I'm working on a 1982 Ibanez Blazer that came with a strat style tremolo bridge. I was originally going to replace it with a new one from Wilkinson (a Wilkinson WVC SB made by Sung-Il in Korea), but the new one doesn't fit. I think that the guitar's original tremolo plate is a little longer from front to back than a standard strat tremolo.
After I cleaned all the grunge and tarnish off of the original bridge, I took a better look at it and it looks like it was made pretty well. I'm going to try to find a place where I can get the plate and saddles chromed so that they match the rest of the hardware that is now on the guitar and use them with a new hardware kit like the one Callaham sells.
However, the original block has a broken screw stuck in it. The head is broken off and the shaft of the screw is stuck in the hole. I think the broken off piece of the screw might even have a piece of a drill bit in it from someone trying to drill it out. So I thought I'd ask here to see if anyone has any broken screw removal secrets before I tried to get it out myself or take it somewhere to have it done. I really want to make sure not to mess up the threads in the brass block, since I don't know if that is a standard size either.
Also, the block screws that came with the bridge are also brass and are a little bit longer than the ones that came with the Wilkinson, so I thought I'd ask if anyone had any idea where I could get new ones to fit. (Only one of the screws is original.) I've tried hardware stores and home centers but I haven't seen anything close.
Sorry for the non-Warmoth content, but I've browsed a bunch of other guitar forums and the people here seem to be much more knowledgeable than most other places. Someday I hope to put together a Pelham blue Warmoth LPS style and this project is my "try it on a cheaper guitar first" one.
Thanks in advance.
After I cleaned all the grunge and tarnish off of the original bridge, I took a better look at it and it looks like it was made pretty well. I'm going to try to find a place where I can get the plate and saddles chromed so that they match the rest of the hardware that is now on the guitar and use them with a new hardware kit like the one Callaham sells.
However, the original block has a broken screw stuck in it. The head is broken off and the shaft of the screw is stuck in the hole. I think the broken off piece of the screw might even have a piece of a drill bit in it from someone trying to drill it out. So I thought I'd ask here to see if anyone has any broken screw removal secrets before I tried to get it out myself or take it somewhere to have it done. I really want to make sure not to mess up the threads in the brass block, since I don't know if that is a standard size either.
Also, the block screws that came with the bridge are also brass and are a little bit longer than the ones that came with the Wilkinson, so I thought I'd ask if anyone had any idea where I could get new ones to fit. (Only one of the screws is original.) I've tried hardware stores and home centers but I haven't seen anything close.
Sorry for the non-Warmoth content, but I've browsed a bunch of other guitar forums and the people here seem to be much more knowledgeable than most other places. Someday I hope to put together a Pelham blue Warmoth LPS style and this project is my "try it on a cheaper guitar first" one.
Thanks in advance.
