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Help with broken bridge screw would be much appreciated


Beedster
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I've recently sold an old Fender body to another member and in taking off the bridge yesterday remembered that the body came to me with a broken screw in the hole slightly above the E-string. Ay ideas on getting this out; I've contacted a tech here but it looks like he's away at present and the buyer is quite keen to get the body.

Thanks all, pic below

[attachment=93718:Fender Bridge with broken screw.jpg]

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If there's enough to nip some pliers/moleys onto it, then heating with a soldering iron tip to expand the wood and loosen the stub, then unscrew using the pliers might do the trick. If it's deep down you might just have to drill around it with the smallest diameter bit you can get your hands on then once extracted drill, plug, then re-drill the hole. Also there are screw extractors on the market worth looking into.

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Two options there.

I'd be inclined to remove the entire bridge and see if there's enough metal protruding to get a grip on with a pair of pliers and undo the screw using those.

Failing that then the only real option is to use a screw extractor - just drill a small hole into the metal of the screw, insert the extractor and start undoing the screw.
The extractor is reverse threaded so it bites the metal as you turn it anti-clockwise.

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Thanks guys. Unfortunately the screw is broken a few mm below the surface of the wood so pliers or similar are not and option. Having looked a some DIY-style internet content last night I think a screw extractor is the best bet. I'll keep you posted. Having said that, any other suggestions warmly received
Chris

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+1 for Outshined's suggestion to drill it out. Ideally you'll have a bench drill and a flat surface you can clamp the body to.

I'd caution against the use of screw extractors in a situation like this. They can work, but they can also break off at the slightest provocation, leaving you with a much more difficult problem to solve. Besides which, this is a very small screw, looks about 1/8 inch to me - finding an extractor small enough is going to be an interesting challenge.

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Just being pragamatic, the other option is to let the buyer know and leave it be! The reality is that almost certainly the extra screw is not needed for either strength or tone (many similar bridges use 4 screws) and the probability is that a screwed out job will leave a bigger hole that means that the screw (even a slightly larger one) probably won't be doing much anyway. Just a thought...

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