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)

oh it's gonna be tru-oil and crooked teeth ;) Thanks for confirming I'm not crazy. the BIZARRE thing is my 335 bass is PERFECT.

The tele will be colortone bright green. I haven't decided whether it will have black dye sanded off prior or not. Quilted maple is pretty alluring - but I always stand a chance of making it worse not better. The headstock doesn't effect playability, so it'll have a "visitor" on it somewhere. (we play in bands together). There's not a lot of density in that veneer so it'll probably just be bright green with an alien.

Due to your dismay at the hole alignment, perhaps it could be the ‘Tel-aghast-er’.

Oh, you could dowel, drill and veneer on top to hide the fix if it is too visible.

man, I appreciate the help. It's just gonna look like Will Ferrel's teeth I guess. I'm just surprised anybody could say "I did a good job" and turn that out. and my 335 kit - is STUNNING. She's supercharged. Weird.

refer to my comment "make it worse not better" that's EXACTLY what would happen if I did that. ;)

ya get what ya get and ride what ya brung. --- that's how we would say it in AR USA ;

Careful sanding the veneer, it will be ultra thin!

Agus,
Dark Mark has given some sage advice. I've never seen holes drilled that woefully before, and it wont ruin the function of the build but it will ruin the aesthetics.

You are much better off plugging the holes and re drilling them in line, then gluing a nice veneer over the front of the headstock, you wont need it on the back as the tuners will over the doweling.

Also very very sage advice regarding the veneer. its extremely thin and very easy to sand through. If you do that it will be a paint job.

I usually check the veneer for glue spots by using a rag and some gum turpentine. If you see some glue spots and you intend to stain it, you'll need to attack these first before staining and without sanding through.

To me it only looks like one hole is wildly out of alignment. Perhaps only one hole needs to be tackled. Further to what Andy40 is saying, people will often use a glue removing product and a toothbrush/soft wire brush to tackle glue spots on veneer. Hopefully it isn’t an issue for you. Not that I have any first hand experience, I just read all the build diaries.

Whatever cloth / brush you use to remove the glue must be white, any colour will leech into the timber

Actually I take it back. Dowel and drill the lot of them.