Wood patch repair for a Floyd Rose bridge

[@Starliner428]

A creative solution carried out by a real craftsman. Excellent work!

[@BittenHand19]

There's just something satisfying about a really good chisel cutting through wood.

[@rockvillemike6062]

I have to do a similar repair to a Squire Strat I recently picked up, though just one side. Some notes from me; first I was an antique furniture repair person for over 30 years so I've learned a trick or two about mending and replacing wood. To repair the holes in the bottom of your cut out space, make a jig and use a forstner bit to flat bottom drill them until the hole is gone. Don't go thru the body, be careful. Use maybe a 3/4 in bit. Then use a 3/4 in plug cutter to make a plug to fill the hole you just drilled. When gluing the plug, use a chisel to make a small vertical cut in the side of it to release the glue pressure in the bottom as you drive it in and let excess glue escape. Put something very solid under it when you drive it in. If you can get a clamp on it that will work too. When it's bonded flatten the surface and then glue on your repair piece. When done like this when you insert the new posts it will help to retain the repair piece from pulling off from string pressure as if you'd put two big dowels into it down into the body. Just sayin' Mike

[@bretgetty4986]

Very impressed with your attention to detail. I loved this guitar and am glad I took it to Eric to repair!

[@timothyreheht6485]

I had to do the same thing on my strat recently. Quick tip: if you ever need to get those bushings out and there are no through-holes like at 12:48, you can take a long screw, fix the piece of wood in place against the screw head somehow (for example using steel clamps from a milling machine) and just drive the screw in to pull the bushing out. This will pull them out very cleanly, even if they are glued in.

[@UrquidiGuitars]

Dude, I'd rather watch a video of you sharpening that chisel! That's a sharp one!

[@michaelcarey9359]

Guys I've known would have taken a week and several hours work, $50 per hour minimum. Here, you show them all up and do it in 15 minutes. Beyond awesome.

[@thedonal]

Fantastic work- looks like an HRR Strat. I have one- they're notorious for this as they're basswood and prone to cracking if they take a bump. Had mine repaired twice so far, but not had a block of wood put in yet. About to drop a brass block into the Floyd on mine...

[@thanosdemopoulos539]

Very precisely done work. Wouldn't be maple more appropriate for this insert? Can you elaborate on the wood selection. Thank you.

[@DrKennyWang]

It likely had alder or ash as the original wood. Mahogany might affect tone. It’s also, in my experience, a “softer” wood, which might pose problems given the bridge routing

[@abeldeleon5901]

I have an Ibanez Jem that did the same thing years ago. Thanks for the idea's for possible fix.

[@bvnniesbvnnies6505]

Was really hoping youd also show the way you lay out drilling the new poat holes. Having that current issue with a floyd equipped guitar of mine. The recess is making laying out these new holes a night mare

[@BenCoultryAfishall]

I need to do something like this on my first electric. One leaning stud in the poor thing and I haven't been able to use it in a long time.

[@gregorp8406]

Great job!Precise, well thought. A very detailed and smart solution!

[@DreidMusicalX]

I wish I would have known 2 decades ago this could be fixed. I had a Fender that did the same thing on me back in 1998. Great job and if I ever come across it again, I know what to do.

[@Andyw1228]

Is that really sturdy enough to withstand strings tension only with glue and no clamps or dowels?

[@sebamusiclp78]

good how are you?? I watched the entire video but I have one thing left to know, what distance and how to measure it to install the floyd rose on a strat guitar? And what size to make the perforations? .greetings from Spain

[@cbeserra]

Exactly what I need to do to fix an old Ibanez RG. Great video!

[@arthurreckelberg6578]

i have the same issue

[@ericanderson8642]

Wish whoever did the repair on my RG would have watched this video beforehand

[@DrummClem]

THANK YOU ! I'm planning to revive a guitar that I was given, wich had a similar issue. I definitely will follow your instructions !

[@vivekteega]

Wow!! This is awesom I have a guitar with me right now with a similar issue, I had almost given up on getting it fixed

[@nehomarrichardson4063]

i have a similar problem, one stud whole is busted. major differece is the guitar doesnt have a pickguard to cover the new piece of wood. major bummer, need to think of a way to fix it

[@trinacria1956]

Realize this is an old post, but this points out the design problem w Floyd Rose if bridge pickup is humbucker there is very little space between it and posts! Since posts are designed to be at 25" from nut! Making a guitar now and thinking of moving pickup route 3/8" or so toward neck. Humbucker field so wide should not be too much treble loss. Besides, lot or rockers tune down to Eb anyway. My new favorite is the VegaTrem bridge.

