OK time for more updates!

After discovering the tuners I wanted to use would not fit (see above), I went for my second choice, a set of 18-1 Grover Sta-Tite tuners.

Of course it was way too much to hope for them to be a drop in replacement, as you can see here:


Overlap by Ch0jiN, on Flickr

Luckily the base plates are quite soft, so a quick file and I could drop them all in and see how it looked. (Yes, they are crooked here, but before I screwed them in I made them dead straight)


Test Fit by Ch0jiN, on Flickr

The original screw holes were both too wide and in the wrong spot, so I had to sort that out.

After going through a box of large matches, carefully inspecting each one for the best grain pattern, and then tapping each one to find the most resonant wood, I dropped some PVA+ in the holes and hammered the matches in.


Plugged by Ch0jiN, on Flickr

After a few hours I came back and shaved the plugs down with a razor blade.


Filled by Ch0jiN, on Flickr

One thing that did go in my favour was the bushings. I didn't really fancy the ones that come with the Grover's, so I left the originals in place, and they seem to work just fine. (I've actually finished with the tuners, dry fitted the neck and strung it up to check everything pre-glue, but that's my next post....)