Drilling A Guitar Body For String Thru Ferrules

The method I use to I drill string thru ferrules for a hardtail bridge.

[@nrich5127]

Just for information - for those who are drilling straight through a body that is painted or lacquered - put some tape on the back side and clamp a piece of scrap wood where the drill will come out the back side. This will prevent chipping as the bit bursts through the finish and also go slow and let the bit do the work.

[@elijahpeters3637]

You must be psychic. This is exactly the instruction I needed for a Tele I'm modifying. Thanks!

[@TruthSurge]

wow.... making a pin to keep the holes under the center of the drill press bit.... I would never have thought of that but then... I haven't used a drill press. hahaha

[@anthonymax6395]

Thanks for all your excellent videos. Anytime I get stuck or need a solution. I pop in one of your videos and problem solved. Your the BEST!!!!

[@FletcherHandcraftedGuitars]

Glad you find my video's useful Anthony ! :-)

[@joem6859]

I've done this a few times, works very nicely. In fact, i've used the same approach on the drilling tasks when your trying to project a hole thru something, not just ferrules.

[@DeplorablePepe]

This is absolutely the best ferrule hole instruction video on KZbin.

[@HektorBandimar]

Very neat job mate, I need to do this on a top loading Telecaster clone I have, trouble is I don't have a drill press, maybe a drill block guide would do. Thanks for posting.

[@zoltanszekeres3034]

Amazing! I tried it. Everything was so easy and obvious this way. Luckily there's a carpenter in the neighborhood with a perfectly functioning drilling machine. That's an important part. Two hours of suffering decreased to a few minutes. Guaranteed perfectness instead of unpredictable result. Thank you very kindly!

[@peterbieri888]

Hello, I have tried out several methods to drill perfect stright holes into a body. i found that your method works best of all the others for me. Thanks folks! Pete from Switzerland.

[@hdaniels30]

Hey David, great instructions! I've learned a lot from your stuff! Started dreaming about building basses about 10 months ago. I had zero wood working tools. After 3 months of loosing sleep because I was laminating wood and carving necks, I ordered a piece of wood (mahogany). I had one roughly blocked out and had a guy here in town approach me about investing in my work. I'm learning a lot and have a ways to go but have finished 2, am finishing 2, and have 4 more started. I've designed my own bodies, glue in necks, and bolt on neck designs. I'm far from full time with it, but we will get there. Thanks for your videos!

[@FletcherHandcraftedGuitars]

Nice !

[@JohnAdams-xc5yk]

You can do it by hand with a drill block and good bits, a 3 mm bit is larger than the string holes on a fender bridge

[@bassmentality]

on the other hand if your a normal bloke get your Bosch battery drill, a few odd drill bits. stick some tape down the centre line of your dots on your neck to the spot you want your bridge.. Make sure you can make 34 inches from the nut to the bridge saddles or 30 inches if you have a shorty etc. I'm a bass player!! Square your bridge with your centre line you just made. Mark the string thru hole and punch a small but sound drill thru the holes with your Bosch battery drill. Measure your ferrals as they are not all 8mm. Make sure you drill the ferral holes on the right side of your axe hah! slightly smaller than this bloke did or they will all fall out when you change your strings. Job done. No piller drill. No MDF or broken drill bit. No swanky work shop. Job Done. Good Luck! PS, some string thru holes are not in the base plate of your bridge but that makes it only one minute longer to do!!

[@FletcherHandcraftedGuitars]

The method I use to I drill string thru ferrules for a hardtail bridge.

[@FletcherHandcraftedGuitars]

Stan Smathers No, it won't work with a hand drill unfortunately

[@jonathandaniel6838]

Fletcher Handcrafted Guitars - What about for a body with a floating 2 peice bridge? whats the best way to get the initial template for where to put the holes?

[@mbradshaw6760]

Very clever man . If I have a problem I go to your videos .... Problem solved , excellent craftsman cheers ..... Shane .... In England ......Thank you...

