retropicker - Posted - 07/25/2009:  09:10:24

Bought a cheap beginer reso guitar and have it apart. Being a cheapo I figure there's more than a bit of setup work needed. This was an understatement...

The cone was screwed down and a pickup under the bridge was routed through the spider and tension screw hole in the cone. The spider wobbles bad. Plastic bridge and nut. Nowhere to go but up.

After looking through some setup websites especially a beauty at Stew Mac I see there should be a screw through the spider and into the cone. Both holes and threads are there and in the palm rest. This is a new old stock early 80s guitar and the cone actually looks and sounds pretty good.

So I pulled the pickup and want to insert a tension screw. Should this screw be brass, steel, stainless and should a washer be used?

Also is there any resource for a good, detailed, exploded view of a disassembled reso guitar?

This is a roundneck slide, not a lap guitar.

Thanks,
Frank

Slideman1939 - Posted - 07/25/2009:  11:21:30

Slideman suggests: Round neck or square neck doesn't matter--the tension screw is the same procedure. Typically it is a long skinny steel screw with a fine thread (machine screw). When you go screw shopping obviously take the cone with you for thread matching. The thread of the screw must match the threaded (rivet type) insert in the center of the cone. A washer is not needed. When you tighten the (new) screw to fasten spider to cone you do not need a lot of tension.Many folks tighten the screw way too tight causing excess tension and premature failure of the cone. An excessively tightened screw does NOT equal better tone. A good rule of thumb is to have the screw as loose as it can be without having buzzes nor rattles--i.e. very moderate tension so that the cone and spider can do their vibrational resophonic job. Ofentimes excessive tension DAMPENS the tone.