Official Luthiers Forum!

Hello all
I guess most interest on the forum is for building but I have a question re a repair I would like to undertake. I bought a P-Bass 1983 '62 reissue at a good price from someone but they tried to turn the instrument into 5 string and drilled a hole in the headstock to accommodate the additional machine. I would like to fill this hole and the little screw holes and would like anyone's opinion on how the best way to do this would be. As soon as I can work out how to post the pics I will do so. At the moment it tells me the file is too big.

Cheers - Ed

Typically you would fill the hole by gluing a wood dowel in the hole. If you want the hole to be invisible, you will have to put a veneer on the face.

You could make the veneer a focal piece instead of just a cover up by matching the color of the body, like this: http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/prod ... sku=H70486

Using a veneer would cover the Fender logo which is a no-go.

The least intrusive repair would be to plug the hole with a shop made dowel using side grain maple. The easy way to do this is to glue a small piece of maple on the end of a store bought dowel. Then sand the maple with a disk or belt sander down until it is flush with the dowel. Then taper it further until it fits the hole. Matching the grain is where the artistry comes in. Touch up the finish to your ability.

Don't you just love picking up other people's screwups for cheap. I found a P Bass in a pawn shop for cheap that someone broke the nut changing strings. Also found an nice Alvarez 12 string someone tried to convert to a 6 string. Got some Ping tuners, new strings and some TLC and it plays like a champ.

Barry, nice tip! Thanks. I know I'll end up using this at some point.

_________________
Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

It doesn't have to cover the Fender logo. Check out this Fano guitar: http://proguitarshop.com/blog/fano-alt- ... -mary-5881
The veneer curves around the logo. It won't be traditionally Fender-looking, but it would definitely cover up the extra tuner hole, and look pretty cool.