Project time: project #1 (see project #2 in the wiring thread)

Last night I put my 09 mim on the bench to change the standard tuners to grover/kluson style. Bushings came from stew-mac that are sized for the mim headstock 10.3 mm.

I knew they are not the perfect fit so I filed some wood with the round file and fitted bushings to test. So far so good, put the wooden block on top of the bushings and hammered them in. Then I noticed that the bushings would not go in all the way in. There was about another 1 mm or less left. I hammered it again and then they went in but this is what happened.

Any ideas how to fix it?

(Temporary solution: i drilled the two tiny pilot holes and screwed the small wood screws to keep the split together).







Other work done was to cure the fret sprout that I asked a while ago and to put some shine on the fretboard. That work that went almost puuuurfect!

Mcguiers step 3 auto polish and some elbow grease with the microfiber cloth


Frets all shined up. Since I damaged a few edges on the fretboard with the edge of my small file, I decided to give it a treatment too with the rounded edge, similar to my MIA std. Now the neck feels awesome.





stringing time (these are my favorite strings)



Something funny here. When I removed a neck found this peace of planet waves cardboard inside the neck pocked, I guess this is the Ensenada shimming method. It works I don't care, so I left it there.

Other than dribbling some glue in the cracks, taking the tuners off, and getting nifty with some clamps. I'm at a loss.

The way its cracking on a lot of the tuner holes looks to me like the topline of the headstock is about to come off.

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No no and no

You need to get those ill-fitting bushings out! You are splitting the headstock! I've seen people do that to the headstock by not drilling pilot holes for the tuner screws.

It could be glued up (too bad you put those screws in ...) ouch !

Take it to a good luthier if you don't know how to fix it.

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

Hi daniel: anytime we find ourselves needing to hammer a part to get it in - the fit is TOO TIGHT! Lesson learned, no doubt.

I'd suggest a combination of the previous two posts. Leave the bushings in while you dribble some glue in there, then take them out to let the wood return to it's closed position.

I'd strongly want to clamp it too - but not too tight! Place a length of thin wood along the straight edge and another across the curves of the bottom edge of the headstock and then clamp across the two. But don't do those clamps up too much: that will just squeeze the glue out and prevent it doing its job. Glue takes up an appreciable amount of space.

And a note on glue. Hide glue is the traditional thing for this job, but these days it is unnecessary and frankly I suspect a bit fiddly for you. Instead, get yourself some Original Franklin Titebond glue. Don't be tempted by the fancier sounding formulations: Original is the one for this job. Put some in an eggcup (or similar) and add about 10 percent water to it, mixing nicely. That will make the glue more runny so it will wick into those cracks more efficiently.

Apply it with a little stick of some kind - I find the wooden coffee stirrers from Starbucks and the like handy for this. Then steer the glue further into the cracks with the point of a needle to really get it as far in as you can.

After all that, take a look at this old thread for hints on how to deal with those unfortunate screw holes at the tip of the headstock (particularly the second page of the thread):

http://www.fender.com/community/forums/ ... hp?t=13129

And after that, refin. Your neck has a polyurethane finish on it, so sand back in the appropriate areas and then respray with Plasti-Kote polyurethane varnish in an aerosol. Or another brand.

And while you are at it, put some urethane on those exposed edges of your fingerboard. Those are just asking for trouble.

If you feel like paying international shipping both ways I will readily do all of that work for you at no further charge. We'll run a little thread on it - let's see how well I can disguise those two screw holes ( ). On the other hand, given how much shipping will cost it is probably much more sensible to just take it to a local luthier. Be ready to watch his eyebrows raise till they hit the ceiling, though...!

And all of this, ladies and gentlemen, is why we should always use the correct tool for this particular job. The highly over priced but absolutely superb "cello peghole reamer". Here's mine in action:


And with the tuners snuggly but not overly tightly in place. No splits here:


Best of luck with it - C

That sucks, but there are plenty of ways to fix that...actually 4 try it yourself, get a guitar tech friend to fix it, or find a luthier or experienced carpenter to work on it. A carpenter is very skilled in fix cracks in wood.

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2007 Fender MIM Strat Midnight Wine
1965 Univox HR-2 "Lawsuit" ES-335 Knockoff
Ovation Celebrity Shallow Bowl

Thanks guys

Well said Ceri "big lesson learned" here. I don't have a reamer in my tool box but have and used round fine file to take some wood out. I found on the net bunch of advice to hammer these bushings in. I used precautions such as not hitting them directly with the hammer, etc. **it happens sometimes.

