Tremolo Mounting Screw Damaged Hole

[bw6168]

I have a strat body with an original Floyd Rose Trem. The routing holes for the pick guard were made too big and didn't leave enough of a wall for one of the mounting screws for the trem. The hole colapsed of course. Does anyone have a procedure to fill the hole for rerouting and to strengthen the surrounding area so this does not happen again?

I have pictures if anyone would like to see the situation.

Thanks,

bobby@wolfegoaltending.com

[CudBucket]

pics would definitely help.

[bw6168]

Here's the link to the pics:

Tremolo Pics

Thanks,

[thedoctor]

There are times when high-res photography gives you WAY more detail than you want or need. That looks like an old open wound that never healed! Yuchhh! I don't see any easy fix that I would trust short of a routed cavity with a piece of harwood glued in. That is DISGUSTING! I don't think any epoxy or wood-chip mix is gonna fix that.

[Southpa]

First of all clean out all that crapola hanging onto the sides. The doc is right, it IS disgusting. I can't say this will do the trick, at best its just a jerry-rigged fix.

Stick a piece of duct tape across the opening of the hole to the cavity. Then pack in epoxy or auto bondo, anything that will cure very hard. Here is the important part. Once the plug has cured drill the right sized hole and then tap out the hole to as close to the thread size as the screw as possible. I know there are no woodscrew taps, but a machine screw tap will give a good start and minimize stress. Any stress applied by just drilling and screwing could crack the new plug.

The unfortunate part is that using the tremolo will put stress right on that area and it will likely pop out again. Thats probably why its like that in the first place. You could reinforce the area by screwing a small band of 18 ga. steel across the opening after removing the duct tape. This will help hold the epoxy plug in the socket.

Another option is to drill another hole through the mounting plate of the trem near the original hole and mount it there. Then put a dummy screw into the original hole. Good luck either way.

Edited May 26, 2005 by Southpa

[frank falbo]

Sometimes OFR knife edges have a narrow radius so they don't work with all types of studs. But if I were you, I'd fill the area as described, or with my method below. Then use Ibanez Edge studs and anchors. They will be about twice as wide as the tear through. So you'll have a lot of anchor area against new wood. Plus the damaged wood area will mostly be drilled out. But some of the Edge studs have too sharp of an angle on the groove and they can bind up against the OFR knife edge. So if you get the studs from ibanezrules.com, ask for studs that have the widest groove in them, and Rich will know.

If you use the big Ibanez anchors, first soak the entire area in thin superglue. That way all the soft, damaged wood will get locked into place. Also the CA will penetrate the wood fibers and strengthen the whole area. Then you could use the fill methods mentioned above.

Or what I'd do is to route a channel about 1/4" on either side of that mess. So you'd be superglueing about a 3/4" cubed piece of hardwood into that whole area. Basically replace from the trem cavity opening to the pickup cavity, about 3/4" deep, 3/4" wide, and whatever that length is between the cavities. So you'd have lots of glue surface, and a nice new area to redrill. I'd make my piece go past the pickup route into that cavity a little. If you went deep enough with it, you'd be able to actually add some wood in front of the stud hole, before it bumps the pickup. You want to really make sure it never comes out? Make it a trapezoid, with the larger part by the trem cavity, tapering toward the pickup cavity. Either way use superglue for this one. It's the most reliable, and you can soak it down after the piece is fitted, to be sure it penetrates everywhere.

[bw6168]

I do like the idea of reinforcing the area with a thin piece of metal across the front after a bondo solution is applied.

Just as a footnote, I did not route this body. It is a Warmoth body that was originally routed for 3 singles and the person I bought it from routed it for a double in the bridge. He apparently routed it just for the thought of the pick up and didn't realize what he was doing to the bridge.

This puppy is going to live again! I'll post some pics after it's done because I'm anticipating being very proud of the results.

Thanks for the help - any other suggestions will still be appreciated!

[bw6168]

Another nice suggestion, thanks Frank. A lot to think about on this one. Keep 'um comin' guys!

[bw6168]

Here's a bump and a link to the repaired tremolo hole. It's now ready for a new hole to be drilled and for clear coating. I'll post pics after the reassembly of all the new parts.

Tremolo fixed

Thanks for the suggestions,

Bobby

[CudBucket]

How 'bout drilling that out with a Forstner bit and filling it with a dowel?

[CudBucket]

Forget what I said. I see you fixed it!

[frank falbo]

That looks fantastic. Congratulations.