[@coffeecomics3583]

Excellent!!! I'm going to drill through holes for my Squire Affinity Tele.

[@joecaner]

Nicely done Fletcher.

[@rerawho]

Brilliant method. Thanks for the great info.

[@ViktorStorniHauer]

Thanks Mr Fletcher! As always a very informativ video. I've built ttwo guitars with string thru body bridge and it was not fun at all - now I avoid to use those bridges. Thanks to this video I'll now be able to do it the right way. Thanks again!

[@FletcherHandcraftedGuitars]

Your welcome ! :-)

[@martinsvensson276]

Why making the holes to big and not slightly small instead? Good video

[@TruthSurge]

I've never used a drill press. how did you slide the bit over to the next hole and get it exactly over the hole??? Do you have to have an expensive drill press to do a guitar body? I would imagine you'd need one that reaches out a long way somehow. I didn't see the press in this vid so.. just wondering. thx!

[@EDBOMINATION]

Incredibly helpful and detailed; thank you so much for the video!

[@rayosytruenos]

The holes seem to be a little too big. Do you glue the Ferrules in their holes? Very good system, anyway. Thanks!

[@jim9637]

This is brilliant! So glad I discovered this video.

[@BardinGuitars]

A great method I used it from your early videos.

[@jeffdowning4877]

Nice work. Some of your drill alignment tips are very useful to me. I have a good eye, but when working on an instrument it is crucial I think to get it just right. I will keep tearing the guitar apart fixing or modifying things that were not done properly, even for strictly aesthetic issues. I want it to look as good as it sounds. I have a Gotoh wrap around tailpiece on an SG-type guitar I more or less built and experimented on- eventually turning into a kickass guitar way more versatile than a standard SG. But loading the string actually scratches up the finish and I am curious about the different feel by doing a thru- the body mod like you show. Thanks!

[@HarmFlo]

Awesome video, great instructions.

[@Hobsonguitars]

Great tips Fletch! I think I might give this a go...sounds better than my current method :)

[@FletcherHandcraftedGuitars]

Cheers mate, let me know how it works out for you !

[@FoulOwl2112]

Although the creator did this 101% properly, he forgot to mention an important element to his technique. You'll notice that when he drills his 3mm thru-holes, he does so with multiple,shallow plunges. Allowing the chips to clear. When using such small diameter bits, even brad points will wander offline if you just drill with one long plunge. Go down in 1/4 to 3/8 inch increments. Let the chips clear, make another plunge.... Otherwise your bit will wander off track. He did it perfectly, but neglected to mention that tip. The first couple times l did strings throughs l was convinced my drill press was screwed up.

[@apinakapinastorba]

Yet another awesome trick. Thank you very much.

[@Salguine]

At 1:18, when you're drilling the holes all the way through...If you can drill the two outer holes through from the front, why do you have to turn the guitar over to drill the other four from the back? If you can drill two from the front, why don't you just do all six that way? Am I missing something?

[@Bamacher59]

It’s so you don’t tear out the wood on the other side by the drillbit the big chunks

[@JohnAdams-xc5yk]

@@Bamacher59 what keeps the two from chipping out you drill all the way thru

[@ashcustomworks]

I do it exactly the same way, although I have a template for standard Gotoh and vintage tele bridges that plugs into the standard Fender neck pocket and lines up with the pickups holes and/or the centreline.

[@ashcustomworks]

I just go to the ferrule hole pin part. I use a counterbore that centres on the 3mm holes for that bit.

[@FletcherHandcraftedGuitars]

Great idea !

[@davidriel7805]

Brilliant !!!! Thanks

[@jeffmilkey]

You should be using brad point bits.....break out on the back side is bad news

[@boydjoiner4652]

Very helpful, I do notice that you plunge then back out to clear the material from the drill bit, I think that mentioning this might help some folks, as a bit wants to walk even in the softer tone woods. In your opinion, would a brad-point bit work better than a conventional bit?

