First quick fixes on the Harley Benton

Let's pick this up where we left off, and let's take that loose bottom strap pin down from the guitar attic to the workbench in the basement.

That pin knocked an ugly dent into the finish.

The rather thin and short screw came loose in no time, revealing that...
...under the otherwise quite sturdy and well manufactured strap button itself, there was only a very mediocre solid plastic washer. Usually it's either felt or rubber, precisely to better protect the finish when the screw is tightened and if the button takes a hit. Just as it did in this case.

The little black plastic plate made for no protection of the finish whatsoever.

No wonder the lacquer got ruined. But observe how nice the finish actually is even on the side grain of the mahogany!

As it was plain that I could not do much about the damaged lacquer, I decided to ignore it and put the pin back with one of my spare rubber washers instead of the original piece of plastic crap. To prevent it from loosening up again, I applied a drop of Loctite threadlocking gel onto the screw before driving it back in.

Very modest first mods to the guitar: a drop of Loctite and a new rubber washer. No rocket science.

To be on the safe side, I ended up dismounting the other strap button as well, which also came with the same crappy plastic washer. I replaced that too with a rubber plate and I also loctited it.

That's generally a sound thing to do with any screws meant to be stationary. It secures them well in place without cementing them in the wood. Just make sure you use removable grade gel only (Loctite 221 or 222 or similar), otherwise you'll never be able to unscrew them again. 

For the record, as far as I'm concerned, I generally apply Loctite to:

• Strap pins;
• Pickup ring screws;
• Nuts used to secure selector switches and pots;
• Switch tip on Gibson style toggles;
• Fixing screws and hex nut shafts of machine heads (although I won't do it on this guitar as I don't intend to unscrew the tuners unless they misbehave);
• Scratchplate screws (obviously only if the scratchplate stays on, like on Strats and Teles);
• Cavity cover screws;
• Jack socket nut and jack plate securing screws;
• Bridgeplate and trem bar spring screws where applicable (again: Strats, Teles);
• Screws of string trees on guitars that have them;
• Screws of the nut base of locking nuts;
• And the bolts of bolt-on necks.

I DO NOT apply Loctite to:

• Any screws, nuts and bolts used to set action and intonation (bridge and tailpiece posts, bridge saddles and their legs);
• The bolts of locking nuts such as used with Floyd Rose trem bridges;
• The pickup (and if available the individual pole piece) height adjustment screws;
• The screws of the trussrod cover because those need to be removed every time the trussrod needs to be adjusted (except if the cover has a pivoting lid that allows accessing the trussrod without dismounting the cover, like this Ibanez piece);

If you accidentally drop Loctite on finished surfaces or on visible plastic parts, no worries, it's not aggressive at all. Promptly wipe it off though before it hardens, otherwise it'll get messy. Nothing dramatic, but like marmelade on the table: unpleasant to touch and a pain to remove. But do stay clear of unfinished surfaces like your rosewood or ebony fretboards or your unfinished maple necks if you don't want to risk staining them.

Coming up next: cleaning up the plastics.