Screwing things up

Mr. C

Mr. C

New member
I just drilled to widen the holes on my guitar to fit new inserts for a tremolo but actually went through the body into the rear cavity! I was trying to make it deep enough for the insert. Any suggestions? Or am I screwed?
 
Though I have only done minor work to my guitars such as installing active pickups, etc, I wouldn't recommend trying and fixing this yourself. As an avid DIY'er, I hate to say this, but maybe you should take it to a luthier and see what they think. Just my 2 cents.
 
Pics would be required to assist on this one.

Everything is fixable, how easy it just depends how un-fixed you have made it..
 
Ok, here are some pics Muttley. Appreciate you taking the time to look at this. The one pic shows how the insert is slightly above the guitar body, hence me trying to drill slightly deeper and going through. When I took pics of the back I can see that there is actually some room for the insert to be pushed deeper and making it level. My understanding is that the stud that goes into the insert actually has a small screw in the center that I would turn with a hex key to lock it into the wood. Unfortunately drilling through there is nothing for it to lock onto. So any suggestions of what I might be able to do?
 

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Cant really get a perspective with that pic can you post a pic of the cavity a little further back in the picture and one of the front the same. I cant even tell what guitar you have there. Dont worry things can always be fixed but you will want to get it right before you move on..
 
Here's 3 more pics. Hopefully they will help. I actually bought this off guitarfetish.com. I figured for $17 I couldn't go wrong. Actually it looks pretty nice.
 

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Since the insert isn't protruding into the cavity it's really not a problem. Just fill the bottom of the hole with some wood filler. Next time measure the insert and put a piece of tape on the drill bit so you know when to stop.
 
ocnor said:
Since the insert isn't protruding into the cavity it's really not a problem. Just fill the bottom of the hole with some wood filler. Next time measure the insert and put a piece of tape on the drill bit so you know when to stop.
Click to expand...
Yeah ..... I'm not seeing a big issue there. As long as the insert is tight and doing it's job I don't see how a hole into the cavity matters much.
 
Actually I did measure the insert and taped the drill bit. The problem was that it was (and still is) protruding on the topside. Now I can see since I drilled through that there is still room to drive the insert in deeper. As I said in a previous post my one concern how will the set (?) screw in the center of the stud grip any wood? Maybe I misunderstand this part, and maybe it won't matter. I'll tell you one thing, I'm not confident that the other insert is going to hold. When I took it out to drill deeper it took some effort to pull it, but not like the one where I drilled through on.
 
Yeah but when the strings are on it you'll have a constant downforce on it. It's not like it matters that much if you have to pull a lot or just a little bit to pull it out.
ALL that matters is it's tight enough to not wiggle any ....... if it's tight enough that enough.

I'd drive it on in and string it up and quit worrying about it. The only way you're gonna know for sure is to do that.
But unless that insert moves around when you drive it in, (it won't) then you're golden.


Think about it ........ how does that insert know whether there 1/16th inch of wood or air under it once it's down as far as it can go into the body?
 
Thanks Muttley and Lt. Bob. I just pound the insert in and all ok. It's cheap guit body but I like trying these things out even I do screw it up along the way. I went ahead and installed the trem, but it keeps popping above the studs. It's the cheaper Wilkinson WV100 style bridge. Will this sit better when the strings are installed? That doesn't make a lot of sense to me because won't it pop every time you change the strings? Seems like that would be a pain in the butt if that's the case.
 
It's likely popping over the studs with no strings because you have the spring tension very high. I would also plug the hole you drilled through if it bugged me enough. And it might bug me enough. Just cut a thin piece of dowel, maybe 1/4" by 5/8" round (or whatever it is), and glue it in. The glued piece of dowel will hold much better than wood filler. You can use a little wood filler to blend the plug into the body. Paint it after, and no one will know.
 
ranjam said:
It's likely popping over the studs with no strings because you have the spring tension very high. I would also plug the hole you drilled through if it bugged me enough. And it might bug me enough. Just cut a thin piece of dowel, maybe 1/4" by 5/8" round (or whatever it is), and glue it in. The glued piece of dowel will hold much better than wood filler. You can use a little wood filler to blend the plug into the body. Paint it after, and no one will know.
Click to expand...
the hole is inside the body in the cavity .... it's not visible.
 
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