Strap Studs

[pappy]

Hi,

Lov'in my Andy so far. Here's a question for 'the Maker'.

I put strap locks on every guitar I've ever owned and, unfortunately, on every one the left-side stud (the one on the upper bout) always comes loose. Not enough to come out, but loose enough to be annoying. I go through this ritual of tightening it every week or so.

Is there anything you guys would recommend to keep it from loosening that won't damage the guitar or permanently glue the screw in place? I was thinking of taking the screw completely out and putting a small amount of white glue in the hole, then put the screw back in. I thought something like this would make for a tight pocket to hold the screww in place.

Of course, I'm only a lowly aerospace engineer :cool: If it were titanium, I'd be telling you how to fix it.

Wood? You da man.

Pappy:

[dpeterson]

couple ways...

1. you could get some wood glue, and a few toothpicks, break off the skinny part, and hammer it in good, let it dry a few hours (cheap way)

2. you could drill it out the size of the thread, and glue in a small hardwood dowel (same size as the drillbit you just used, you can purchase these at local hardware stores, and glue it in (wait to dry).

A cool thing i saw while surfing the net one day was that dingwall basses drills out the spot where the screw will go, and plugs it with what looked like a 3/8ths dowel of hard maple, and sands it flush. This would provide a much better and harder area to screw the button to, and would be hidden by the button once it's installed.

Dave

[pappy]

DRILL??? No friggin way I'm putting a drill to this guitar! The toothpick idea sounds cool though. Thanks!

:D

Pappy

[tom]

it sounds like the hole is not ruined, just loose. if that is the case, you don't need to go the dowel route. the best thing is to remove the screw, and with a toothpick or small tubing, put some thin super glue in the hole. this will harden the threads in the wood and make a bushing around the screw. you don't want to fill the hole with glue, just soak the wood around the hole. be absolutely sure to NOT put the screw back in until the glue is dry. you might want to put some wax or soap on the screw before insertion, the hole will be pretty tight. if you use wood glue it will be a very temporary fix.

[pappy]

Thanks Tom. Yeah. The threads are good as I can tighten it pretty well. I'll let it dry for a couple of hours and then wax the screw and see how that works.

Pappy

[dannopelli]

WOW I have never had such a problem. I just always remove the button, and I put Elmer's glue on the originall screw - if it will fit -then screw it in. Nine electrics currently, plus severl over the years bought and sold, and I have never had one come loose. If I ever selll them I do so with the Straplocks anyway. Most people use them.