Bass took a hit and ...

[Bob C]

My LB70 got bumped on the headstock and it jarred the G tuning peg out of whack. I pushed it back and it seems to work fine. And I have a couple spare tuners anyway.

BUT the tiny screw that holds it from the back got sheared off. Is there a way to fix this? You can't really use an "easy out" on that small of a screw.

The nut on the front side does most of the work. I disassembled and reassembled the tuner and put the string back on. Seems okay. But not "good as new", right?

[spudmunkey]

Only thing I could think of is to drill it out, plug it with a dowel, and re-drill.

There are also precision screw extractor sets:
https://www.ifixit.com/Store/Tools/Prec ... sIQAvD_BwE

[Bob C]

I had considered the dowel idea. How much of a chance is there that the dowel might eventually work its way loose?

[spudmunkey]

I had considered the dowel idea. How much of a chance is there that the dowel might eventually work its way loose?

The dowel working it's way loose is the least likely of any problems that could arise as it would be glued in. Other problems: without the right tools, it's tricky to drill a clean hole, and it's very easy for the drill to pull itself too deep. I'm lucky as I've got a drill press, and a nice forstner bit set so if I *had* to, I could do it...but I'd still be nervous on a finished piece like a whole guitar, especially a neck-through! But something a real luthier should be able to do in their sleep.

Alternatively, you could drill a new tiny hole NEXT to the existing broken screw to maybe give you some wiggle room to pull the screw out, and then to fill the hole left by the screw with epoxy, drive in a new screw and let it dry/cure. You may not be able to remove that tuner later, though. Ha!

[Bob C]

spudmunkey,

I read you loud and clear. I have some carpentry and DIY know-how, but this is kind of like neurosurgery.

I need to really not rush into this. The nut on the front does most of the work. How vital is it to have that screw in there?

[skully13a]

Well, there's a reason they put it there. You could PROBABLY get away without it, but my previous statement applies.
YMMV.

[Bob C]

Agreed.

[wickid]

Only thing I could think of is to drill it out, plug it with a dowel, and re-drill.

There are also precision screw extractor sets:
https://www.ifixit.com/Store/Tools/Prec ... sIQAvD_BwE

I wish I knew of these things when I got a Bolt off of ebay and wanted to simply swap the chrome Sperzels for black. I mean, how hard could that have been? Nope, the set pins came out of the tuner body and were flush with the headstock. EZout didn't do it (but it was quite larger, even the smallest I had ... and I haven't had success with those yet, in like 3 tries). Trying to screw a screw into the hole in this set pin gripped it for a moment, but wouldn't pull it out, and probably widened the hole anyway.

I went caveman, pounded the set pins deeper into the headstock with a nail (all 6!! it took FOREVER!!!), and installed the new ones on top. This actually worked w/o splitting the headstock or the pins coming thru the other side. I think it may have both pushed them in AND smushed them up a bit as they are hollow tubes, really. I don't recommend it, but if you got the guts and are that desperate ...

[Don]

Here's a method if you don't mind buying some expensive bits.
http://www.stewmac.com/How-To/Online_Resources/Learn_About_Repair_Tools_and_Repair_Techniques/Repairing_a_broken-off_tuner_screw.html

I've gotten similar results by drilling around the perimeter of the broken screw with the smallest bit that I had, by hand with a pin vise, removing the screw, drilling the hole to make it round, then plugging. The plug was hidden by the tuner.

[Bob C]

Thanks. Just before I saw your link, I was thinking "I'll bet Stew-Mac has something that will work". Did you use a dowel for the plug? If so, what size?

[Don]

I did use a dowel, though a plug cut with the grain going the other way is technically better (though probably not necessary).

I sized the final hole and dowel based on how much wood was removed when pulling out the screw. It depends on the screw size and the diameter of the tiny bit used. This was over 20 years ago so I don't remember.

[Bob C]

I ended up going the toothpick route. I was able to dig the screw out while only removing a little bit of the surrounding surface wood.Then I squirted in glue, pounded in two toothpicks, let dry, trimmed them and redrilled. The new screw went in really tightly. Will it last for years or even months? I'm not sure, but I can still do the dowel method in the future.

[Don]

That'll last a long time. There's no force trying to pull out the screw, just a pushing it sideways.

[UnexplodedCow]

I've had this happen before, and my resolution required time and a steady hand.

I took a rotary tool (dremel, proxxon, whatever you fancy), put a diamond needle burr in it, about the size of the screw, and slowly ground it to dust. The hole was slightly enlarged, and while it would have worked, I didn't want the replacement screw to loosen over time, so I used some wood glue and wood dust, filling in the hole. Once cured (I gave it a couple days), I re-drilled the hole, and put the new screw in. The total process (actual work) took 2-3 hours, but that was because I only had those tools on hand at the time. However, I've had plenty of practice drilling busted exhaust manifold bolts out of aluminum cylinder heads, and use the same approach. Worst case scenario is that I have to use a helicoil insert if the bolt is extremely stubborn, and all other methods have failed.

[Bob C]

Unexploded Cow,

Thanks. I did a similar fix, though not as elaborate as yours. Last time I checked, the bass was fine. But I don't gig every week and I'm mainly using my brand new AB4, so the repaired LB70 is a backup.