My SG is cursed

[solidhex]

So years ago I bought what was described on ebay as a 68 SG Standard body, no hardware pretty much totally stripped. Awesome project easy to get parts for etc. After buying a pickguard I discovered it was actually a Melody Maker SG. Not so easy to find parts for. I shelved it for a long time. Now I've started again in earnest. Got a repro pickguard, things running smooth. Got some Seymour Duncan pickups just to discover that regular strat sized single coils are a tiny bit smaller than the old Melody Maker single coils. Scratch pickguard number 2!!! Oh well. Now I've found as I tried to screw some tailpiece studs into the threaded inserts (still intact) that one of them has some sort of problem. The stud will screw in about a half inch and then get stuck! I'm beginning to think my SG is cursed. It seems determined to remain a SG shaped piece of wood sitting in the corner. I even missed a bid on ebay a couple years ago for a complete original pickguard with pickups and pots still wired and attached!!!

--Brad

 

[SG Lou]

Brad, Are you sure the stud you were trying to screw in was a Gibson piece? Reason I ask is because if it's an aftermarket stud,chances are its an import with Metric threads. Keep looking on eBay, I come across MM pups all the time.

 

[CharlieB]

you might have to get a new set of studs/bushings and replace them as a set - Stewmac has a bushing puller

Studs ought to have a thread of 5/16x16. Try running a bolt of that size down the holes if the bolts go, your bushings are fine, and the studs are the problem

 

[ScreaminG]

RUN QUICK GET THEM FAST RIGHT NOW BEFORE THEY ARE GONE FOR EVER

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=33040&item=7319796547&rd=1

 

[solidhex]

Yeah its strange. I have two studs leftover from my 63 SG. They both screw into the right bushing fine, but neither of them will screw into the left bushing. I'm thinking someone probably damaged the left bushing somehow. Both the bushings look original. I couldn't imagine how two differently threaded bushings would end up in one guitar but of course when dealing with a cursed guitar one never knows...

--Brad

 

[Sgmaniac]

If you have a tap & die set, re-thread the right one. 8)

 

[ScreaminG]

If you can thread it in 2 are 3 turns it is the right thread just go to a hardware store and get a tap should not cost much. Remember to put some oil on the tap first WD40 will work are motor oil. Good luck

 

[CharlieB]

Sorry, I strongly disagree.

1. If it gets in that far, it ought to go the rest of the way...
2. If you're chasing threads already cut, especially in a guitar, especially in brass... you dont need or want any lube at all, except perhaps to rub the tap on a candle and get a bit of wax on it. Oil will soak the wood, not a good thing. In fact, just a little parafin on the existing stud (or better yet a 5/16 bolt) will be all you probably need.

 

[skidshark]

maybe some crap got down in there.....

 

[solidhex]

The curse is starting to lose I think! After having to return my seymour duncan pickups when the polepieces weren't lining up with the strings I got the rail seymour duncans. Then I realized the bridge pickup would never get as close as I want to the strings due to the neck angle of the Gibson (the pickups weren't as tall as the Gibson pickups being strat replacements and all). I said screw it and bought a set of Melody Maker pickups on ebay. Once they get here the guitar will be complete. Then it will be off to the repairman.
The wax technique worked like a charm! Thanks CharlieB ! Threads seem fine now.

--Brad

 

[CharlieB]

snoproblemo