Stoptail bushing question

[dobbins]

Hi all.

Ok, the bushing of one of the stoptail studs of the TOM bridge on my NJ Eagle has come up about 1mm on the control knob side, I want to know will this affect the guitar much? It hasn't affected tuning or anything but it annoys the hell out of me just because I know it's there and I don't want it to get worse i.e. be 2mm+. I replaced the pickups on the guitar and it didn't have strings on for a couple of weeks, but could this really effect the bushings? The same thing happened on an Epi Les Paul I had as well, which had a Grover TOM bridge, and it annoyed the hell out of me purely for cosmetic reasons. I play predominantly in standard tuning, rarely in drop D. Is this a symptom of having a TOM bridge and I'm mental for it annoying me so much, or am I doing something wrong?

I appreciate that without a pic its hard to properly describe, but the lights too bad for me to get a close up.

Any ideas as to what I'm doing wrong?

Cheers

[impossible]

If I understand correctly, you're saying the actual bushing in the body has come out a little bit? If it's a tailpiece one rather than a bridge one, I would push it back in. Maybe best to take the strings off while you do it.

Put the guitar with the body resting on a flat (but soft/non-scratching) surface then try:

Leaning on it with your thumb or palm

Putting a small block of wood (scr@p wood, MDF, something dense) on top of the bush (or on top of the stud IN the bush) and leaning on that

Putting the wood on the bush or stud and tapping it with a hammer. The wood helps avoid denting, scratching or splitting the stud, and stops you hitting the guitar top and trashing your paint job too. You may need to tap lightly or firmly but don't hit it TOO hard if you encounter resistance.

If you have the cojones to take a hammer to your guitar then go for it, it's not an unusual problem to see tailpiece bushings lifting.

[FELINEGUITARS]

If I understand correctly, you're saying the actual bushing in the body has come out a little bit? If it's a tailpiece one rather than a bridge one, I would push it back in. Maybe best to take the strings off while you do it.

Put the guitar with the body resting on a flat (but soft/non-scratching) surface then try:

Leaning on it with your thumb or palm

Putting a small block of wood (scr@p wood, MDF, something dense) on top of the bush (or on top of the stud IN the bush) and leaning on that

Putting the wood on the bush or stud and tapping it with a hammer. The wood helps avoid denting, scratching or splitting the stud, and stops you hitting the guitar top and trashing your paint job too. You may need to tap lightly or firmly but don't hit it TOO hard if you encounter resistance.

If you have the cojones to take a hammer to your guitar then go for it, it's not an unusual problem to see tailpiece bushings lifting.

Well said Ben....

You might also try bleeding a little thin superglue down the join between bushing and wood if it wants to lift up again

[dobbins]

Cheers for you replies, I managed to get it it back into place by placing a thick sock over the bushing and tapping it gently with a hammer. then after I restrung it only came up a bit. It's still annoying but less than before. Here's a pic after its been fixed, but its still not flush.

[Philly Q]

Interesting problem, it's never happened on any of my guitars (but now I'm starting to worry it will....!  :? )

I wonder what causes it?  Soft wood?  The tailpiece sitting high up so there's more leverage to pull at the bushing?

[dobbins]

I wonder what causes it?  Soft wood?  The tailpiece sitting high up so there's more leverage to pull at the bushing?

It shouldn't be soft wood as it is a maple through-neck, and my epi was mahogany. In regards to the height, I originally had the stop-tail higher and after I fixed it I lowered it right down and that helped, so moral of the story is keep the stop-tail down.