Working  on my second build. Finished notching the neck and putting in the nut slot. Then my brain went to mush. I marked the tuner holes wrong and drilled them. I was so concerned about getting the holes straight that I failed to notice that two holes were off. Enough so that my tuner plates are interfering with each other. Trying to glue in some plugs and drill again. Not going to look pretty I fear. Anyone else ever made a dumb mistake?  Think I’ll create a template for the next builds. This build I consider a technique exercise anyhow. Ideas on how I might disguise my screw up outside of starting over?

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Yes I make mistakes a lot.  I am working on my perfectionism, think I got that licked.  Seriously, I go with the flow, many see the imperfections as “character”, which is the only reason I keep doing it.  I can buy perfection, but the amazing infinite creativity is exhilarating.

im not making light of your “mistake”, but you maybe your worst critic.   Do you have a pic of your build?

I have to get over trying to make things perfect and just go with the flow. Have some ideas now on how to fix it if the repair looks too messy. This neck will work! I’ll try to remember to grab a pic. Not sure how to post a picture though.
Thanks Tim. I guess I have to get over trying to make everything perfect. I’ll take a picture of it after I complete the plugging. Just had a thought that I may use some of the thin wood sheet that I found in some boxes to perhaps create a veneer to cover the face of the headstock if it looks too boogered up.

I've made headstock mistakes also, so I guess that makes me a fellow bonehead. ;-)

I covered my headstock mistake with veneer - if you have any lying around, or  take the top layer off a piece of plywood. 

I've made templates for my headstocks, with pinholes marking the centre of the tuner hole - using a pencil, this then marks where to drill the holes. 

I can understand your frustration with making mistakes - I've messed up more than headstocks but I've also learned to replace frets because of this. Early on, I'd curse at my mistakes, now it's - hmmm how am I going to fix this. Relax and have fun!

Hah! I think I now have a name for my guitar “series”. “Bonehead Guitars” has a nice ring to it. I’ve actually been able to recover my mistake by plugging re drilling and using a little glue and sawdust to mask the messy bits. My hardware will cover most of the repair. It’s likely that no one will really notice except me. You all are right. I learned a lot from that mistake. Now if I can get through the rest of the build without a major misstep! First time fretting so wish me luck.

If  the  last hole is the one  "touching "  Leave it  there .  string some jute  through it , and that's  your  hanger you built in on purpose :-)  re drill the other hole somewher else if you have room .  if not . make it a 2 stringer with hanger . 

or .........

cut the whole mistake and other holes out by making  it a slotted  head . and side mount the tuners .   

Great suggestions.
Thanks!
Done that. I ended up making templates out of acrylic so i can get consistency... I've also drilled an installed abalone inlay in the wrong spots....
Definitely going to do acrylic templates.
Thanks

I did the same thing on Sunday.  Everything still fits they are just crowding the center,  I am hoping a few well placed screws will send the strings in the right direction.

Glad yours fit. Mine don’t. I’ve decided not to get too annoyed with myself and just treat it as a challenge! Good luck with your fix. Sounds like it should work just fine.

I recently completed a round tin three string thing. The neck was a slotted 'Spanish' type headstock. I filled in the slots with some Poplar. I then sanded it down and glued some wood veneer over the messy looking slab on both sides (first time ever and it was quite decent). I could then drill the tuner holes, little thinking that the tuner posts would be too short because of the veneer thicknesses. I then had to Dremel route out each tuner gearbox shape until they fitted. Complicated job under the best conditions, but in Winter, with artificial light, I had to wait until I could do this outside.

Just saying that if a mistake is made, veneer is a possible, long job repair to cover up plugs and things.....

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