[@billboyd1317]

That is some nice work, I have a strat style guitar that I want to get rid of the tremlo all together and replace with a kahler hybrid surface mount, need to fill the entire cavity front and back and am considering my options, leaning towards filling with wood..

[@edwardprayitnotamara9788]

Watch it in 2021. Nice work man

[@АртёмЧернявский-щ4й]

Hand work! Respect!

[@TheLastVigil]

Watched the whole thing even do it was not what I was searching for. Amazing job! Been looking around to see whether or not it would be possible to fully fill in an Ibanez RG7620's bridge cavity on the body so I can get rid of the Lo Pro Edge FR and put in something else that isnt a Floyd Rose because I hate them. Can't/wont sell the guitar either as it has real sentimental value to me. Theoretically I probably could, one would think.

[@michaelbattista1334]

I’m looking for the same

[@GetCalibrated]

Getting ready to do exactly this on a recessed floyd. Cheap wood/kit body. Mahogany grain, here I come, with a chisel and titebond glue.

[@seantalkingthroughthemedia4838]

I have an 07 dean razorback with a similar issue. I have shown it to 3 different guitar repair guys and they all told me it couldn't be fixed. I would pay u to fix it.

[@eht03]

I have an Ibanez Body With a Floyd Rose cut out. I dont want to rebuild with one. Whats the best way to repair the hole. It has a quilted maple top.

[@getenlightened]

How much wood is left between threaded insert and the pickup cavity, at the thinnest point? Hard to tell, but looks like maybe only 1/8"? You may not remember now, since this was a while ago. I'm about to install some threaded inserts and I'm a bit concerned there won't be enough wood to support the tension. Anyway, great job on the repair. Thanks for the video.

[@700bond700]

can you give links to the curved blade fret saw you used, and the jewelers saw? Thank you!

[@randylantz7951]

Check out Rockler. They have a lot of specialty tools

[@700bond700]

@@randylantz7951 thanks

[@gneric85]

Great video. I did a very similar repair to my 1977 Aria Pro II Flying V. It had an original non fine tuning Floyd Rose and the tremelo screws started tilting forward and downtuning on me. Used updated parts from StewMac and plays like when I first bought it in 1982.

[@kalleankaa7536]

Hi, nice repair. Do you mind sharing the proper drill bit you used for the bridge post

[@EricSchaeferGuitars]

Sorry, I don't remember. This was a while ago. I would try out a couple bit sizes on a scrap block to determine what gives a snug fit.

[@rodolfoamaralguitar]

Why does it happen? I think because some people remove the strings than the bridge forces the studs outside. If the tremolo is perfectly balanced it will not cause any tension to the wood I think.

[@maxmustardman298]

bc how a normal strat is routed on the top, and especially if theres a humbucker in the bridge. Little wood to support the posts toward the pickup and electronics cavity.

[@rosin6820]

I have a 1993 Ibanez Ex, my first guitar that has been my baby until an almost similar thing happened. How much does a job like that cost. I found a similar body that I was thinking of buying and just swapping the parts over, but I have some stickers on that guitar that I love and give my guitar character and the body is really light. So I would rather repair it if possible.

[@yeesenchai]

Great repair job!!! Is this a common thing basswood guitars suffer from trem post damage over long periods of time?

[@EricSchaeferGuitars]

I don't believe it is common, but I'm not all too familiar with the electric guitar world. I deal almost exclusively with acoustic guitars so this was a bit outside my usual wheelhouse.

[@chucklewismusic]

Great video. You are a tru craftsman.

[@scottdunn2178]

How did you tap in the bushings?

[@MrEstpas71]

Well done Eric! Skillfull solution!

[@jamiee172]

Pretty cool! That saved that body!

[@grandyduduoi5451]

Finally, your video help me to solve the problem.

[@lieciorodriguez]

I was going to change my guitar body for this same problem but watching this video I was wondering if there is a loss in the guitar sound

[@mpmonzon]

what happens if i dont have original stud?

[@ellerbrock-guitarandbassre6421]

Very nice work!

[@dtmateo]

What kind of wood was used in the original guitar body? What wood did you replace it with?

[@EricSchaeferGuitars]

This was awhile ago, so I'm not sure. The body was probably alder. I know the block was Honduran Mahogany,

[@DanGower]

Really nice job there!🤘🏼

[@abelfierro465]

Thumbs up! Whew are you located?

