EMCI Repair Advice

Doug Garrick · From: Grand Junction, CO

I broke my EMCI D10 today. One of the two wood screws that fastens the LKR knee level to the bottom of the deck broke off today. It broke off below the surface of the deck so I guess I am forced into drilling / tapping it to extract the remains.

Does anyone have any tips or advice or precautionary steps before I start into the repair?

Thanks in advance. Doug Garrick
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-doug garrick

Dave Meis · From: Olympic Peninsula, Washington, USA

I'd consider moving the mount over a 1/4" or so with new holes if the screw is beneath the surface. If it was above the surface, I'd grab it with some vice grips and unscrew it.

Jerry Overstreet · From: Louisville Ky

This is really a job for someone with experience. You usually only get one chance using a drill and screw extractor. The broken screw must be drilled exactly center for the extractor. If the job is botched, you're screwed. I have 25 years in the automotive repair business, so I have seen this many times before in metal parts.

Looking at my guitar, I don't believe it's feasible to move the bracket. There are a few alternatives though.

Drill a new hole through the bracket beside the old one if there's room there. That will relocate the screw or:

Remove, plug, redrill etc. the material with the broken screw. You can buy a dowel rod or use an inexpensive plug cutting set to make a new plug after you remove the old material.

Measure the exact center, mark the diameter and use a hollow punch set and a small chisel to remove enough material to allow vice gripping the shaft of the broken screw, or continue deep enough to remove the entire area containing the screw.

You need to know what size the new plug will be and use a hollow punch of slightly smaller diameter.

Then the new plug can be glued in place, and a pilot hole drilled for the new screw.

Dowel rod will work, but it's end grain and not as strong. A better plug can be made using a plug cutter from the long running grain of some hardwood.

Of course hardware should be removed as necessary so that you don't have to work around it and have clear access to the area.

I have just acquired an MCI, and the way the reversing levers are designed seems to me to be a weak spot and my only concern so far.

I had the screws back out of the RKR and found they had been stripped out previously and the repair was insufficient.

I repaired it the same way as described above by both a new hole in the bracket and drilling and plugging the stripped out old ones.

I would recommend MCI owners check that the bracket mounting screws on the right acting lever brackets are tight and not allowing them to wiggle.

Per usual, I defer to the experts on the subject and those more familiar with MCI guitars. Bud is gone of course, but Jim Flynn appears to have experience with them. Probably a few others around here.

Doug Garrick · From: Grand Junction, CO

Thanks guys. I appreciate the advice. Those are all options I would not have come up with myself.
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-doug garrick

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