i bought a jazzmaster with no strap buttons on it and the holes that are there are stripped. i dont want to put a longer, larger screw in there for fear of going into the trem cavity. i have heard about people using dowels or toothpicks to remedy a problem like this. its seems if i put a piece of wood in there and then put a screw in it would put too much pressure on the hole itself maybe causing the surrounding wood to split. my question is...is doing this trick a god fix and have any of you had luck with it?

Probably every Luthier in the world has used the toothpick method to fix a hole like that.

Personally I have several guitars that I have used toothpicks in.

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I didn't Lose my mind, I traded it for this guitar.

regular cardboard matches work best for me.
vman123, welcome to the Forum.

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

If you're worried about cracking the wood after you put in the toothpicks redrill the hole with a bit small than thescrew. Wrap some tape around the bit about the length of the screw from the tip of the bit. That way you won't drill in too far.

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Tune Low, Play Hard & Floor it!

I've done this with my Tie Dye Strat when I put in the strap locks, worked well. And I put a little wood glue on the toothpick as well for extra hold.

The best repair you could do would be to find a hardwood dowel, larger than the stripped hole but smaller than the button so it would be covered up. Drill the stripped hole so that tapping the dowel in would be a pressed fit. Glue the dowel in place and finish the end to match the shape of the guitar. You'll have to mask the guitar so as not to ruin the existing finish. Drill the dowel for the proper size screw and remount the button. Shouldn't take that long to do the repair.

On a follow up thought... if you have the dowel just a hair too short, you could tap it into the hole far enough so no trimming would be required but still have enough virgin material for the new pilot hole for the screw.

Hey vman123,
I started a thread on this subject a few months ago that actually generated a healthy debate between the "matchstick" type repair versus the "drill and dowel" repair. You may find it an interesting read.

http://www.fender.com/community/forums/ ... rap+button

I thought both arguments had valid points, and was waffling about which approach to take. In the end, because of my lack of access to decent woodshop, and not wanting to pay a tech for this particular repair, I opted for the matchstick approach. So far, so good.

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“All music is folk music, I ain't never heard no horse sing a song.” Louis Armstrong

Good points....Both will work, whatever is easier and handy.

Toothpicks and household glue will fix you up nicely.

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"Life is like eating jalapenos. What you do today may burn your arse tomorrow"