Tuner screw hole problem solved

[Craig Denney]

I have a Fender American Tele that I installed Sperzel locking tuners on about 5 or 6 years ago.  Tired of the big tuning keys, and the lock on the back, I decided to put on a set of Gotoh vintage style tuners. 

 

The problem was... there's a hole on the back of the headstock that a little nipple from the back of the Sperzel tuner fits into.... was too big for the screws on the new tuners. 

 

I used Titebond III, put a little bit of it into a syringe, injected it into each hole to make sure there were no dead spaces, and the glue filled the hole completely. 

 

Before hand, I took some round toothpicks, cut off the sharp ends so I was left with a round dowel.  Stuck each toothpick into each hole, and wiped away the excess glue.  Let it sit for 24 hours. 

 

Then I took a pair of fret pullers and snipped off each toothpick flush (or as flush as I could get) with the back of the headstock.  I then used a fret/fingerboard leveling file and filed down the remaining stubs of the toothpicks and glue. 

 

I wasn't worried about the off color glue not matching with the headstock since it will be hidden under the tuners, and/or drilled out for the pilot hole for the new screw.  

 

The hole I needed to fill is in the middle, first picture.  The outer holes were from the original Fender tuners. 

 

Just wanted to share. 

 

Some before and after pics...

 

 

[Donald A. Fortune]

Good job Craig- what you did to fix your problem has been an old carpenter trick since maby the begining of time....

learn all you can because you can never tell when you will use the knoweledge...

Peace, Donald

[Craig Denney]

Thanks!  Yeah, I did some reading up on filling holes with a dowel, or even a matchstick.  I think the matchstick would have been a better choice since it's square and a little bigger.  Would have better to fill the holes with more wood than glue.  But it did the trick. 

 

Filling the holes with glue first  I thought was a good idea.  I had thought about sanding away the remainder of the toothpicks, but that seemed like it would be tedious and messy.  Was much easier with the fret/fingerboard leveler.  Perfectly flush and it doesn't mar any of the surface area around it. 

 

I'm definitely learning all I can here, and everywhere else! 

 

My next project is to build a Blackguard Tele... can't wait!

[Tim Mace]

I might have used a wooden skewer(larger than toothpick or match)and more sturdy.Bamboo even...

 

[Craig Denney]

That's a really good idea.  Thanks!

[Donald A. Fortune]

A Black guard Telle??  might be a good choise to get you started maby on a career that you might find verry rewarding- If you are dexterous and take your time( and thats the big thing when building a guitar from scratch)

.. Best to you in your new endever....

Peace, Donald

[Pierre-Antoine Roiron]

My weapon of choice for cutting flush a filling toothpick/whatever is a flush cutting Japanese saw. Then I do a bit of finishing with a sharp chisel.

[Tim Mace]

and you can cook w/them