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I am in the process of building my own Tele-parts-o-caster. My body does not have the holes for the strings-thru-body type of bridge. No problem, I thought. I'll just slap on a top-loader. But my body has 4 mounting holes for the bridge. All the top-loader bridges I have seen have THREE mounting holes. What to do?
1. I could drill the holes for the strings/ferrules. Ever done it? Is it difficult?
2. Try to find a top-loader with FOUR mounting holes. Does anyone know where I get one?
I've done a conversion from a modern MIM toploader to a vintage string-thru style bridge. It can be tricky to get the holes on the back of the body to line up nicely.
If you want to try a vintage style toploader, you should be able to find something on ebay.
I've done a couple of project requireing drilling of string through. As Neo said the hardest part is keeeping them lined up straight. If you take your time and double cheack the drill position you will be fine (if you have or can get the use of a drill press it helps a lot). The thing I found is to drill a small pilot hole through the body for each hole first. Then using this as a guide start with the largest diameter, the countersink of the ferrule lip, then the diameter for the ferrule body, then the final diameter for the string (if the pilot hole is not already big enough). You can of course eliminate the lip diameter if your ferrules don't have a lip. BTW use "Brad Point" drill bits. These have a small point in the center that helps line up the bit to the center of the previous hole.
Another choice is to fill the 4 mounting holes and re-drill for the three hole configuration on the top loader. The bridge (I believe) will cover the original holes anyway.
Man this is a tough one. Drilling the ferrules is probably the hardest part of building a tele if you don't have the tooling. It's impossible to get them perfect by hand on a drill press.
To do it right you need to make a drill guide. Use plexi since it is a one off. You could do it on your drill press with a back stop to keep the front to back aligned and careful positioning to get the side to side spaced correctly. Do not even attempt to counterbore the heads without specialized tooling!
Knowing a machinist or having a mill would be a good thing!
I've never gotten them straight yet. They are always a little bit crooked.
Try this technique - seemed to work pretty well.
1. Put masking tape on the back of the body so that the area where the holes will come through is covered. That will help prevent splintering and chipping.
2. Make sure the bridge is in the proper location and on the front of the body, mark the locations for the first and sixth strings.
3. Use a drill press and drill a 1/16" or 3/32" hole through the body for the first and sixth strings.
4. Turn the body over and draw a straight line between the holes for the first and sixth strings. Using the bridge, mark the locations of the holes for the second through fifth strings, making sure that the holes all line up along the straight line. This will be on the back of the body.
5. Drill starter holes for the 2nd through 5th strings. Do not go through the body. Only go about 3/8" deep or so.
6. Get the proper size drill for the ferrules you will be using and -- on the back side of the body -- enlarge the six small holes to that size. USE A DRILL PRESS. Only drill as deep as you need to fully insert the ferrules into the body. I suggest using the Callaham ferrule (they're a bit more expensive but worth it to me in the ease of drilling the holes) as it doesn't have the lip that authenic Fender one does so it's easier to install. You just need a 3/8 hole 3/8" deep. See the picture here - http://www.callahamguitars.com/partstel.htm
7. Turn the body back over and on the front side, reposition the bridge and mark the locations of the string holes for strings two through five.
8. Use a drill press and a 3/32" drill to drill those holes. Drill all the way through and the drill will break through into the hole you've already created on the back side.
If you've marked everything correctly and used a drill press, you'll end up with six ferrules on the back side that are aligned and six string holes on the front side that are in the proper position.