Oh well on with the repair and refinishing. I'll post that too. It will be a bit tricky to refinish since Fender used "tinted" polyurethane for the aged look. I don't know is there an info of what kind of yellow-orange shade are they using in the mix.

Hi again Daniel: be fascinated to know where on the net advice is being given to hammer those bushings in. That is just plain wrong, as you can testify.

The tuners and bushings should be snug, so they don't wobble around in the holes. But you should be able to push them in and pull them out with the fingers without difficulty. Any tighter and even if the wood doesn't split immediately it might do later if it contracts some in dry weather.

Regarding tinted polyurethane: where I live it is readily available in aerosols in a variety of tints from water clear to a heavy vintage tint. And gloss, satin or matt, too. I bet it is no different where you are too. Do a bit of Googling.

Alternatively, polyurethane is available in any paint shop in tins for brush application, and there too it is sold clear or tinted. It is intended for furniture finishing - but it's the same thing as on your guitar neck. By using a slightly lighter tint varnish you simply add a couple more layers till the thickness makes it as dark as the surounding lacquer. Which is not a very dark one in any case.

BTW: I'd want to just take the opportunity to sand out those file marks around the fret ends before refinning the edges of the fingerboard.

Lotta work to do, but it is all perfectly achievable. There's a video somewhere on this very website of a repair Pete Townshend's tech did on his Strat where the headstock split along the pegholes and came right in two. (As a result of Pete throwing his guitar at said tech, I seem to remember.) It's all been done before...

Cheers - C

Ceri: I consider myself to be an amatuer guitar repairman/refinisher, but man, you are AMAZING. I am constantly atounded by not only your work, but the quality of your work. I am just here to say, WOW. If any of my guitars ever get damaged beyond my ability to repair, I would gladly be willing to shell out the shipping fees plus fees to compensate you for your amazing work. Keep it up, and keep on posting those amazing things you do!

Dang guys,
My tech drilled and installed Grovers in my LP for less than $25. Gibson could not have done a better job. Sorry man, for crap like this, take it to a tech.

Ha! - cking91, that is so nice: thank you!

Now I wish I'd been less of a slob and cropped the half eaten apple out of that photo. Yuk...

Cheers - C

Wow. I can't believe that you used a hammer for this job. I'd be crying if that was my guitar. If Ceri offered to fix my guitar I would surely send it to him. He could repair the cracks like nobody else IMHO. He is the Master.
Good Luck

I wish I knew T-dot better so I could point you to the right store. if you lived out here, I'd tell ya to come over.

Daniel, if you have a 'Windsor Plywood' near you that is the one Canadian chain I can tell you will have everything you need to fix this. You might have to shop around. another place to check out is Lee Valley.

Follow Ceri's advice. You need to wick in some Titebond. I used Titebond several times to glue on les paul style necks. I would want to clamp it. get yourself a ream. "Right tool for the right job", is probably the best advice you can get, along with "Be patient"


this isn't the end of the world, but it will take some doing to fix.

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

Thanks guys,

Trying to follow Ceri's advice here and maybe hijack the focus from his firecaster build thread while he is away

Naaah, Ceri is involved in my problem too, so no hiding for you Ceri eh!



Anyhow here is an update. It looks like there is going to be a gig for me as the (third guitar) on the 27th of this month. So my #2 has to get operational.

People are interested why did I use the hammer for this job. Well, first I read about it on one of the non fender message boards. One of the people suggesting using hammer to slightly tap in the bushings. Of course by using some sort of wood between the hammer and a bushing.

That I did, however I discounted a dumb guy moment when the bushing did not go in all the way and after the quick WTF moment and a hammer in my hand..... Well you see the results.

Now back to fixing....

The neck is off again..


Tools for the first step are ready. You will notice that to get the glue to get in those narrow cracks I used the piece of .11 string to push the glue in. The piece of string that you normally discard after stringing can come handy.



Slowly working the glue in all the cracks


All clamped. Now I have to wait 45 min according to the Titebond III instructions. The instructions say that I should not stress the repaired area withing the 24 hrs of gluing.


Apply some of the wood filler to those two nasty holes. I am using the .49 string as the applicator.


What am I going to do while waiting, maybe watch Oscar's. Naaahh don't care about that. How about I do some blues numbers. I heard glue works faster when you sing to it.
Look my #1 is here and all ready to go, how convenient.


Initial drying done, clamps are off and did a little bit of clean up.



To be continued tomorrow...... It was getting late (one of the kids is screaming gotta go).