in there tight for this to happen. I sure hate to think I'll have to give up, but I'm not going to wreck my guitar over this. maybe I could put a bolt in the bushing, hang it from the rafters in the shop and then leap onto the guitar from a ladder. it'd probably come out then, but I'm afraid of ladders so.. TWANG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcwillow777 Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 Email or call Stewmac about the stubborn bushing, and mention their puller. Tell them what you have done. They are pretty good about answering any tech questions I have emailed them about. Tell them about your concerns about possible damage to the finsh. There have been times they have said that their product wouldn't work for me. And I'd hold off on the ladder thing until I called Stewmac. LOL Reminds me of a Stooges movie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
claydots Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 I have a bunch of reproduction "Custom Made" plates that are the exact replica of the plates used by Gibson in the 70's (not the 60's one). Exactly what you need and very inexpensive as they are reproductions. PM me if you are interested. They are installed with double face tape, no drilling or pulling required! Gibson used them to cover the stud holes for 335's, LP's, just about anything they installed a Bigsby on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWANG Posted November 6, 2008 Author Share Posted November 6, 2008 jc.. did last night.. got a reply today! claydots.. thanks.. I'm doing an lp so the holes will be at least partially covered by the bigs.. but I may do my sheraton later, so I may take you up on that then. Wish I'd done the sheri now. I'd be finished! TWANG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWANG Posted November 6, 2008 Author Share Posted November 6, 2008 One last note. this is the single worst problem I've ever run into on any guitar. I don't know what they did with these bushings, but come out-they wont. they must be glued in, and I have no idea with what, but it's gotta be good stuff. the bolt simply wont go any deeper. I'm almost completely convinced I'll either ruin the top finish-even using stew macs tool.. or punch right through the back. I think I will have to clean the holes.. and forget about using another bridge entirely, unless I can find a roller that takes the same size bushings. I warn you if you want to install a bigsby in your epi lp.. though they may not be all the same.. that you could be in for a big big hassle. And you may not get there. I can tell you the holes are drilled too deep.. deeper than the bushings require.. I can tell you the bushings are waaaaaaay tighter than anything I've ever run into.. It wouldn't be any harder to remove the set neck that it's been to get these bushings out. I've had heat and cold suggested as a method of loosening up the bushings.. I guess I'll have to try both if I want to continue. But as it sits, it seems to me better to drill out the dowels I put in and simply forget it. I don't know how strong mahogany can be.. and it's mahogany in the holes .. but it seems that there's no more than 1/4" or a bit more thickness from the bottom of the hole to the back. Even if I used stewmacs stronger tool.. the amount of pressure I'd be putting on that thin piece of wood would be concentrated, focused on one tiny spot, and tremendous. This is a stupid problem, Dear Epi, and one you should try to ensure doesn't happen. We as customers can have no way of knowing how many of these guitars are like this and that makes everyone a crapshoot for aftermarket modification. and no, the answer is not buy one with a bigsby already. Of note, I'd also like to mention that the allparts roller bridge supposedly to fit the epi requires dowelling the hole.. and redrilling.. so yes it will fit but don't think it's just replacement. the bushings are another size entirely, so there's not just bolt size differences, you will have to modify your guitar to get this in. Not an amatuer job at all, and anyone who says 'to fit epiphone' should also have to make that clear. I can't remember ever being this ticked off about a job on a guitar. I would almost bet the only way to do this is put the guitar in a drill press and drill out the bushings from the inside. And I'm sad, man. I was really looking forward to this. I've pulled boards off, refretted, reinstalled truss rods, routed body cavitys, cut headstocks, installed tuners, finished, done all sorts of electronics--there's not a part I can think of that I haven't done work with.. and none this difficult or frustrating. I guess I can buy saddles if it wont stay in tune using the bigs.. maybe graph techs will do the job. I am not a happy camper! First I'll give heat then cold a shot.. but I'm more than a little bit worried about that as I've put so much pressure on the thing already, it can't be as strong as it was to my mind. After that, ream the holes back out and use