Another cockup

[Jeremy D]

Hi Guys,

I am currently building my third acoustic. Its a left handed l-00 for a friend. It has been an absolute nightmare from day 1. Today I finally got it to setup stage, did a light fret dress and went to install the tuners. Turns out somewhere along the line I drilled the stepped holes around the wrong way.

Anyone have any advice at this point? I have a feeling you are going to say plug the holes and re-drill them. This sounds like a difficult endevour on a completed guitar. Any advice would be greatly appreciated before I do something drastic .

[Mark McLean]

I am having trouble envisioning the problem. Can you post a photo?

[Jeremy D]

Hi Mark,

Thanks for the reply. Not sure a picture would help. Basically Gotoh tuners call for a stepped hole for installation. 10mm from the back of the headstock and 8mm from the front of the headstock. I have gone and reversed this and done 10mm from the front face and 8mm from the back.

I was thinking maybe I could drill all the way through with 10mm and use a small 10 to 8mm bushing from the front. The only other solution I could think of was to plug the entire hole and re-drill.

Hope this makes sense.

[Kim Strode]

Hi Jeremy,

I also made a mistake like this when drilling holes for Mandolin Tuners. Luckily I have a lathe, so I turned plugs to fit my stepped holes. I'd already stepped the holes to accept bushings. I used scraps of timber the same as the headpiece and prior to 'turning' I laminated the same faceplate veneer to one side of the plug. When glued and fitted into place the repair was invisible to anyone who wasn't aware of the original fault.

[Allen]

You could use a different tuner. Hipshot use a 10mm hole straight through.

[Jeremy D]

Hi Jeremy,

I also made a mistake like this when drilling holes for Mandolin Tuners. Luckily I have a lathe, so I turned plugs to fit my stepped holes. I'd already stepped the holes to accept bushings. I used scraps of timber the same as the headpiece and prior to 'turning' I laminated the same faceplate veneer to one side of the plug. When glued and fitted into place the repair was invisible to anyone who wasn't aware of the original fault.

Thanks Kim, I thought of doing this and would have had I realised at the time. The guitar is complete now with finish etc so if I can avoid doing this at this stage I will.

[Jeremy D]

You could use a different tuner. Hipshot use a 10mm hole straight through.

Thanks Allen, great suggestion. I had looked at a few brands but never thought to look at Hipshot. Whats the best place to source these? I really like the look of the partially open back models they have and have considered using them in the past.

[Allen]

I buy them direct from Hipshot on a luthier account.

[Trevor Gore]

The Gotoh tuners will work fine with a 10mm hole straight through. However, they can tilt a little under string tension, which means tightening the ferrules more than you'd want.

The "get out of jail" card is to go to Bunnings and buy some 10mm aluminium tube. It has an 8mm bore. Cut short lengths and I'm sure you can figure the rest out! When you drill out the 8mm to 10mm from the back, use a stepped bit (AKA Christmas tree bit), which will save shattering the finish. Available from Jaycar 4mm to 12mm for ~ $15. Useful for drilling for jack plugs, too.

And before you ask, no I haven't ever drilled the holes arse about! I've used this fix on guitars that had had their headstocks drilled straight through at 10mm and needed the tuners replaced due to general wear, not, I think, specifically related to being bored straight through.

[Jeremy D]

The Gotoh tuners will work fine with a 10mm hole straight through. However, they can tilt a little under string tension, which means tightening the ferrules more than you'd want.

The "get out of jail" card is to go to Bunnings and buy some 10mm aluminium tube. It has an 8mm bore. Cut short lengths and I'm sure you can figure the rest out! When you drill out the 8mm to 10mm from the back, use a stepped bit (AKA Christmas tree bit), which will save shattering the finish. Available from Jaycar 4mm to 12mm for ~ $15. Useful for drilling for jack plugs, too.

And before you ask, no I haven't ever drilled the holes arse about! I've used this fix on guitars that had had their headstocks drilled straight through at 10mm and needed the tuners replaced due to general wear, not, I think, specifically related to being bored straight through.

Thank you so much Trevor, exactly the info I was after. I am off to Jaycar and Bunnings, you have made my day!