# Tremolo screw hole (teehee!) stripped? :(



## jeleopard (Jun 15, 2013)

So, one of the holes in the back of my guitar (where the tremolo claw screws into the guitar) is stripped; it's very hard to screw the screw in or out. How do I go about fixing this? 

I thought worse comes to worse I just make the tremolo dive only and put wood filler around the screw and screwing the claw all the way in...


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## Floppystrings (Jun 15, 2013)

Block the bridge remove the springs, and replace it?


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## jeleopard (Jun 15, 2013)

Floppystrings said:


> Block the bridge remove the springs, and replace it?



Replace... the hole?


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## Wolf 6 (Jun 15, 2013)

1.) drill it out and put a hardwood dowel in it. 2.) glue some toothpicks in there.


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## jeleopard (Jun 15, 2013)

Wolf 6 said:


> 1.) drill it out and put a hardwood dowel in it. 2.) glue some toothpicks in there.



What's hardwood dowel? I have like literally no experience with this kinda stuff. >.>

And why toothpicks?


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## DistinguishedPapyrus (Jun 15, 2013)

one thing that might work is re-drill a new hole beside the first one but just angled away a little, so the spring claw still sits in the same place.


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## AwDeOh (Jun 15, 2013)

1. Drill out the hole with a hand drill, using a bit about the same size, then a little wider than the whole.

2. Get some white PVA glue and some toothpicks - cut one end off about a dozen toothpicks.

3. One by one, dip each toothpick in PVA, and push into the hole - as more go in you may need to carefully use a hammer.

4. When you can't get any more to fit in, leave it for 24 hours, then cut off any material still outside the hole.

5. Screw in the replacement screw.

Works well with strap-peg holes too, and you can use safety matches if you don't have toothpicks. If you're fixing a hole for something like a strap-peg which you don't want the screw to move in, you can screw the screw back into the hole while it's still drying.


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## guitarfreak1387 (Jun 15, 2013)

i had this happen with one of my old guitars (dean avalanche) what your going to need to do is drill the hole out, get a wood dowel of the same size, glue it in the drilled out hole. let the glue sit and fully harden. then drill into the dowel for a new whole for the screw to go into.

a wood dowel is just like a wooden rod. you can get them in various sizes and lengths.


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## jeleopard (Jun 16, 2013)

AwDeOh said:


> 1. Drill out the hole with a hand drill, using a bit about the same size, then a little wider than the whole.



So, to clarify, I drill twice?


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## AwDeOh (Jun 16, 2013)

Yup, that's what I'd do. Once to just clear the hole a little, and a second time with a slightly larger bit to knock down the internal edges made by the screw, into something flatter that will grip the toothpicks.

May not be necessary, certainly can't hurt.


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## Daf57 (Jun 16, 2013)

> And why toothpicks?


Wood replacement - Use the round toothpicks or matchsticks.

I agree with all the suggestions above - good advice. One thing I would add is that I don't try to fill the hole - just get some new wood in there for the screw to grip. So I usually just put some white glue on a few toothpicks (usually 1 for PG screws or 3 or so for larger screws) and push into the hole. Clip off the protruding ends. Let it set about an hour then remount the claw. The screws with have enough new wood to get a good grip. 


 Good luck!


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## AwDeOh (Jun 16, 2013)

^ Yep, I'm probably overthinking the problem like I do with everything. You can re-screw a strap peg immediately, but I think you'd want to let the glue set for 24 hours for the trem-claw, incase it decides to go Hulk and extricate itself.


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## Mark_McQ (Jun 16, 2013)

I'm a big fan of the Schaller Sureclaw over the old traditional 2-screw spring claw.
Got one in my Ibanez RG. 
Could be a good excuse to try one out:

Schaller Tremolo spring tensioner (Sure Claw) | Schaller-Electronic


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## FaintHeartedness (Sep 27, 2013)

Anyone found a viable solution yet? Cause i know i ripped the other screw hole today as i was setting my guitar up correctly after installing a tremol-no. The toothpick method still remains a bit unclear to me, could someone clear it up a bit? Draw a quick picture with paint or something.


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## RV350ALSCYTHE (Sep 27, 2013)

FaintHeartedness said:


> Anyone found a viable solution yet? Cause i know i ripped the other screw hole today as i was setting my guitar up correctly after installing a tremol-no. The toothpick method still remains a bit unclear to me, could someone clear it up a bit? Draw a quick picture with paint or something.



The toothpicks are shoved into the hole as a filler. Dip them in the glue and shove them into the hole. That's all there really is to it.

Like this example, the toothpicks are plugging the holes to build them back up. The excess sticking out is removed so the area is flush, then they are drilled to accept the screw.






You may need to use more than one toothpick because the repair you're doing is a larger hole than what is pictured on the above pic.
Wooden Dowel (which is a round wood bar) will also work to plug the hole.







Dowels


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