Trem Post Hole Crack

[Pat]

Hi, this is my first post and I am hoping that somebody can share their repair expertise with me. I am in the middle of a refinish project. As I was stripping the body yesterday I noticed that there is a small crack that goes from one of my trem post holes all the way trough to the trem cavity hole. Is there an easy way to fix this? I have spread some epoxy in the trem post hole, but I doubt that is going to do much good. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[guitar2005]

Hi, this is my first post and I am hoping that somebody can share their repair expertise with me. I am in the middle of a refinish project. As I was stripping the body yesterday I noticed that there is a small crack that goes from one of my trem post holes all the way trough to the trem cavity hole. Is there an easy way to fix this? I have spread some epoxy in the trem post hole, but I doubt that is going to do much good. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Super Glue (AKA CA glue).

[BigM555]

I fought a similar issue on my JEM555 until it ran out of warranty.

I had sent it back to Ibanez twice to have it repaired and it came back alright but shortly afterward it would let loose again. I hazard to guess they used the CA or epoxy fix.

I really loved the way the guitar played when it was working properly so after the warranty ran out I took it to my trusted luthier and told them to do whatever it took to fix it properly. They routed out a pocket and dropped in a slab of ebony to mount the pivot screw inserts into. It's been great ever since.

If you want to fix it once and fix it right I'd recommend the ebony block.

PS - The Lo-TRS finally gave out so I had it replaced with a Lo-Pro. I now essentially have a full JEM. Honestly, aside from the trem problems I'm not sure why these guitars get such a bad rap.

[dh7892]

I've got a 555 too and, like you, I've got terrible problems with the trem. I'm wating for a few bits to arrive before building myself a replacement "main guitar" but I will be trying my best to copy a lot of things about the 555 that I really love. The neck plays really well and I love the tone of the pickups. I've no idea if a proper JEM would sound the same or better (I can't afford a real one!) but, like you say, apart from the trem, they're nice guitars.

[guitar2005]

I fought a similar issue on my JEM555 until it ran out of warranty.

I had sent it back to Ibanez twice to have it repaired and it came back alright but shortly afterward it would let loose again. I hazard to guess they used the CA or epoxy fix.

I really loved the way the guitar played when it was working properly so after the warranty ran out I took it to my trusted luthier and told them to do whatever it took to fix it properly. They routed out a pocket and dropped in a slab of ebony to mount the pivot screw inserts into. It's been great ever since.

If you want to fix it once and fix it right I'd recommend the ebony block.

You're talking about a different problem here. A loose stud insert is a different story and would not be fixed with CA glue.

A small crack in the wood will absorb the super glue and never give you problems again. If the stud inserts are loose, that's a different story and happens often in basswood Jems. For that problem, Epoxy can work wonders and that would be my 1st pick for a fix. It must be properly done thought to work right. Drill/plug/drill is another option

Edited October 23, 2007 by guitar2005