Univox Badazz Bridge Pin

[Tom B]

Hi Everyone! New to the board, hopefully I'm posting this in the right place. I'm having trouble removing the pins that hold the bridge up on a Univox Badazz. I know there are some people on this board with these guitars, or maybe this style pin is used in other places too. How do these come out? I'll post a pic if I can. Looks to be a normal bushing with a stud in it. That stud has a hole, but I can't get a tool in to see if it's threaded because the hole is below the surface of the guitar. I don't want to pry it out, as I'm going to refinish this body. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
Sorry this was double posted in the wrong forum. I'm a computer idiot.

[HNB]

It unscrews. The hole showing is where you put something straight in to to help you twist it. With just a little showing, maybe try a small hex wrench or a thick paperclip to get it to unscrew. Might be able to just unscrew it with your fingers unless it is gunky.

[zhivago]

Sorry this was double posted in the wrong forum. I'm a computer idiot.

hey no worries, everyone makes mistakes.

I deleted the duplicate thread, so all feedback will be focused in this thread

[Tom B]

Thanks for the quick reply HNB! I thought it might be threaded, but couldn't get it to turn with a wire pushed through. I will try again tonight. It must be very gunky!
And to zhivago - appreciate the delete. I think I know what I'm doing now!

[Tom B]

Also - this is the first time I've seen a bridge designed like this. I don't normally play with a trem, and rest my hand lightly on the bridge. I can see this being a problem. Anyone know how they play? I'm thinking I should replace it with a roller. Looks very fragile sitting upright like that on two pins. And if I knock it a little, I'll mess with intonation. Weird little design, but if anyone uses this and likes it, maybe I'll try it.
It'll take a little while before the body is done and I'm putting it all back together. If anybody has any recommendations in the mean time, I'd love to hear them.

[HNB]

I replaced mine with a Gotoh Tuneomatic from Warmoth's website and it threaded in to the existing holes. You just unscrew the pointy part and screw in the Gotoh one. Easy $20 fix and much sturdier.

http://www.warmoth.com/Gotoh-Tune-O-Mat ... 7C710.aspx

Here is my "Mother" Univox with a Gotoh bridge installed. Two minute swap job. Easy peasy.

See same dinky pointy bridge posts.

20141203_173542 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

Beefy Gotoh one installed. Only thing is the gold on this isn't worn out as much, but function improved, intonation improved, and it will wear with time.

20151107_163008 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

[HNB]

Oh and try a small hex wrench in that post hole to help unscrew it. A lot sturdier and should get it turning. Also make sure you are unscrewing the right direction. Put the short end in the hole and use it to help turn the post.

[UC3]

This is what a Sunburst looks like stripped - minus the graffiti. You'll need some sand/sealer and pour filler after you're done stripping the original finish though.




And, if you want to pull the thimbles before you sand/strip, you can heat them with a soldering iron first and then lever them out using a contraption similar to this.




Good luck.

[MattK]

Is the bottom of the threaded cup open, like on a Gibson post mount? If so, you can unscrew the post, place a piece of metal underneath the post which is small enough to fit through the bottom, and then tighten the post down again. It will push the piece of metal out the bottom, which will push the cup out of the body. A small ball bearing is ideal so it doesn't damage the wood in the bottom of the hole.

[Tom B]

Well, I got them out. I couldn't get a tool in due to the fact that the hole was below the top of the cup. I used pliers to get them started, then a small screw driver to spin them out. Then I used short section of dowel (1/2" long) dropped into the hole, inserted the threaded stud back in, and twisted the threaded cup out. Worked a treat, as they say. Thanks all for the tips!
HNB - I love the 'Mother'! Looks like it's been well cared for. I'm surprised Univox used that rocking bridge on it, since there is no tremolo. I have one very similar, but a few years older, and it has the standard style (tune-o-matic?) bridge. Also looks to have covered hum buckers, not the mini's in yours (although I believe they are all single coils made to look like hum buckers). I love mine, in fact, I have a soft spot for Univox stuff. I've owned quite a few, and like the challenge of finding parts and getting them playing nicely. It's a sickness, ahh, err, hobby. This is my first Badazz though.
UC3 - I'm also digging that Badazz your working on! It looks quite good in the raw. After mine is stripped maybe just some clear would look awesome. I've only seen the red burst and the sunburst on these bodies. There is a web site that claims they came in natural, but I kind of doubt that. I don't think they would want to show the laminate on the top and bottom, but you never know. I think it looks stunning bare. Are you refinishing yours? What's the plan? If it's done, I'd love to see pictures. Mine was wet at one point, and has lifted the finish and the laminate. If the sunburst was intact, I would probably clean it up a little and go with it, but it's flaking off in big chunks. Not sure how I will refinish it. Will have to be inexpensive though. Always looking for ideas on that.
Thanks again for all the replies. Seems like a really great, active group here!

