Jem7V rear cavity blues.

[amahran]

So I've owned this guitar for almost a year and I'm already suffering a major problem. Sadly, I can't explain this using words without creating ambiguity, so I'll take you on a (rather short) virtual adventure with me.






And to conclude our virtual tour, that philips screw is damaged and grinded down, and is hard to screw (bad choice of words, I know).

Any ideas? I can't buy anything from the Ibanezrules website because, well, I don't have a paypal and Rich sadly doesn't accept debit cards
Needless to say, I can't drag this thing to a guitar store because it's -15 outside, I have no car, this university's in the middle of nowhere, and any guitar store I go to will probably tell me to get a new guitar (Just talking from experience here).


I'd like to apologize in advance for any facepalms this thread induces.

[The Euphor]

[amahran]

Well that's a rather blunt way of putting it. I have no access to a hardware store, though, nor do I have any tools other than a Swiss Army Knife and the standard Jem multitool.

[The Euphor]

Couldn't find any good pictures of a janitor. I'm not sure if this is as cool, but I'll try.

Janitor > tools > unscrew > talk to an adult with a car and some good will > send screw with said adult to shop - or if possible join for the ride > buy new screw > also buy decent tool to avoid next screw being stripped > make sure you get a ride back to university > screw > deal with the guitar > win.

How is Waterloo these days?

Edit: Besides, there's a hardware store 20 minutes away from your university. Yes, that's 20 minutes of walking. It's OK, you will survive.

[amahran]

I suppose that could work....but wouldn't I need a very specific sort of screw?

How is Waterloo these days? Well.......more or less as it always was. Quiet and miserably stagnant city.

And considering the weather outside, sure I'll survive, but I'm worried about the guitar (the snow here's knee deep).

[Angra1]

This is a job for needle-nose vise grip pliers.

[worldrecordholder]

This is a job for needle-nose vise grip pliers.

WE HAVE A WINNER! These are exactly what I would use.

Or....

You could use a 1/32" cut off wheel on a die grinder to slot the ends of the screws so you could use a flat screwdriver to remove the screw....

Or....

Drill down the center of the damaged screw far enough to get a screw extractor tapped in and remove it with the extractor.

Or.....

Mask the area and weld a bolt to the end of the damaged screw face, this will allow you to use a box open end wrench to remove the screw.

There are a few other ways, but the needle nose vice grips (while less fun) will be the easiest.

~JH

[amahran]

So.....what type of screw am I supposed to use as a replacement?

[CosmicDebris]

Nuke the site from orbit. It is the only way to be sure.

[LonePhantom]

Take the screw with you to the hardware store and match it with something with the same thread and diameter, length, etc. Someone at the hardware store will be able to help you. It's certainly not a special item. I've bought screws for the spring claw at my local hardware before. Not necessarily the exact same thing, but something that would do the exact same job.

And buy some decent screw drivers while you're there so it doesn't happen again.

[Swirltop]

Also... find one of your extra springs and try to use it so you don't have to drive the screws so far into the body next time

[Algiman]

Simple though that is to fix, if you don't have the correct tools, don't do it - get someone to drive you to a shop. It was using incorrect tools that caused that damage in the first place. A decent guitar store (where they do set up and repair work) will probably just give you replacement screws - you need 2 because the other one is also knackered. That is a 5 min repair job, talk to them nicely and they'll probably fix it for you for the price of a new set of strings.