Filling stop tail piece holes

[Chiin]

Hi guys,

I bought a ES-2V kit and wanted to attach a Bigsby on it via a Vibramate. The problem: the distance from the bottom of the guitar to the tailpiece-holes is about 5 1/2" instead of 6", so I can not do that. So I'd like to attach the Bigsby directly to the body, but there is another issue with that: I would have to set a screw exactly into one of the tailpiece-drillholes.
My solution: I am thinking of filling up those holes (he screws for a Bigsby do not have to sit that tight, anyway).
So my question is: Would you recommend doing so? And what would be the best way to fill them up?

Thanks in advance for your answers!
Kind Regards,

Lukas

[Brendan]

Lukas - I'd look to get some dowel of the right diameter and use some tightbond or other PVA glue to fill the hole (being very careful not to get any on the top if you want to stain). Downside is that anything visible will not be covered by the veneer / top of the guitar and you'll see the end of the dowel.

[Chiin]

Lukas - I'd look to get some dowel of the right diameter and use some tightbond or other PVA glue to fill the hole (being very careful not to get any on the top if you want to stain). Downside is that anything visible will not be covered by the veneer / top of the guitar and you'll see the end of the dowel.

Thanks Brendan,
a freind told me pretty much the same. As most of the dowels will be covered by the Bigsby annyways the asthetics of them will not be that much auf an issue.

[FrankenWashie]

Thanks Brendan,
a freind told me pretty much the same. As most of the dowels will be covered by the Bigsby annyways the asthetics of them will not be that much auf an issue.

The end grain of the dowel will likely show up much darker under your final finish coats also, so you may end up with Avery stark contrast. Depending on how handy you are with paint, you coul try to blend them to the surrounding wood.
Your build sounds very interesting, please post some pictures if you get a chance 😁

[Adam Barnes]

You could get a cheap hole saw the same internal diameter from the hardware store and a similar colour piece of timber and make a plug that way no end grain will show

[Simon Barden]

Or just cut the dowel slightly short and stick a circle of maple veneer on the top (making sure not to get glue on the surface or surrounding veneer).

As you are going the Bigsby route, have you given thought to getting a floating bridge with roller saddles to replace the kit bridge? Say something like this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00QA1VJ...&pd_rd_w=kT28H

An unpinned floating bridge is going to be very unstable when using a Bigsby. You could pin a standard floating bridge for more stability, but I'm sure that the use of the Bigsby is still likely to cause the pins to wear away at the wood over time.

[JohnH]

+1 for Simon’s suggestion. It’s a pretty simple solution, and you won’t have the end grain to contend with with you come to finishing.

[WeirdBits]

That's what I did on a TL-1TB, plug & cap. The shape of the top on an ES-2V will make it a little trickier, but still doable if you can get some reasonably well matched quilted maple veneer.

[JohnH]

That's what I did on a TL-1TB, plug & cap. The shape of the top on an ES-2V will make it a little trickier, but still doable if you can get some reasonably well matched quilted maple veneer.

That’s a great build diary weirdbits

[Chiin]

Or just cut the dowel slightly short and stick a circle of maple veneer on the top (making sure not to get glue on the surface or surrounding veneer).

As you are going the Bigsby route, have you given thought to getting a floating bridge with roller saddles to replace the kit bridge? Say something like this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00QA1VJ...&pd_rd_w=kT28H

An unpinned floating bridge is going to be very unstable when using a Bigsby. You could pin a standard floating bridge for more stability, but I'm sure that the use of the Bigsby is still likely to cause the pins to wear away at the wood over time.

Thanks Simon,

I think I'm going to do that.

Is there anything I should look out for when choosing the bridge?

EDIT: I just realised that the Bigsby is actually to big to use with this Guitar, as the Bridge would have to be positioned right next to it and that makes to big of an angle for the strings. Is there anything I could do about that? Otherwise i guess using at least a Bigsby V7 on this Kit will not work.