Mandocaster tailpiece/bridge pulling up

[Paul Busman]

At practice last night I couldn't pull my Eastman Mandocaster's strings up to pitch. They kept dropping down almost instantly. A bit of examination revealed that the bridge/tailpiece was pulling up from the face of the instrument. The two screws closest to the neck seem OK, but the three closest to the tail button have pulled up, allowing the metal plate to pull up about 1/16".
I immediately slackened the strings and when I got home I pulled one of those screws out. They are laughable! Extremely thin and short and clearly not adequate to do the job.
What's my best/easiest fix? Would epoxy on the screw threads hold them down OK?
I suppose the best would be to redrill the bridge for beefier and longer screws but that would entail removing the metal plate. I JUST put on a new set of flatwound strings and I don't want to lose them.

[Jacob]

Fixing Stripped Wood Screws by Frank Ford, Frets.com.

[buchrob]

The original bridge on these could use an upgrade.

http://www.moongazermusic.com/bridges.html

If you don't want to spend that much, you can drill right thru the body and install ferrules for 4 of the strings which will equalize the pressure by pulling down on the bridge. The standard bridge is actually designed for this feature, but most of the clone mfgrs use a sloppy string path that winds around the springs and applies undue lift pressure on the dinky rear screws.

Below, some pix of the ferrule modification:



If you decide just to patch the holes, you will become very proficient at that repair, because you risk the chewed up area getting bigger and bigger and you will become paranoid every time you see the smallest lift, which will of course continue due to the forces involved.

[mandroid]

NB FF is talking about tuner plate mounting screws, not bridge plates.

given its a solid slab body , there are brass thread-in inserts to go in the wood,
then you would use machine screws to hold down the bridge plate.

it will look the same when you are done ..


I've had loops unwind and so never coming up to proper tension
until the loop was un done.



I have a thru body ferrule style on my Fender FM61,
in there it would be better , if you can get 8 .

2 in one means both have to be loosened
when 1 breaks because the heads jam into each other .

IMO, a recessed plate with 8 holes in it, would help.

[Paul Busman]

I think I'll try the easy route first and fill the holes. I've used that trick before for many applications, but was thinking that maybe there's something better for my 'caster. I don't want to spend a lot for a new bridge and plate, although if this doesn't work, I may spring for it.
From my penny whistle work, I have lots of scraps of hardwoods which I can use to make filler plugs which may hold up better than toothpick material. Next option, I might just re drill the plate right on the mando and put in longer and beefier screws.

[thistle3585]

Just shoot longer screws in to it. If the existing are 1" then go to 1.25" or 1.5". If you are careful, you shouldn't need to predrill them and the screw will have good bite. If it makes you feel better than predrill them. You don't need to remove the strings or the bridge. Just slacken them so you can get them out of the way as you do the work. You can even undo the saddles completely and pull them up the string and out of the way. Very common problem. No big deal at all.

My experience with those instruments is that they are made from a soft wood, so that doesn't surprise me much.

[Paul Busman]

Final solution-- the screws that came with the mando are like #2, 3/4" flat heads. I bought some #6, 1.24" screws to replace those sorry things. I drilled the bottom plate holes, but not the wood. I did this right on my drill press, doing one hole at a time. The new screws pulled that plate down nice and flat, and those bad boys aren't going anywhere! They sit a bit proud of the metal plate, but you don't really notice it unless you're looking. Well worth it for the extra security.