Gibson Tune-O-Matic Bridge Screw Keeps Falling Out.

Toopy14

Axe-Master
So I just learned something that most people probably already know, but I thought I would share my new found knowledge anyway.

A while back I was playing my Les Paul and noticed a screw on the floor. I picked it up and thought, hmmm, that looks like a saddle screw. Sure enough, one was missing. So, I put the screw back in, adjusted the intonation and all was good or so I thought.

A couple of weeks ago, I happened to notice the screw was missing again. Fortunately, after crawling around the carpet for 15 minutes, I was able to find it. This time I didn't put it back in, thinking that it would just fall out again if the screw or saddle was stripped. I figured I would be replacing the bridge or at least the saddle and screw.

After doing some searching and research, I stumbled across this video;

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Here's a screen capture;

1598971432719.png

I had no idea there was a retaining clip in there that fits around a groove on the screw shaft and holds the screw and saddle in place when you replace the strings or remove the bridge.

I recently replaced the nut on the guitar, so when I had the strings and bridge off, that clip must have come loose and fallen off. I also learned the clips can be a source of rattling or buzz, if not seated properly.

Fortunately, Stewmac sells them;

https://www.stewmac.com/parts-and-h...ville-tune-o-matic-saddle-retainer-clips.html

I'm going remove the saddle, just to confirm the clip is indeed missing. I need to glue the nut on the guitar anyway, after one more little tweak, so good time to do it.
 
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