got my kits from Australia

so - I was bit skeptical - but I wanted a 335 bass - and I bought one. I'm in Arkansas USA - so it was $2+ to ship two kits, I asked a friend and he said "I want a tele" so I added it on to the order. They arrived today.

The 335 Flame Maple IS GORGEOUS. everything so far looks great The body of the tele looks great.

But then I got to the headstock of the tele. I'm "are my glasses messed up?"

What's the australian version of "drunken Driller" - lord have mercy. I'm not paying to ship it back, so I'll build it for my friend. Won't hurt anything, but SERIOUSLY?

I'm curious, is the Headstock no good?

Sometimes the tuner holes can be a wee bit out of line, is that what the problem is?

EDIT: Sorry mate, when i looked at the post earlier, your picture wasn't up.

I think our Aussie equivalent is "that's seriously on the piss". As others have mentioned its either live with it or plug and re-drill.

I've done this a couple of times and it works well.

From what i know the kits are all manually cut against templates, so if the template is worn or someone isn't paying attention then the results can be what you have. But i gotta admit, that one is particularly bad.

Take a gander - that's more than a wee-bit ;)

I'm wondering if the tuner is gonna be hanging over the edge on the near one.

it bothers me because my 335 is EXCELLENT. and this is like drunken sailor moment (like *I* can do on my own ;) )

its so off I had to ask my tele owning friends - I'm a keyboard player "is that right? doesn't look right..." "NO."

kinda leaves me in a spot. if I reject it - $50 USD plus import tax I reckon to ship it back. And if they ship me a gratis neck - it won't mate perfectly (which this one does). So I figure I'll build it - over under on this is $100 on that kit, and it won't hurt the sound. but dayummmm my 335 kit is so beautiful. i'm shocked and awed that they would send me that. upgrade QC with somebody that isn't crosseyed.

There isn't a woodworking method to correct that mistake. So - @frankenwashie - yes - the headstock is ruined.

People sometimes dowel and drill again. You are certainly not the first person to have this issue. I always think to myself, “It’s come out of the country that built The Great Wall and look how crooked that is! What do we expect? Must be the same guy.” Hello Chinese friends. But seriously, what are you planning to do with the headstock? Natural or stained on the body I assume. If you dowel and drill will the edges of the ‘fix it’ job be hidden?

Assuming this isn't CNC - we've got two planes and a drill press. Pick a plane. I'm baffled how they screwed this up. the 335 is SO PERFECT.

I've been thinking about how I would screw that up - I would have somebody walk in, say "hey!!!" and drift off the plane of the headstock. Just so I don't come off as total bashing here - the 335 I got is GREAT - can't wait to get it built. The body of this one is great, and my friend won't care, we'll name it something (open to suggestions)