NGD! But....

woolbrig · 08-13-2010, 02:48 PM

Just got a new (to me) Squier Standard 2001 (according to the serial#) in the the mail today I bought on ebay. However, I failed to notice from the posted pics that one of the bridge post were broken!

Is this fixable? If so how do I go about it?

Thanks,
Joe

DreadSi · 08-13-2010, 03:13 PM

Is that chunk of wood displaced or is it just the paint? If the wood between the pin hole and the pickup cavity is still intact you could probably carve a tight fitting wood plug and glue it in, then redrill the hole. If the chunk is loose you may need to fill/glue/reinforce in the neck pocket. Lucky it's mostly under the pickguard and vibrato assembly.

woolbrig · 08-13-2010, 03:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadSi

Is that chunk of wood displaced or is it just the paint? If the wood between the pin hole and the pickup cavity is still intact you could probably carve a tight fitting wood plug and glue it in, then redrill the hole. If the chunk is loose you may need to fill/glue/reinforce in the neck pocket. Lucky it's mostly under the pickguard and vibrato assembly.

The wood is actually broken. How would I reinforce the neck pocket? I've never tried to fix something like this.

DreadSi · 08-13-2010, 04:22 PM

You could use something as simple as a strap of metal across the broken spot. It depends on how much clearance you will have between the edge of the neck pocket and the bridge pickup. Since the wood is broken you may also want to just cut/chisel out a nice square section to make it easier to replace wood and redrill the hole. It would also give you more surface area to glue. I think you could give it more lateral support against string pull if you cut a chunk shaped like /\ this rather than like || this.

ghostwolf · 08-13-2010, 04:34 PM

first off, there is no need to reinforce the neck area when dealing with a bridge post issue. two totally un-related areas.
before you go cutting pieces out of your guitar, try this. open the crack gently. it needs to open enough to get wood glue all the way into the crack. wrap a small piece of wood in wax paper, put it inside the bridge pickup area, against the glued piece. the wax paper keeps the batten from sticking to the repair. you'll need a small bar clamp, use it to put pressure on the wax papered batten, so that it pushes the cracked piece toward the bottom strap pin area of the body. the glue will make a bond that is stronger than the wood around it. let the glue dry overnoght before reassembling the bridge.

dannyvawn · 08-13-2010, 07:28 PM

It also looks like the hole is elongated so once it's glued I would fill in the hole and redrill it. That would make it even stronger. If that doesnt work, you could always put on a vintage style tremolo.

DreadSi · 08-13-2010, 07:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ghostwolf

first off, there is no need to reinforce the neck area when dealing with a bridge post issue. two totally un-related areas.
before you go cutting pieces out of your guitar, try this. open the crack gently. it needs to open enough to get wood glue all the way into the crack. wrap a small piece of wood in wax paper, put it inside the bridge pickup area, against the glued piece. the wax paper keeps the batten from sticking to the repair. you'll need a small bar clamp, use it to put pressure on the wax papered batten, so that it pushes the cracked piece toward the bottom strap pin area of the body. the glue will make a bond that is stronger than the wood around it. let the glue dry overnoght before reassembling the bridge.

Corrected - didn't mean to say neck pocket -

woolbrig · 08-13-2010, 08:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dannyvawn

It also looks like the hole is elongated so once it's glued I would fill in the hole and redrill it. That would make it even stronger. If that doesnt work, you could always put on a vintage style tremolo.

I have it glued and drying now. It's hard to tell, but it might be slightly elongated.

If it is would you fill it with a dowel rod then redrill?
If I did that wouldn't I just be drilling out 99% of what I just put in?
Should I use a hardwood dowel rod?

Sorry for all the questions, I'm trying to learn something and not mess up my new purchase at the same time!

ghostwolf · 08-13-2010, 08:34 PM

yes, plugging and drilling and then re-drilling will remove a fair bit of the hardwood dowel, but it'll give you a true, round hole for the bridge post to mount into.

woolbrig · 08-13-2010, 08:57 PM

What size bit do I need to redrill with?

woolbrig · 08-15-2010, 10:30 PM

I got the broken piece glued back in, but the post didn't fit snug. I could simply push it in and pull it back out, so I filled the hole with a dowel rod. It's drying now. From measuring the post, it looks like I should drill a 5/16" hole. Does that sound right?

woolbrig · 08-17-2010, 10:37 AM

Last night I drilled the hole for the post. I used a 5/16 bit and the post was a perfect fit! Using a small rubber mallet, I was able to drive the post into the hole. Other than the crack in the paint from the break, the repair is almost undetectable.

The repair cost more that the guitar, but only because I took the opportunity to by a drill press (which I had needed for a long time)

Once I get it cleaned up and put back together I'll post some pics.

Thanks to everyone for the advice!

Joe

pictoratus · 08-17-2010, 09:12 PM

Good news, Joe!

motoman45 · 08-17-2010, 09:40 PM

thats awesome!!!! fixing something yourself is always rewarding....

DagerOne · 08-17-2010, 10:42 PM

That's not "fixed" until the guitar is strung up, brought up to tune, and successfully played. I fear that the 200 or so pounds of tension you're going to put on that bridge is going to cause your repair to fail. I hope I'm wrong! Good luck!

motoman45 · 08-17-2010, 11:04 PM

sorry was tryin to be positive...

DagerOne · 08-18-2010, 08:05 AM

I'm not trying to be negative. I guess I'm mostly afraid that in the process of "cleaning it up" and putting it back together, he'll also spend some time making it pretty before he's actually made sure the repair is sound. Titebond is good stuff (hopefully that's what he used), but that's going to be a lot of lateral force on that area.

Like I said, hope I'm wrong!

woolbrig · 08-18-2010, 08:55 AM

Not to worry, I don't have my expectations to high. I've already been thinking about changing it to a vintage bridge if the fix fails. I also found a couple of new bodies on ebay...

woolbrig · 08-19-2010, 08:14 AM

I checked on the body after my repair, and it appears that I may not have drilled the hole big enough for the bridge post. Right after the repair all looked good. After a couple of days, a crack has appeared in the wood at the repair. I'm assuming it's from the stress of the bridge post being to large for the hole.

Fortunately I was able to find the exact same body locally and purchased it. That will fix my immediated problem. For the cracked body I'm going to try this repair:

http://fingerlakesguitarrepair.com/p...-trem-stud.php

If I mess it up, it's no big loss, but it will be a good learning experience!

pictoratus · 08-19-2010, 08:34 AM

That's a pretty ingenious repair job you've linked to. Let us know how it comes out.

Bullitt · 08-26-2010, 11:46 PM

You could use a hardtail bridge on it.