One Of The Strap Buttons Just Came Off My Bass

Malice

So there I was a few minutes ago happily playing away when all of a sudden I felt the bass start to drop to the floor. I assumed that I just hadn't tightened the strap locks enough so I sat down to make sure they were nice and tight. It was then that I noticed I had nothing to tighten the strap on to. Instead I had a nice big gaping whole where a screw should be!



I hunted around the floor for a bit until I found it.



Now I'm unsure about how to proceed. Is this kind of repair easy enough to do myself or should I drop it into a repair shop just to be on the safe side?

Thankfully there doesn't seem to be any damage to the guitar itself and there's no part of the screw left inside the body of the guitar, not like in this thread.

I see a few people in this thread recommending trying matchsticks and glue and then screwing the screw in again. As the guitar in question is a six string bass, would the extra tension or weight make any difference?

CianRyan

The ends of some match sticks and a dollop of super glue usually does the trick man.

Just put some super glue into the hole, break off some match stick ends, to the length needed and screw back in. Gotta do it all pretty quickly so the glue doesn't dry to fast though.
If that doesn't work then take it to a specialist, I've never had to though.

-=al=-

yeah i cut up little squared mm of matchsticks and shove those little bits in with some glue, then redrill the screw in, works fine for me

just shove it all in, let it set a minute then screw the mofo in again

mattfender

My screw in my tele is glued in for life haha, still loose though but fails to come out :pac:

Adyx

mattfender wrote: »

My screw in my tele is glued in for life haha, still loose though but fails to come out :pac:

I had a mate drop my Epiphone Les Paul after strap came away from the button. Not a big deal, no damage was done and it was only an Epiphone Les Paul Custom ( I don't care, it is a smashing guitar even if it is only an Epiphone). I'm a bassist foremost so the Epi is only gigged as a backup.

Anyway long story short, one of the guitarists in my band breaks a string on his Ibanez whatever and as my Les Paul is backup, uses that for the gig, only the replacement locking strap button screw decides to come loose just before our gig started (this all happened last Sunday). Cue duct tape wrapped around the screw until it was tight enough to fit in the hole again. Point is why aren't replacement strap button screws large enough? This is a problem I've encountered several times. I now use one of these so I didn't have to repace the strap buttons on my current bass.

Malice

Thanks for the responses guys.

CianRyan wrote: »

The ends of some match sticks and a dollop of super glue usually does the trick man.

Just put some super glue into the hole, break off some match stick ends, to the length needed and screw back in. Gotta do it all pretty quickly so the glue doesn't dry to fast though.
If that doesn't work then take it to a specialist, I've never had to though.

-=al=- wrote: »

yeah i cut up little squared mm of matchsticks and shove those little bits in with some glue, then redrill the screw in, works fine for me

just shove it all in, let it set a minute then screw the mofo in again

I followed the posts above more or less. The only difference was that I used wood glue rather than super glue. I'll test out the button this evening and let you know how I got on.

sugarman wrote: »

Get a small piece of dowel wood and wood glue. Cut it to size and Jam it right in there and leave it a day or 2 to fully dry and harden.

Next sand it so that its level with the rest of the body and smooth so that if you run your fingers over it you wont feel the difference between the fill and the rest of the body.

Then just make a new hole. The best way is to use a smaller drill bit, like fairly small, then thread the hole with the screw threads firmly and slowly with a screwdriver.

Should'nt be able to tell the difference.

This sounded like an awful lot of work plus the idea of taking a drill to a guitar seems very dangerous. I'd be afraid of damaging the guitar.

Adyx wrote: »

I now use one of these so I didn't have to repace the strap buttons on my current bass.

That's the same kind of strap I have. Maybe I've misunderstood your post but if the strap button comes out (as happened to me) how does the strap lock help? It's locked onto the strap button which is now floating in thin air!

mattfender

Adyx wrote: »

I had a mate drop my Epiphone Les Paul after strap came away from the button. Not a big deal, no damage was done and it was only an Epiphone Les Paul Custom ( I don't care, it is a smashing guitar even if it is only an Epiphone). I'm a bassist foremost so the Epi is only gigged as a backup.

Anyway long story short, one of the guitarists in my band breaks a string on his Ibanez whatever and as my Les Paul is backup, uses that for the gig, only the replacement locking strap button screw decides to come loose just before our gig started (this all happened last Sunday). Cue duct tape wrapped around the screw until it was tight enough to fit in the hole again. Point is why aren't replacement strap button screws large enough? This is a problem I've encountered several times. I now use one of these so I didn't have to repace the strap buttons on my current bass.

nice guitar that! duct tape works grand too, even for extra security if your strap buttons completely fine. and looks awesome anyway:pac:

Adyx

malice_ wrote: »

That's the same kind of strap I have. Maybe I've misunderstood your post but if the strap button comes out (as happened to me) how does the strap lock help? It's locked onto the strap button which is now floating in thin air!

Sorry I was quite drunk last night when I posted and should have been clearer . That's exactly what happened at the gig, the screws that came with the strap lock are too small to replace the screws originally in the guitar which is why I now use the above strap because it can be used without modifying the buttons.

mattfender wrote: »

nice guitar that! duct tape works grand too, even for extra security if your strap buttons completely fine. and looks awesome anyway:pac:

Well it is only a temporary fix. I don't trust it to stay in for long but it survived the gig so can't complain.

-=al=-

why i never bother with those screw in type strap locks :pac:

now get it sorted!

Malice

Adyx wrote: »

Sorry I was quite drunk last night when I posted and should have been clearer . That's exactly what happened at the gig, the screws that came with the strap lock are too small to replace the screws originally in the guitar which is why I now use the above strap because it can be used without modifying the buttons.

Ah, that's fine, I understand now . That's pretty much exactly why I use that type of strap.