Jump to content
Gibson Brands Forums

I have an important thing to add for when your buying a Used guitar that we should all check...

dem00n

By dem00n
in The Gibson Lounge

Recommended Posts

dem00n

dem00n

Posted
Posted

Check the screws. What do i mean by this? Well...my melody maker doesn't hold its pickguard anymore due to the fact that the original owner took in and out the screws so much that the hole has no grooves inside it(he likes to play with the bridge pickup), so it cant hold a screw without it falling out after moving the guitar for a little bit. You can also blame where the input plug is. By that i mean when i pull the input plug out im also pulling the pickguard which brings pressure on the screws. I have a Washburn strat that also has this problem, one of the screws doesnt stay where the input jack it and i had to put tape. Now i have two guitars with tape. I can simply just drill a bigger hole and put a bigger screw, which i will do...one day. How many of us really hold the plate of the jack when we pull the cable out? I think we all should...

My poor guitar ):

DSCF6003.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Buxom

Buxom

Posted
Posted

I had the same problem with my Tele. I upped the size of the screw by a tiny bit. Never had an issue since. I have a large amount of screws, I could give you a few if need be.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Dennis G

Dennis G

Posted
Posted

I had the same problem with my Tele. I upped the size of the screw by a tiny bit. Never had an issue since. I have a large amount of screws, I could give you a few if need be.

That's what I was going to suggest.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
bonzoboy

bonzoboy

Posted
Posted

I always do a meticulous inspection of any piece of gear that I buy as an unscrupulous seller could blame you for any damages that you may have found after you left their premises,whether it be a store or private sale.You are then left having to pay for repairs on top of the purchase price,unless of course you take them to small claims court and even then it's your word against his.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
strat-o-steve

strat-o-steve

Posted
Posted

The toothpick trick works, but don't use that as a permanent repair, especially on a nice guitar. Remove the screws and pickguard, then drill out the stripped holes so that a very small dowel can be inserted and glued in. Trim it flush when dry, and then drill the new hole in the dowel's center. You now use the same screw, with new wood, in the same exact spot :) And no one will know unless they remove the guard, or you tell them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
cdntac

cdntac

Posted
Posted

I've found that it's not necessarily the fact that the screws were put in and out numerous times but rather due to shoddy workmanship on cheaper guitars right from the start. Whether it be the hole is drilled slightly larger than it needs to be or that the wood isn't as good as on more expensive guitars --- I've seen numerous Epis where the jack plate screws are loose simply because of the reasons I've stated.

 

I've also seen this happen for the cover plates on the back of the guitar (both for the pots and the toggle switch). I took a cover plate off of an Epi once and when I went to put it back on the wood wouldn't grab the screws --- and the guy insists he had never taken the screws out (he was the original owner).

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Sinner 13

Sinner 13

Posted
Posted

This is why I keep a box of old school kitchen matches in my tool box.

burn off the head, a smidgen of glue and tap it into the hole, and nip off the excess wood with side cutters.

Also not over tightening the screws will help prevent this issue as well.

 

just my two cents.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
retrosurfer1959

retrosurfer1959

Posted
Posted

I always like to watch the conversation go between drill it out dowel it etc. vs break a match or a toothpick in it. I agree if were talking about a strap lock hole than hell yeah drill it dowel it and fix it right because of the pressure that's gonna take. On thinks like Pick guard's and rear cavity covers I'm a big fan of just using a match there's no stress on the hole so why drill and do basically more damage to a guitars body to hold a freaking pick guard on. I've actually turned down purchasing old guitars especially Fenders Strat's, Gibson L6-S models and Gibson Recording models because somebody has driled a bunch of oversize holes and stuck a piece of usually pine or maybe oak dowel in the now too large hole drilled into the body to mount stuff that does't need the strength. I'd much rather use a wire probe to pull a chunk of toothpick out of a stripped hole than see an amateur repair job that I don't have a easy fix for.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
TommyK

TommyK

Posted
Posted

Toothpick and white or carpenter's glue.

 

I am surprised that the jack relies on that little screw, all the way down there to stay in place.

 

Not having had one of theses MM's apart I don't know if this is normal. Is the jack supposed to have more support than 1/8" of thermo-form plastic?

 

The screw hole could have just succumbed to the task of holding the scratch plate down against the pull of the cable.

 

I would think that there should be a thickness of body wood the jack should hold on to, not just the plate.

 

Can you take the plate off so we can see?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...