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NOTE: I realize I should have taken pictures during, but it was hot in my garage, and I was pissed off. Sorry guys.
I ordered a set of Grover Locking Rotomatics for my Peavey Reactor last week, and they got in last night. I knew beforehand that I'd have to ream the holes wider. "I know that I should use a drill press, but I've got a hand drill - how hard could it be?"
****ING HARD, THAT'S HOW
When I open the packaging of the tuners, it says that they need a 25/64ths hole. Since I don't have a drill bit of my own that size, I go over to my neighbor's to see if he has what I need. In addition to being a math genius, an appreciator of great music, a great dad, and all around great guy, he's quite handy with his... hands. He has a wide variety of tools, including a drill bit kit that was exactly what I was looking for.
I go back to my garage workbench, where I've rigged up a super ghetto system to make the neck stay put - bungee cords. As I'm about to drill right into my Tele neck, I think to myself, "Jordan, you're a genius, there's no debating that. BUT what if the drill screws you up and you ruin the neck? Let's find something to practice on."
So I find the neck for my first guitar - a behringer (they don't even deserve a capital B) stratoasster. I start off with the 25/64th bit, even though the hole is much smaller than that.
God, it was horrible. It's nearly impossible to hold the drill straight enough to get a completly straight hole. Splintering is inevitable - you can only hope that it'll be covered by the tuners and won't be too bad.
Once I had widened all six of the holes on the dummy neck, I proceeded to drill about 10 more holes into that headstock, just to get a feel for how the drill handled for the real thing.
Here are pictures of the finished product:
As I said, splintering is inevitable - I was lucky. Most of it was covered by the washers on the front and the tuner casing on the back. You can see some on the face above the low E tuner and on the back between the A and D tuners, and between the D and G tuners. Additionally, the tuners aren't lined up perfectly - exactly why you shouldn't use a hand drill. Overall though, I'm proud of my handiwork. It could have gone a lot worse.
Here's the kicker - I go to return the drill bit kit to my neighbor, and I tell him how my project went, mentioning that I wish I had a drill press. Of course, it turns out that he freaking has one and would have let me use it. Just my luck.
I'll post a review in a few days once I get some strings on her.
I ordered a set of Grover Locking Rotomatics for my Peavey Reactor last week, and they got in last night. I knew beforehand that I'd have to ream the holes wider. "I know that I should use a drill press, but I've got a hand drill - how hard could it be?"
****ING HARD, THAT'S HOW
When I open the packaging of the tuners, it says that they need a 25/64ths hole. Since I don't have a drill bit of my own that size, I go over to my neighbor's to see if he has what I need. In addition to being a math genius, an appreciator of great music, a great dad, and all around great guy, he's quite handy with his... hands. He has a wide variety of tools, including a drill bit kit that was exactly what I was looking for.
I go back to my garage workbench, where I've rigged up a super ghetto system to make the neck stay put - bungee cords. As I'm about to drill right into my Tele neck, I think to myself, "Jordan, you're a genius, there's no debating that. BUT what if the drill screws you up and you ruin the neck? Let's find something to practice on."
So I find the neck for my first guitar - a behringer (they don't even deserve a capital B) stratoasster. I start off with the 25/64th bit, even though the hole is much smaller than that.
God, it was horrible. It's nearly impossible to hold the drill straight enough to get a completly straight hole. Splintering is inevitable - you can only hope that it'll be covered by the tuners and won't be too bad.
Once I had widened all six of the holes on the dummy neck, I proceeded to drill about 10 more holes into that headstock, just to get a feel for how the drill handled for the real thing.
Here are pictures of the finished product:
As I said, splintering is inevitable - I was lucky. Most of it was covered by the washers on the front and the tuner casing on the back. You can see some on the face above the low E tuner and on the back between the A and D tuners, and between the D and G tuners. Additionally, the tuners aren't lined up perfectly - exactly why you shouldn't use a hand drill. Overall though, I'm proud of my handiwork. It could have gone a lot worse.
Here's the kicker - I go to return the drill bit kit to my neighbor, and I tell him how my project went, mentioning that I wish I had a drill press. Of course, it turns out that he freaking has one and would have let me use it. Just my luck.
I'll post a review in a few days once I get some strings on her.
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