I really can't believe you said that, given all the fuss you made about securing the bridge on the ESB-4!Originally Posted by JimC
If this really is a stop bar hole, then there is a hell of a lot of force on the stop bar pulling forwards.
As fender3x said, it's more than a on bass. Using D'addario figures, for a set of their NYXL 45-100s bass strings, you have 72kg of tension. For a 6-string with 10-46s you've got much less at 46.5kg. But for a 12-string set of 10-46s, you've got 104.7kg of tension (that's 152, 102 and 231lbs respectively).
9s or even 8s would be less (D'Addario don't do electric 12s in less than 10s and other manufacturers tensions are much harder to find or are unavailable) but still require a lot of tension.
For minimum disruption I'd go with Jim's method, but if you feel inclined to try fender3x's method D, I'd do it from the back as Trevor Davies said, not the top. You won't normally see the back of the guitar in use, but you will see the front (and so will others), so if you want to make the most of the veneer flame, then the back would be the way to do it. I'd be tempted to drill though from the top in a couple of places, through the post hole and along the line of the block so you know where the edge is.
I'd then cut out a rectangular hole, fit a similar-sized block of a strong hardwood (like maple) into the hole so that it fills it the gap completely (but sticks out the top of the hole) and then it can be clamped in place from the top and bottom of the guitar. Because it will be very hard to apply sideways clamping force, I really would go for Jim's epoxy over Titebond.
Once set, you can then plane/file/sand the protruding part of the block down so that it follows the contours of the back, then I'd prime and paint the back and sides a solid colour.
The centre block wood used in the kits is very light and doesn't really have much strength, normally something like paulownia (and I have no idea why they use it except it will be cheap and out of sight), so whilst most of the force from the posts will be fore and aft, it really needs the support from the sides to stop the wood from being crushed under pressure, grip being lost and the post being pulled out.
An even cruder method would be to find some longer 12mm dia. post inserts, then drill some 8mm holes through to the back, positioned in the centre of the post holes, and use a couple of 8mm round-headed bolts and washers with single slot or cross-head slots (not a hex-head bolt) , of the right length to screw into maybe 5mm of the lower part of the bushing, so that the inserts are securely held in place from the back. They shouldn't go anywhere then.
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