Old guitar with neck plate bolt broken inside the body...

brooom

So I was shipping a 60s Morales mosrite and the shipper unbolted the neck plate to package neck and body separately... result, is that the bolt were quite old and rusted (I bought the guitar to restore it) and one of them snapped inside the body wood.

Is there a way of removing it without having to remove the wood around the bolt and then using a dowel, or is this the only solution?

I reckon this is going to be a trip to feline guitars most likely.

Zoolooter

It will need drilling out. Not hard to do but a drill on a stand and vice for the neck will be required.

ICBM

If it's snapped and is stuck in the body, remove the neck and simply drive it out from the pocket side.

If you mean it's snapped in the neck and you can't get a grip on it with anything, the best method is usually to heat it with a soldering iron - use a small amount of solder to get a good thermal contact - then when it's hot enough, just before the wood starts to smoke, let it cool down and as it does, grab the end of it with some fine-nose pliers and wind it out. The wood will shrink back more slowly than the metal so it should be possible to turn it without a huge amount of force. If you chew up the wood around the hole slightly it won't matter, as long as it's not too deep.

p90fool

If it's in the body I'd slowly push it out with a drill press rather than hit it. That way you can feel and hear how it's reacting before you go too far. 

merciful-evans

You can get a tool for this. Its commonly called an 'easy out'. They are essentially special drill bits used with power drills (though a bench drill would be best). Its used with a reverse direction. The tip will bite into the damaged bolt/screw and 'undo it'. You want a very slow speed for this. Ideally a variomatic drill with trigger control.

I broke the tremelo arm on my Strat when I was still  a teenager. The threaded part was way down inside the trem block. My dad used an easy out to extract it. Was I impressed? You bet. He earned massive kudos for that. 

Henrytwang

You could try a stud extractor. You drill a small hole in the broken screw and screw the extractor into the hole. The extractor has a thread that is opposite that of the  the screw so as you tighten it it unscrews the broken screw.

brooom

thanks for all the tips, will revisit this thread as soon as it arrives. I'll also try to take photos.

HarrySeven

brooom said:

...remove the wood around the bolt and then using a dowel...

This is my preferred (and often the most straightforward) approach.

brooom

true, it probably is... I'm trying to avoid it if I can, but it is the backup plan.

ICBM

HarrySeven said:

brooom said:

...remove the wood around the bolt and then using a dowel...

This is my preferred (and often the most straightforward) approach.

But produces the least strong result. Although if you use a side-cut plug rather than a dowel it’s much better.

That’s why I prefer to use heat to get the broken screw out - even if the hole then needs repairing, it’s stronger.

brooom

@ICBM ; - what type of soldering iron do you use (power wise) for this type of repair?

ICBM

30W. It doesn’t really matter, even a little one will do - it just takes longer. Wood is a fairly good thermal insulator.

vonLayzonfon

merciful-evans said:

You can get a tool for this. Its commonly called an 'easy out'. They are essentially special drill bits used with power drills (though a bench drill would be best). Its used with a reverse direction. The tip will bite into the damaged bolt/screw and 'undo it'. You want a very slow speed for this. Ideally a variomatic drill with trigger control.

Sets of these are frequently available in Aldi for a few quid. My local one currently has them in again. I bought some a while back in case they came in handy. Not had cause to use them yet, so I can't speak to their quality.

merciful-evans said:

I broke the tremelo arm on my Strat when I was still  a teenager. The threaded part was way down inside the trem block. My dad used an easy out to extract it. Was I impressed? You bet. He earned massive kudos for that. 

I did this to a friend's Strat (copy) many years ago. I was being a div and doing the Steve Vai lifting the guitar up by the whammy and shaking it business.     He said his dad would drill it out for him. Never did find out if he got it sorted.

HarrySeven

ICBM said:

Although if you use a side-cut plug rather than a dowel it’s much better.

^This.