[@liamomatthews4661]

Hey I'm having problems with one of my guitars I was wondering if you could help me out . Give me a few pointers

[@mottosierra1372]

I have one with that same damage was my first guitar an looking a this video i know now how to repair very helpful

[@MrDalegray]

Did you make that wooden clamp you was using or is that something you can buy? It looked pretty handy.

[@EricSchaeferGuitars]

You can buy them. It's called a "wooden cam clamp." I've made some of them too. It's not too difficult. But they are also reasonably inexpensive to purchase.

[@westoy5622]

Dood that was awesome ! I have the reverse problem with an 82 Gibson Explorer want a stock set bridge with no Floyd rose

[@mmarcz]

Excellent work!

[@AvnerRosenstein-ULTRA-LXV]

very nice job sir! I thought it was messy as hell at first but it came out rather very nice!

[@theguitaruss]

Hi- I bought a strat body for a parts caster (I had everything laying around)... but the body didn't have the post holes drilled, on the recess for the FR... how did you determine the post placement on the new piece of wood you added to the body?

[@gneric85]

Carefully measuring out the scale is one way. I used templates when I did mine. :-)

[@doofwop]

I'd rather a block of maple or Australian Buloke than mahogany. Really need a tough piece of wood at the bridge pivots. Otherwise, great work. Although you could have made use of one of those little Dremel plunge router bases from StewMac to get the job done a little quicker it's good to see somebody with chisel chops.

[@jesusa.espino6408]

Tremolo caused problem just glue ?

[@stolenhal0]

Nails or screws are normally just to keep something in place until the glue dries.

[@gstube1]

You drilled the holes with a press or by hand?

[@pipelineaudio]

THANK YOU!!! For this video

[@imaxeman69]

Love is a sharp chisel.

[@carlmcgilton1120]

Unreal! amazing work with the chisels. Most people couldn't even see your solution in their minds.

[@s.h.guitarworks3309]

Excellent precise work! How much did you charge for this fix?

[@trevorcarron5722]

Nicely done 👍🏻👍🏻

[@josepintofernandes8654]

Hi super job how many time you take to do that?

[@EricSchaeferGuitars]

Thanks, Jose. That's the first time I've done a job like that. I don't really work on electrics. I get all of my experience from work on acoustics, which translates over to that kind of work pretty well.

[@joeyocampo6675]

Thank you for this video. I am having the same problem with my guitar. 👍

[@buggybunny5769]

What kind of glue did you use?

[@sanpedro5018]

A wood glue is needed for this kind of job. Titebond is fine.

[@EricSchaeferGuitars]

titebond original

[@AcongWiraTCG]

Good job

[@SixString_J5]

Very Nice work! My one nit pick is the wood choice. I'd have chosen a much harder wood than mahogany so the same issue doesn't happen again in the future.

[@christopherpons5807]

Hi there, what wood would you use?

[@SixString_J5]

@@christopherpons5807 Hard maple is cheaper and harder, would probably be my first choice.

[@pskemster]

Great work.🤙

[@romanlegion4282]

That is amazing.Good job.

[@guitarsbymetaljay]

Awesome job!! May I make a suggestion? Next time don't blow on your work while sawing underneath. It looks like you're over heating your knob while having a moment alone. 😆

[@KaosII1968]

Concavity???

[@SharpEdgeStandardOfficial]

Bahaha a door hinge? Omg I've seen it all! Too many HACKS out there who call themselves repair guys that's for sure that first job was total HACK status lol. I've done this same repair as you did literally same exact way about 3 or 4 times last 10 yrs or so. Great work! That's how Dan E would have done it as well! As dan would say "that's a really nice repair job that will last forever"

[@maxmustardman298]

not sure if the mahagony wont give as well after some heavy use

[@raphael1395]

This is the exact problem of my ibanez that i can't fix 😔😔😔

[@stolenhal0]

Same because mine is a model without a pickguard.

[@Swanlord05]

Nice job..... I would have told dude to buy another cheap body... Labor costs 💵

[@joshuamichael4312]

Those poor electronics covered in saw dust lol. Good job on the repair though!

[@johnzapper1652]

I think Dan Erlewine's job is safe.

[@robertsroberts1688]

sweet

[@JustAdude291]

Hahaha video length is 1337. LEET craftsmanship indeed

[@EricSchaeferGuitars]

Lol Had to google LEET. Now I get it.

[@JustAdude291]

@@EricSchaeferGuitars hahaha! I didn't think anyone would get it, no one says it anymore. That made me happy seeing you understand it now XD

[@henryfearless3017]

That's not gonna last too long. You should have dovetailed that piece instead.

[@DougHinVA]

No guy but a luthier will have really sharp chisels and use them so much. Be realistic...