the regular bridge. then, on to saddles if required. This just shouldn't happen. I can give Epi some credit.. it seems others have done this job without this problem. So, yes, there's one in every crowd, and we have to expect that. But I can't say how many.. and a warning about this is appropriate. Disappointing to, is that I have spent all the time I can afford on this for now and have to shelve it while I get customers happy. No joy in epiville. TWANG TWANG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captmidnight Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 Hey Twang...get some of that wart freeze off stuff and since it turns to gas when it thaws, shouldn't hurt the finish...and at that temp, should cause the bushing to shrink enough to maybe crack any glue they may have used too. Capt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWANG Posted November 6, 2008 Author Share Posted November 6, 2008 not a bad idea. I might give that a try. better than slipping it in the freezer for sure.. which was just about my next move! TWANG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buschfsu Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 i have it in my head that the samick korean dots are the best (may or may not be true) so i found one and put on the import bigsby and some gibson 490's. Also check out the "custom made" plaque i picked up from claydots on this forum. awesome looking, my luthier commented that it was an 'excellent reproduction' thanks clay!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWANG Posted November 25, 2008 Author Share Posted November 25, 2008 That looks really sharp to me man. And I like that import bigsby, mine works like a charm. A little less whangy with the .011s on it.. not quite as much pitch change. but excellent feel and enough change for me for sure. I think the dots are 399.00 right now.. and that's a heck of a lot of guitar for that money. I think the dot, the riv. ltd and the goth studio lp are the three of the best deals for the money.. not only for epi, but for their style from any company. I like all your appointments on that guitar.. I'd say for the red color and the bigsby the knobs and guard are just right.. very cool! after carving out a piece of black guard material to the size of the very small corner you see in pic one.. I decided it was too hard to do that with aluminum, so I left it. and second pic shows the aluminum part I made that's bigger on it's opposite, right, side. http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff83/TWANGthang/My%20EPIS/elpstbigsfix1.jpg http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff83/TWANGthang/My%20EPIS/elpstbigsfix2.jpg pretty snazzy for a studio, huh? TWANG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcwillow777 Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 Nice work guys. Twang, if I tried to do that I think I would wind up with a few less fingers. I'm still thinking about a Vibrate and B5 for my GT. But that will be a while if I do. I am in the process of putting Gibson mini-humbuckers in it now. I have tried to like P-90s, but I just can't get over the noise. I use a lot of pedals. If I played clean that would be different, but I very rarely play clean. I just got an Agile AL-3100 with minis in it and I have fallen in love with sounds the minis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
claydots Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 busch... that does look sweet on there. So did you use double faced tape just on the stud holes or glue? I could do the 60's ones but they are way too cost prohibitive. They were heat stamped, a few years ago I checked and just the die was 1500.00 Not to mention the labor, the one you got is exact size, font and spacing that Gibson used in the 70's except they silkscreened them, mine are engraved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWANG Posted November 25, 2008 Author Share Posted November 25, 2008 jc. that little piece of guard was a real pain! No doubt about it. so well hidden beneath the bar it seemed kinda silly to go alum with it. I'm going to take a crack at engraving the guard material.. I've got an idea or two.. wont be able to do script I don't think. at least not at first. Another idea.. I've got some really nice abalone pieces.. I'm thinking of cutting some circles out of that. and a couple of other ideas with them. I think I could carve the epi E out of abalone. and polish it up.. that would look sweet at the headstock over the truss rod cover.. or a smaller version on a guard! not for everyone's guitar.. cosmetics being different.. but pretty trippy. I was thinking a persons initials or epi forum handle would be cool. also at the other site, I'm posting, I think, some pics and writing on building pickguards from scratch if anyone wants to check it out. Be a few days before that shows up though. TWANG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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