Pickup height adjustment screw won't hold

[bobbyt]

I have a PRS Mira Core and the pickup height adjustment screw on one side of the treble pickup won't fully hold. I tried getting a new screw but the issue is the same. Is there any way to work around this?

 

[sergiodeblanc]

Drop of superglue or some Loctite.

 

[Rider1260]

If the pickup is stripped get a small nut and solder it to the pickup leg or fill it with liquid aluminum or something like that and drill and tap a new hole

 

[Lacire]

This may not work depending on how bad it’s stripped but its what I would try first. Take the pickup out of the guitar and out of its pickup ring. Turn the pickup upside down and put the pickup leg on a small block of wood. With a hammer lightly tap down the threaded area where the pickup adjusting screw comes through. You’re effectively peening this area with the threads back down. This area normally sticks up a little higher from the original drilling and tapping for the screw. Take your time, tap it a couple times and check to see if the screw gets tighter, then repeat. If this works it will only give you one or two good threads so you’ll need to lighten the spring by cutting out a few coils. This will help relieve some of the pressure from the spring pushing down on the weaken threads and stripping them again. If this doesn’t work then as Rider1260 said soldiering a 3-48 threaded nut on the pickup leg may be your only option.

 

[Tony M.]

Drop of superglue or some Loctite.

...or clear nail polish.

 

[John Beef]

Or wrap the screw with teflon tape.

 

[gush]

Or wrap the screw with teflon tape.

This is a really good cheap idea.

 

[bobbyt]

Thanks for all the advice everyone. I was just getting ready to try the teflon tape idea because I had that on-hand but in the end I decided to suck it up and order a 3-48 nut to solder on.

As I will probably sell this guitar someday, I wouldn't feel right about selling a pickup held in with teflon tape.

 

[Lacire]

Good decision, I wouldn’t want to buy a guitar and open it up to find the pickup held in by Teflon tape.