[UC3]

Hey Tom,

Never finished this project. Dead pickup, missing tremolo parts, and vacillating over a neck swap with an ET-270 neck - one I actually prefer - over the somewhat "beefy" Univox neck.

I did not strip this body, but I did strip a Natural Ripper body of its finish with a Harbor Freight heat gun and a putty knife. A properly burnished cabinet scraper would have been better, but I was in a hurry. A few gouges and some "chatter" marks, but I told myself I could live with that.

I also stripped the Ripper neck. I used the heat gun to preheat the finish and then applied Klean Strip, Premium Stripper a little at a time. After it set for a while, I scraped it with the putty knife and a razor blade. After it was complete, I wiped the whole thing with Mineral spirits, but would have used Naptha if it was still for sale in Kalifornia. Really think the pre-heat before application is the key to making it easy on yourself - if, this is the way you want to go. Please utilize your common sense, read the instructions, follow the proper safety precautions, and become knowledgable about the chemicals involved by reading and researching the MSDS provided by the manufacturer. It really is nasty stuff and should be treated as such.

http://www.kleanstrip.com/msds-cpsia



I had two images of natural bass, but no guitars...




Sounds like you'll need some wood repair, so maybe a complete strip would not be out of the question. Or you could do a spot repair, sand, seal, and spray with finish of your choice. The world is your oyster...

[Tom B]

OK - I'm getting pretty far with this Badazz rebuild. I got the wiring squared away this weekend. When the body is finished drying (left it natural) and polished I hope to have everything I need to get her together. I am missing the neck pickup. Anybody have one that is surplus to their needs? I think I may start a new thread on this, just so it gets seen by more people. The pickup is the same one on the black 'mother' shown in the photos above. I was thinking about sticking some mini humbuckers in, but the plastic surround is not as wide as the originals, and I'm afraid it wouldn't look right. I don't have any laying around to test this theory. Of course humbuckers are too wide! Also would like a trem arm, but I think I can fab something if nothing turns up. If anybody has a badazz arm that they can take a photo of, maybe with a tape measure next to it for scale, I would appreciate it!

[Tom B]

Trying to post a photo, everybody loves photos, yes!

It's been a month since I started, and I got the badazz together and playing, sans pickups. I even modded a fender tremolo bar that works a treat. Except, I don't like this hagstrom?? style trem. There is nothing to keep the 'string mounting plate' in place, and it walks when the trem is used. I think I know why, when I see photos of these online, the trem bar is missing. Probably not a good design from the get go. I need to find a way to keep it in place if I'm going to use it. Also set it up floating at first, like a strat trem. That didn't really work well either. I have it pretty tight against the body now, so it'll only dive. In this configuration, it's walked down as far as it will go, and I can feel the spring rubbing the wood inside. Not very smooth operation now, but tuning is stable. I'll have to think on this one a bit. Hoping for a bit of brainstorming from the community. Somebody here has used this design before, yes?

[Tom B]

[Tom B]

Adding a bit more to my thoughts on this guitar. Very small frets, but I guess that's part of the charm / 70's design. I know this is from 1973, because the original owner scratched his name and date in the neck plate. I think that's pretty neat. Something about playing old stuff that has a history. When I hold it I like to think - who held this before me, was it used on stage, were there screaming girls in the audience, who the F did this stupid mod and why???, and other strange thoughts.
Also that rocking bridge. Effing wacky. Now that the trem is tight against the body, it's rocked back as far as it will go, and seems to like it there. It's stable, and rocks forward when the trem is used. After the neck and whole assembly is stable for a week or two, I'll intonate in this position and see what happens while playing. I think it'll be ok, but there's always the roller option later if I want to spend some money. Trying to keep this one low budget, parts are cheap, but it adds up pretty quick. Hope to have some pickups soon too. Still not sure what I'm going to do there.