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Humbucker Screw Problem

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(@espltdec50)
Active Member
Joined: 16 years ago
Posts: 6
Topic starter  

Well hello folks, I'm new to guitarnoise, and I have a huge new problem. I'm not sure if I know the correct names of the things wrong with my guitar, but I'll try to explain them the best I can.

I have an ESP LTD Ec-50. It has 2 humbuckers. The humbucker closest to the bridge is the one with the problem. I believe that the two screws that hold the humbucker in are also used to adjust the height, someone please correct me if I'm wrong. The problem is that one of the screws, (the higher one...I guess you could say the one about even with the Low E string) is completely stripped. The humbucker is fallen down inside at an angle. If the screw is pushed in, and the guitar is turned upside down, it simply falls out.

I dont have a good enough ear to know if this is affecting the tone or anything, but it is quite annoying.
Any help, or info, or anything of any sort would be of a huge help.

Thank you all.


   
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(@scrybe)
Famed Member
Joined: 16 years ago
Posts: 2241
 

if the humbucker has fallen into the cavity, ther'e's a darn good chance it has had a detrimental effect on your tone (assuming you use that pup while playing, of course).

you could just replace the screw, and if that doesn't work, fill the hole and re-drill into it.

Ra Er Ga.

Ninjazz have SuperChops.

http://www.blipfoto.com/Scrybe


   
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(@ricochet)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 7833
 

It's screwed into wood, right?

This is "shadetree," not a professional repair: I've fixed things like that by first lightly coating the screw with oil, filling the hole with wood glue or Elmer's white glue, putting the screw in position and letting the glue dry. Makes new threads in the hole out of glue. Since the screw's oiled, the glue doesn't stick to it and it'll still turn. Wouldn't hold up to heavy use with lots of screwing in and out, but it's easily redone if needed.

"A cheerful heart is good medicine."


   
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(@espltdec50)
Active Member
Joined: 16 years ago
Posts: 6
Topic starter  

Yes, thank you to all. It is screwed into wood, and I think that filling the hole and rescrewing sounds like my best bet. So I should fill the hole up with wood glue then put the oiled screw in?

thanks again


   
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(@scrybe)
Famed Member
Joined: 16 years ago
Posts: 2241
 

yup, I reckon Ricochet's suggestion will work. I've added it to my list-of-useful-tips-from-GN. :D

Ra Er Ga.

Ninjazz have SuperChops.

http://www.blipfoto.com/Scrybe


   
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(@ricochet)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 7833
 

If you really want to fix it properly, you need to glue wood (perhaps a toothpick) in the hole to fill it, then drill a new hole of the proper size for the screw. But the quick and dirty fix mentioned above has worked well for me on several occasions.

"A cheerful heart is good medicine."


   
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(@espltdec50)
Active Member
Joined: 16 years ago
Posts: 6
Topic starter  

Thank you to everyone, and Mr. Elmer and his wonderful wood glue. I rigged up the screw and glue and let it sit overnight and today everything works fine. I'm pretty sure now that the humbucker is actually where its supposed to be instead of fallen in the cacvity that my tone sounds better now. A job well done my friends.


   
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(@ricochet)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 7833
 

Glad that worked for you.

"A cheerful heart is good medicine."


   
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(@trguitar)
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Joined: 17 years ago
Posts: 3709
 

I'm glad everything worked but I guess I'm just not understanding the problem or getting something here. The screws that adjust pickup height on a standard humbucker are actually bolts and don't go into the wood but rather thread through the side of the pickup itself. The pickup rings are held on by 4 wood screws. I'm perplexed. I've seen plenty a guitar where there is no pickup ring and the pickup is held in by the same screw that adjusts it, it does screw into wood, I own one, but when I looked this guitar up online it showed a humbucker with pickup rings. ???????

"Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard,
grow big, wear glasses if you need 'em."
-- The Webb Wilder Credo --


   
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