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I have a guitar body that only has the trem routes cut, nothing for the Floyd posts. I could take this in and have it done, but I want to do it myself. Does anyone with experience doing this have any tips or advice? I saw that Stewmac has templates, but I'm not sure that this is what I want... They look like they are for the old wood screw installation. Also, is a drill press necessary? I see that Home Depot has a drill press attachment for standard drills. Thanks in advance...
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Back in 1990, I used a hand drill but one post was angled forward. This was with the screws. I'm going to fill and re-drill in bushings and studs.
I strongly suggest using a press or something to keep the drill straight. -
Yeah, it's real easy to not make it straight with a handheld drill. I too drilled one off angle. It works fine, but not what I wanted. Maybe that drill press attachment will work? Also, it's easier to drill a small hole 1st, then go up to the needed size.
BTW, this reminds me of drilling anything on a guitar back in high school. It was an on/off switch I was mounting on a pickguard, and the only drill I had at the time was a hand-powered (non-electric) drill that was ancient! It slipped while turning it and made a big scratch on the front!"Your work is ingenius…it’s quality work….and there are simply too many notes…that’s all, just cut a few, and it’ll be perfect."Comment
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Use a brad tip drill bit(25/64" for OFR studs) and a drill press if you can.
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The location of the holes should be 25" from the nut for 25-1/2" scale and spaced 2.91 apart center to center. these measurments once again are for OFR.Comment
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They're not for the screw in posts; it's just to mark the location. I'd highly recommend a drill press; I got one of those attachment years ago and was....disappointed. No bueno. Denny added some great info as well. I use forstner bits for posts, but brad points are also great.Originally posted by khabibissell View Post
SullyComment
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I believe the drill bit is 25/64".Comment
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Thanks guys, I'll have to look into getting a drill press. It kills me to take the guitar in to have this work done. I want to get into building and I'm going to have to learn how install a bridge sooner or later. I figure since I do my own fret, nut, and electronic work, drilling and routing on the guitar body is the next logical step.Comment
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DG is right.... f##k... should have typed 25/64" and forstner bits are great as sully mentioned.Comment
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One final question before I put this body under the knife... Do you drill small holes and progressively make them larger until you have the correct diameter or just go ahead and drill the holes to the correct size?Comment
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You could probably just go ahead and drill them to size off the bat, but I personally would start smaller and work my way up, probably in three steps.Comment
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Cool info.
When I did it back in 1990, I just laid the trem in the recess and eyeballed it LOL!
The trem I bought from Stew-Mac at the time was a Schaller, but the recess in the guitar is for an OFR, so I'm going to fill the screw holes, and re-drill for bushings.
The OFR needs to be a little further rear than the Schaller, and I like bushings for adjusting the trem height.Comment
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I would just go straight to the BRAD drill size needed. The Brad drill does not need to step up and will make a nice clean hole - no tear out.Comment
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With a sharp Forstner bit you should be able to get it in one shot. Here's the Star from my avatar...Originally posted by khabibissell View Post
No chipping at all. Had to open them up a touch with a ratstail file, but that's it - perfect fit using the info off the StewMac site. And did it freehand, although I would recommend a drillpress...
Crime doesn't pay. Neither does lutherie...Comment
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