[@alabamahebrew]

I have a Gibson Firebird Zero, it's that cheap guitar Gibson came out with in 2016 for entry level guitarists and it's junk lol. I specifically purchased this guitar to completely customize it and see if I could sell it or just have a really unique guitar. Anyway, originally it comes with just the stop tailpiece single unit which is horrible and will not remain flush with the body of the guitar at all, in fact it ends up digging into the wood on the front side due to string tension. I want to do a string through type of setup with it, do you have any recommendations as to what type of tail piece I should use? Thanks for this video, I have it saved in my playlist and I subbed to your page, I find the work guys like you do absolutely fascinating and hope to someday be able to do it as well.

[@Erowens98]

With tun o matics i notice that often the holes are lined up in an angle to the centerline which i guess is for intonation. How do you figure out where holes should go if you wanted to do that?

[@ruinslive]

Many thanks for sharing this David. I've just used this method for the first time and it worked perfectly. You have changed my life. Also in the process of my first Strat neck as per your tutorials. :) Cheers Pat Keegan Ulladulla

[@FletcherHandcraftedGuitars]

Cheers mate, glad to hear it worked for you. Good luck with the Strat neck !!

[@allentkatch1762]

What did you can that drill bit at 2:14? I know that as a brad point bit.

[@WoodesosGuitarMods]

How timely. I'm thinking of doing this to a guitar I have. I've been working on it in a few of my KZbin videos. I see the bridge you have is drilled both at the back and on the bottom. The cheap bridge I have on the Mini is only drilled at the back. So I'd have to replace it or drill through the existing bridge. I just don't know about the spacing if I drill through the bridge. I thought of just centre punching it through the saddles while they're taped down in place to get my drilling points. Any reason this wouldn't work? I see those ferrules are pretty close together in the back to accommodate the larger opening. Worries me a bit now...

[@FletcherHandcraftedGuitars]

I'd replace the bridge, a lot less hassle. Drilling thru your existing bridge using the saddles as your drilling points is not very accurate IMO and you may be disappointed with the results on the back of the guitar. . I['m using a Gotoh bridge available from Stewmac

[@FletcherHandcraftedGuitars]

Woodeso, the bridge I am using is a string thru only, the holes you see at the back are for the bridge piece screws

[@WoodesosGuitarMods]

ahhhhh. Yeah I figured as much. But I still want to do it;-) I really like the challenge of making the existing bridge fit this purpose. That and I'm trying to keep this mod cheap or free. Maybe I can download a template or something for the spacing and paste it on the bridge? Or maybe I can just look up the correct spacing and just carefully mark out my holes with a calliper. Dunno, but I'm gonna try it anyway. The bridge first at least and then if it goes south, I'll get a new one;-) Thanks a heap Dave.

[@WoodesosGuitarMods]

Oh and Dave... I'm Nelson. Woodeso is just an anagram of my last name and my wife's.

[@FletcherHandcraftedGuitars]

Nelson, sounds like a good plan to me :-) Will you be making a youtube vid on it ?

[@dylanbarnett6099]

I lost one of my barrels out of my Jackson cuz it's a string through body do you know where I can get a replacement

[@andrepassini5609]

Perfect man! Thank you!

[@evenseb7574]

Beautiful :)

[@Ottonic6]

I would not drill all the way thru on the two ends first, I would drill about half way, then use the pin on all holes to guarantee no wandering, then repeat with the Forstner bits. Just to be sure.

[@zachjohnson8170]

What is the advantage of only drilling outside holes all the way through and then flipping it over to drill the other 4? Why not drill all 6 all the way through?

[@FletcherHandcraftedGuitars]

Drill bits wander quite a bit when you are drilling. By the time they break thru to the other side, things are not perfectly square. Only drilling halfway thru minimizes that and allows you to "start fresh" from the other side and meet in the middle.

[@whatthejeez]

so how to countersink the last part of the ferrule?

[@ltcm5052]

Why can’t you just drill all of them from the top???

[@Za_muta]

NIce)

[@megadeth1818]

yeah this is way too complicated haha thats why i just do top loaders