Official Luthiers Forum!

A friend of mine who is left-handed bought himself a second hand a lefty but he plays upside down (reverse shapes) on a right handed string-up which means changing around the nut and bridge angle on this guitar. The reason he bought this was that he will have the control knobs the right way around and not get in the way of his playing. I've changed the nut for him but reversing the angle of the tail piece is a different story. I'm an acoustics builder and haven't done much with electrics and my question is about the threaded bushes that takes the anchor posts which I believe are just pressed in. My intention is to extract them, plug the holes and re-drill holes in the reverse position to set the posts at the correct angle and intonation for the wrap-over tail-piece. Will these bushes lift by levering the posts with a small crow bar type tool which I've seen on the Stew-Mac catalog? Or am I barking up the wrong tree and there is another way to do this?

Any advice would be gratefully received.

Bill S.

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Dream to be a luthier

Someone here on this forum, (unfortunately I forget who) helped me in extracting these bushings, so I'll pass along what he told me.
Get a small piece of wood to lay on top of the guitar( I like to use a piece of leather underneath this to help protect the guitar's finish), screw the studs in the bushings enough so that they're solidly in, and take a claw hammer, and using the piece of wood as a fulcrum and the claw hammer as a lever, slowly and carefully pull each bushing. Works like a charm.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

Thanks Mike, I thought about using a claw hammer but then again I needed someone to confirm that they can be pulled out in this manner.

Bill

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Dream to be a luthier

I have successfully used sockets from a mechanics socket set to extract the bushes.
The inside socket diameter must be larger than the bushing to be removed. Just place the socket over the bushing (with some padding underneath) and then wind in the screw with maybe a washer under the head. If the screw isn't long enough, find a bolt of the same thread.

This is a much safer way than using a claw hammer as it will extract the bushing vertically rather than pulling it to one side.

Bob

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http://www.bobmatthewsguitars.co.uk

Sorry Bob I'm not sure I understand what you are saying...can't get my head around it. As I don't posses a socket set (only wood tools) I can't picture what you mean.

Bill

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Dream to be a luthier

Just imagine a short length of thick walled metal tube where the inside diameter is larger than the bushing. Place the tube over the bushing and tighten a bolt into the bushing threads, use a suitable washer under the bolt head. This will provide upward pressure on the bushing and extract it very easily and without any damage so long as you pad the underside of the tube.

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http://www.bobmatthewsguitars.co.uk

Ahh...Now I'm getting the picture, I sketched a diagram to figure it out.

Thanks
Bill

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Dream to be a luthier

Bob, your method worked like a charm. I used a piece of a brass plumbing fixture, it had just the right diameter with a flange resting on a bit of corked coaster for protection. I just screwed down the post on top of a big washer and out they popped!

Thanks again,

Bill

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Dream to be a luthier

Excellent news Bill

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http://www.bobmatthewsguitars.co.uk

This is a brilliant solution by the way !!

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It's this new idea from recent decades that everyone gets a participation award. - MUX