TUTORIAL easy pictorial for filling bridge, trem or pup cavities.

[nitroburner1000]

This is an easy tutorial with lotsa pics for anyone who is doing a tremelo, bridge or pickup modification and wants to fill in the routed cavities. I looked and think this is the only one on the forum, if there is can someone let me know and ill delete it, cheers.
The reason im putting this up is that it was something i wanted to do but was very daunting, even though i did a lot of reasearch there wasnt many pics to look at, so here goes....

PLEASE NOTE.. THIS IS MAINLY FOR A GUITAR THAT HAS A SOLID PAINTED FINISH. IF YOU WANT A STAIN FINIISH LOTS OF CARE HAS TO BE TAKEN SO AS NOT TO DAMAGE OR GET GLUE ON THE GUITAR SURFACES. ALSO WITH A LIGHT STAIN THE ADDED TIMBER WILL ALWAYS SHOW, EVEN WITH A DARK STAIN IT WILL BE SEEN.

ALSO I WOULD LIKE TO THANK FORUM MEMBERS WHO CONTRIBUTED TO THIS TUTORIAL BY ADVISING ME ON ROUTING TECHNIQUES AND THE BEST SORT OF TIMBER TO BUY.

The tools youll need are different grades of rough sandpaper, from 80 to 120 grit, glue, a firm sanding block and chisels, and if you have power tools, an orbital sander, and router, and of course timber.

For filling the bridge pin holes i used tassie oak dowl...12.5mm x 1800, at a cost of about $7.50,
and for the cavities dar pine,.....64mm x 19mm x 1800 at a cost of about$12.
These can easily be obtained from your local hardware store.

[nitroburner1000]

Next.....filling the bridge pins...

I bought the dowl oversized so it needs to be sanded down to size then glued in, i used Titebond wood glue. Make sure its not too tight as you want a thin coating of glue on all sides of the dowl. If its a bit loose dont stress as you can use a goog strong filler like fibreglass bog to fix the gaps after. Bog is good as it can be drilled and sanded. Leave the dowl a lot longer as its easier to work with. I used a fine grinding wheel to speed up the process.

[nitroburner1000]

Once the dowls are sanded to size glue them and gently tap them in with a hammer until they are seated. Wipe off any excess glue and wait until dry before cutting flush.
You can use whatever saw you like just be careful of scoring the surface of the body. When dry sand flat and fill if need be, then resand until perfectly flush.

[nitroburner1000]

Measure approx size and cut. Not too much explanation needed here, the pics speak for themselves, just keep saning until exact size is reached. 2 pieces of this size dar pine fills the back cavity with about 2-4 mm raised, so you can sand after or rout and or chisel the cavity slightly deeper.

[nitroburner1000]

[nitroburner1000]

Once the pieces all fit glue them in, cleaning off any excess glue.

[nitroburner1000]

Next cut a smal piece of dar pine for the front fender bridge cavity and sandbto shape and glue in. This process can be used for any cavity, bridge or pickup.
PS i used pieces of timber and a heavy object to help the wood pieces to glue firmly.
Sand smooth, fill and sand smooth again. I sprayed on a coat of metho based primer, this helps to see what timber is still raised.When its dry sand again and keep sanding until all the primer is gone. It will then be completely flat as any raised or low areas will have primer still attached.





THANKS FOR WATCHING AND IF THIS HELPS AT LEAST ONE PERSON ILL BE HAPPY. CHEERS.

[pablopepper]

Tidy work, Nitro. Looking good.

[nitroburner1000]

Tidy work, Nitro. Looking good.

Thanks Pablo, im slowly getting there....

[FrankenWashie]

Good work on that Nitro. It's a good tutorial to have on board, as there are a few that would likely want to mod, though possibly not to this extent.