Installed Electrococket Crooked

[fguihen]

I recently purchased a tele with the old style socket. The socket kept comming lose, needing tightening after every playing session.

To remedy this i purchased and installed an electrosocket.

I drilled the holes slightly crooked and so the socket was slightly crooked, in that the lip of the electrosocket was slightly higher on one side than the other.

I dowelled up the holes i drilled with toothpicks, let it set and rebored. its less crooked now, but still a little bit.

Its barely noticable , and even then only from up close, but it drives me nuts, as I know its there, and its an inperfection in my new guitar.

Ive learned never to try any DIY myself ever again so thats something.

My question is, can any moderately competant luthier fix this easily enough or should this job be only entrusted to the best?

Also, would you get this fixed, knowing that its almost un-noticable and doesnt affect the guitar at all?

[Rick500]

Don't let it put you off to DIY. Your first one just wasn't going to be perfect.

If it were me, I'd figure out where I went wrong, then do it again.

If it bothers you enough to post about it, you need to fix it.

[billm90]

My first DIY were some disasters.

I would just keep trying.

But dont work on it in a hurry or frustrated. that is when you settle for half assed repairs.

Jake take a break from it and let those failure feelings go. When you think about where you went wrong, correct for it, and try again.

[ihocky2]

I'ev learned when something goes wrong for me, no matter how little, the best thing to do is go cool off right away. I might move on to something else that I know should go smoothly, and really hope that it does. Anytime I get frustrated at something it never ends well. The final result suffers, or the wall of my shop suffers. Whether it is guitars, my car, simply home repairs. If I don't cool off immediately and put it off, something ends up getting broken.

Just try it again. Take some time, look at it, figure out why and where it went wrong to get crooked and figure out what you can do to help prevent it. I've put those jacks in crooked myself. For something that seems so simple, they are easy to screw up. Try using some tape to hold it in place when you go to drill the holes.

[fguihen]

Thanks for the words of encouragement folks, its really appreciated.

Ive tried fitting the socket twice now, crooked both times. Im sure this task is beyond simple to most folks on this forum, but for someone of my current skill level, how do i bore these holes so they are not crooked?

My method so far was:

hold the electrosocket in the socket hole.

Draw in the holes in pencil so i know where they go.

Drill holes at the angle of the screws with a 1.5mm drill bit, aiming for the center of the circle drawn in pencil.

As you can imagine by now, having attempted this twice, drawing the circles in pencil isnt an option this time as its getting messy in there.

All advice gratefully accepted. Thanks.

[chops1983]

Like you have done before, refill the holes with some wood glue and a matchstick, Let it dry. Cut the matchstick back flush with the body and sand it smooth. The good thing about these holes is you will never see them when the jack socket is in place. Now access with the drillbit is the key, so if you can prop the guitar in a comfortable drilling position on its edge to get a nice drilling angle, thats gonna help. You could clamp a few phone books or blocks of timber to the bench either side of the guitar so it won't fall over. Place the electro socket in position and as ihocky said tape it to the body so its sitting correctly. Use the socket screw holes to drill the new hole on the correct angle and obviously keep the drillbit central. This is the only help i can give you and hopefully you will pull it off!If not and it really gets up you, take it to a pro repair shop. Use abit of patience and have a go at it yourself, im sure you will be fine. Goodluck.

Edited May 17, 2009 by chops1983

[Quarter]

Try using a center punch or something sharp and pointy to mark / start the hole first. Drilling in on an angle is especially tough to keep a bit from wandering.

.

[ihocky2]

Great tip on the center punch, that will help locate the bit start and help keep it from wandering.

[fguihen]

I gave the guitar to a pro to have it fixed. Unfortunately, instead of filling the holes and reboring, he turned the electrosocket sideways and installed it.

I was afraid that the screws would come out the side. what are your thoughts on this?

i now see theres no chance of that, but im still not happy wtih it so im going to give it another shot. I will pick up an al or a punch tomorrow and rebore the holes after they have been filled with more toothpicks.

[ihocky2]

Well I definitely would not call someone that does something like that a "Pro". You couuld have just done that yourself, but you recognized that it could be a risky situation.

I think with a little patience, and a center punch you'll do much better. Like was also said, use the holes in the socket as a drill guide. Obviously you don't want to mangle them up, but they do help drill straighter.

[fguihen]

Well I definitely would not call someone that does something like that a "Pro". You couuld have just done that yourself, but you recognized that it could be a risky situation.

I think with a little patience, and a center punch you'll do much better. Like was also said, use the holes in the socket as a drill guide. Obviously you don't want to mangle them up, but they do help drill straighter.

Thanks for the help guys. I removed the electrosocket as installed by the guy. it was superglued into place! when comming out it took a small chip of paint from around the edge of the socket hole. I was very annoyed as i like to keep my guitars as well as possible.

I dowelled up the holes he made, then dowled up the holes from my previous attempts.

Once the glue was dry,I got a carpenters Awl, carefully allgned the electrosocket and pushed holes through the center of the electrosocket screw holes. I didnt even need to drill as the holes were small enough and deep enough for the screws. Its not 100%, but its way better than my first attempt, and a gazillion times better than the pros job.

Im annoyed about the chip, and keep telling myself its only a squier ( classic vibe tele) but its an awesome guitar and its still getting on my nerves. il just have to live with it. at least the electrosocket is in place now and solid as a rock.

thanks for all the help guys, much appreciated.

EDIT: one question folks. does anyone know of an electrosocket type socket, but with a bit of a lip? It would cover the chip nicely if i could get a cross between the electrosocket, and the old style tele socket.

Edited May 30, 2009 by fguihen

[IPA or death]

I use the regular tele cups and drill holes in it similar to the Electrosocket hole locations. That takes the expanding clip used in most teles out of play just like the Electrosocket does. The tricky part is holding it still to drill into it as it's pretty small and round to boot, but it can be done with a c-clamp on a table or something like that. Drill the holes from the outside.