Could use advice on a stubborn bottom lag screw on an original Gibson neck. Won’t turn. Should I heat it? Recommendations? Thought since I asked one question might as well ask another! Might be my lucky day.
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Could use advice on a stubborn bottom lag screw on an original Gibson neck. Won’t turn. Should I heat it? Recommendations? Thought since I asked one question might as well ask another! Might be my lucky day.
DoctorB... Glad you popped the question before you popped the lag screw. The bottom lag screw on Gibson banjos made prior to late 1925 were actually an "L" anchor embedded in the neck, and it cannot be unscrewed. There are a few ways to tell which ones can be removed and which ones can't: The early lag screws had an 8-32 thread where they attach to the coordinator rods. The upper lag screw had a #8 wood screw that went into the neck (it can be unscrewed). However, if you look carefully at the lower lag screw you'll see a small filler strip in the neck heel between the lag screw and the neck's heel cap. This filler strip covered up the slot what was cut into the neck to allow insertion of the lower "L"-shaped anchor screw.
Later versions had a 10-32 machine thread (where the coordinator rods attached) and a #10 wood screw at the other end. Both of these lag screws can be un-threaded from the neck. Best way to do this is to attach TWO 10-32 hex nuts to the lag screw, snug them up against each other, and use a small open-end wrench on the INSIDE nut to unscrew the lag screw.
Roger
Glad to see you here Roger... And best wishes for your retirement!
-- Don
Don...Thanks for the nice comment. While I'm retiring from daily production of banjo and mandolin parts and kits, I'm certainly going to keep my fingers in the music biz, and I hope you'll see me on this site a lot.
Best,
...R