Hi Ozzbike, really appreciate your reply and assistance here.

I’m at work currently so am working form memory, but… during mock up I placed the mounting bushings with the inner treaded pins screwed into the bushings into the bass body, the bushings do have vertical splines and a wider section at the top which sits on top of the body… I assume? the top section has a slightly wider diameter, so driving that part into the body would defeat the purpose of the splines I would say, and damage the body.

The bushings (with pins screwed in) slip into the pre drilled holes effortlessly, no hammer required, bar one, which offers some resistance… but not much, as mentioned, I can then flip the bass over and 2 of the 3 bushings can fall out.
I did at the time think they should definitely be more snug fitting, but read on this thread about using an epoxy resin to hold them in so figured that’s just what you have to do with these things, it’s my first build so I’m very much learning as I go… I did continue on with sanding stage and preparing the body for the first coat of stain, as an ex car painter this part of the build I feel comfortable with, in hindsight I really should have stopped there to resolve the issue before moving on….

Thinking.. Houston, we may have a problem here....